The Cost Management Handbook
Finance · Nº 51
The Cost Management Handbook
Fixed and Variable Costs, Overhead Allocation, and Where to Cut without Losing Sales or Quality
Something in your business is eating the profit. Your bank statement won't say what.
24 tools to give every cost a name, divide overhead by real use, and find the order, customer, or channel that's costing you, with one stone shop worked through from start to finish.
You get 24 tools to classify your costs, allocate overhead without fooling yourself, measure cost by order, customer, and channel, track down hidden costs, and build a budget with a ceiling for each area. Plus a 6-tab spreadsheet, filled in with the example.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Sales are fine. The crew is booked solid. And at the end of the month there's barely anything left. You scroll through the bank statement and watch the money leave in a hundred small pieces, none of them labeled. Is it a product? A customer? The second trip to the job site? Last time money got tight, you cut the ads and the showroom displays. The profit didn't come back. Things just got quieter.
THE SPREADSHEET
Cost and allocation spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
A product line looks like it's losing money
Before you drop it, you check its contribution margin and the fixed cost that would actually leave with it. Often the cut makes profit worse, and you'd rather see that on the spreadsheet than in the bank.
Another tiny order that needs a site visit
You open the cost per order and see what a small job costs to get through the business. Then you set a minimum order or a site visit fee, credited back if the order closes, and send the customer the message from the Template kit.
A slow month, and the urge to cut something
Every proposed cut goes through the customer test first: will the customer feel it? The showroom displays stay. Machine maintenance stays. The wasted trips and the rework go to the top of the list.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts, in the order the work happens. Give every outflow a name and a cost center. Allocate overhead by use, not by sales. Drill down to cost per order, per customer, and per channel. Hunt down the costs no account shows: scrap, rework, idle time, wasted trips. Then build the budget and cut, with a customer test before every cut. Every tool has a step by step, a worked example, and a short exercise.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Cost Management Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise
- The cost and allocation spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 6 working tabs, filled in with the example company
- The Template kit: 13 ready-made texts, from the cost center map and the minimum order policy to the customer test before a cut
- 2 worksheets to fill in (order cost and month-end cost close) and a 30-day plan laid out week by week
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · See your costs
- 01Cost, expense, investment, and lossFour names for money going out, and why the right name changes the decision
- 02Semi-variable and step costsPower, overtime, and the new crew: costs that are neither fixed nor variable
- 03Cost centersYour business in four or five areas, with an address and a person in charge for every expense
- 04Cost driverWhat makes each cost go up: machine hours, jobs, quotes, or orders
Part 2 · Part 2 · Allocate without fooling yourself
- 05Variable costing and absorption costingTwo ways to count cost, and why they show two different profits
- 06Cost per machine hourWhat every hour the machine runs costs you, and every hour it sits idle
- 07Allocation by product and serviceFixed cost divided by use, not by sales
- 08Activity-based costingQuoting, measuring, drawing, and billing: the office time each product line really takes
- 09The allocation trapWhy cutting the product that seems to lose money can leave you with less profit
Part 3 · Part 3 · Cost by order, customer, and channel
- 10Cost per orderWhat each order costs to get through the business, and where to set the minimum
- 11Cost to serve each customerVisits, redos, and payment terms: the customer who buys the same and costs you more
- 12Cost by channelShowroom, referral, job site, and resale: the overhead each channel uses up
- 13The customer profit curveThe customers who pay the bills, and the ones who eat everyone else's profit
Part 4 · Part 4 · Hidden costs
- 14Hidden cost auditSix places costs hide, each with a monthly amount and someone in charge
- 15Material waste and reworkThe scrap above target and the piece made twice, counted in money
- 16Idle timeCapacity you pay for and don't use, kept apart from product cost
- 17Freight, delivery, and installationThe wasted trip and the second visit that never made it into the quote
- 18Warranty and after-sales serviceA reserve for what comes back, based on your past claims
Part 5 · Part 5 · Budget and cut without losing sales
- 19Fixed contract reviewRent, insurance, software, and maintenance, reread once a year
- 20Zero-based budgetingEvery expense line justified from zero: keep, reduce, or cut
- 21Annual cost budgetA ceiling for each cost center, month by month, with fixed and variable costs kept apart
- 22Actual vs. budgetThe month's variance split into price and quantity, with an action for each
- 23Target cost for a new productThe market sets the price, and the cost is what has to fit under it
- 24Where to cut without losing salesThe customer test before every cut, and the things you never cut
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You sell well, your team works hard, and at the end of the month there's little left to show for it
- You suspect a product, customer, or channel is losing money, and you can't tell which one
- You've cut expenses before when money was tight, and the profit didn't come back
- You want a cost budget with a ceiling for each area and a monthly check of actual against budget
It's not for you if
- You still mix business money with household money. Start with The Owner's Finances Handbook
- You need to get your cash flow and monthly results in order first. That's The Cash Flow and Profit Handbook
- You want to set your selling price. See The Service Pricing Handbook or The Product Pricing Handbook
- You want to know which accounting rules apply in your country. That's your accountant's job, and The Small Business Tax Paperwork Handbook
Frequently asked questions
My business is small. Do I really need cost centers?
With three or four people, two or three centers are enough: make, sell, and run the business. What matters is that every expense has an address and someone in charge of it.
Do I need to know cost accounting?
No. The handbook is intermediate level, but terms like absorption costing and contribution margin are explained in plain English, with the stone shop's numbers, and the spreadsheet does the math once you enter your month.
My accountant's numbers are different from what this allocation shows. Which one is right?
Both. Your accountant follows accounting rules, almost always with absorption costing. The allocation in this handbook is a decision tool for you, the owner. It doesn't replace your accountant.
I don't track machine hours or anyone's time. Can I still start?
Yes. For two weeks, write down machine hours and how long each activity takes, in a notebook if that's what you have. After that, check the estimate once a quarter.
How much time does this take?
About 2 hours and 24 minutes of reading, or 6 minutes per tool, plus the exercises. Once it's set up, the monthly routine is about two hours: one to enter the month and one for the actual vs. budget meeting. The hidden cost audit and the customer curve come once a quarter.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
CONSYLION HANDBOOK SERIES
The 6 departments of your business, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks.
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One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Finance · Nº 51
Stop cutting whatever shows up first
The ads and the showroom displays are easy to cut, and sometimes they're exactly what brings in the sales. This handbook gives you the tools, the spreadsheet, and a worked example to see where the money really goes before you cut anything, and to ask the customer test every time.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.