#manufacturing
Manufacturing cost accounting, production, and operations
A 100-pound batch of raw beef can yield just 42 pounds of sellable jerky. How small meat-snack makers turn measured dehydration loss into accurate per-ounce COGS, build a chart of accounts around batch production, and link ledger entries to the HACCP validation records FSIS requires.
A flat $55 shop rate quietly underprices illuminated and digital sign work while vinyl subsidizes the loss. Learn how to split every quote into materials with 7% indeterminates and 1.5x markup, fully burdened labor including payroll taxes and workers comp, and installation as a separate crew and equipment profit center — with a sample channel letter worksheet and a bookkeeping setup that makes estimates match actuals.
Monument shops collect deposits months before delivery and carry $25,000 to $90,000 in granite — so deposits must sit as deferred revenue until installation, granite must be costed by specific identification including freight, and retail walk-ins need a completely separate profit center from cemetery wholesale.
A plantwide overhead rate cross-subsidizes products — undercosting complex low-volume jobs by 35% or more. This guide shows how to calculate a defensible predetermined rate, reconcile applied vs. actual overhead monthly, and graduate to ABC or time-driven ABC when product and volume diversity make a single rate lie.
A camper van conversion shop that installs living-space modules on incomplete chassis is a final-stage manufacturer, not a services business: the chassis is WIP inventory, certification costs are manufacturing overhead, and deposits stay contract liabilities until ASC 606 over-time recognition turns cost-to-cost progress into revenue.
Sail lofts price a mainsail from cloth yardage, construction method, and hand labor, then collect a deposit months before delivery — treating that deposit as revenue instead of a liability is the most common bookkeeping mistake in the trade.
The SBA's new Made in America Loan Guarantee offers eligible small manufacturers up to $5 million with a 90% federal guarantee and waived fees in FY 2026—the highest guarantee rate ever extended to small manufacturers.
As of July 4, 2026, the SBA decoupled its 7(a) and 504 loan caps, letting qualified borrowers combine up to $5 million from each program — $10 million in total SBA-backed financing. Here's who benefits, how the two programs differ, and the structuring mistakes to avoid.
Idaho's HB 559, signed February 10, 2026, conforms to the OBBBA's expanded $2.5 million Section 179 cap but decouples from 100% bonus depreciation under Section 168(k), new Section 168(n) qualified production property expensing, and R&E transition relief — a divergence projected to cost Idaho businesses about $151 million in 2026. Here's who it hits and how the Form DBDA addback works.
Third-party reprocessors of single-use medical devices are regulated as full manufacturers under the FDA's QMSR (effective February 2, 2026) — same 510(k), MDR, and UDI obligations as the OEM. That reshapes the books; a three-stage inventory split, per-device-family COGS, recurring validation expenses, and product liability reserves sized by risk class.
Craft distilleries owe federal excise tax only when spirits are withdrawn from bond — often years after the grain was paid for. A practical guide to capitalizing barrel-aging costs into inventory, recording angel's share evaporation at quarterly gauging, and timing the $2.70-per-proof-gallon TTB liability correctly.
Craft maltsters lose 10–20% of raw barley weight during steeping, germination, and kilning, pay farmers 3–4× feed-grain prices under multi-season contracts, and can wait over a year between buying grain and selling malt. Here's how to handle yield-ratio costing, contract-growing arrangements, and working-capital planning for a malthouse.
