Activity Cost Worksheet

Intro

An Activity Cost Worksheet is a matrix used to assign and analyse costs associated with activities within processes. In EA and BPM, it helps quantify effort, resources, and cost drivers to inform optimisation.

Key points:

• Links activities to cost elements (time, resources, overhead)
• Supports prioritisation of improvement and rationalisation
• Common use cases: process costing, ROI analysis, capability budgeting, benchmarking, cost‑to‑serve
• Pitfall: poor data quality or assumptions can skew decisions

Examples:

• Costing each step in an order‑to‑cash process
• Comparing manual vs automated activity costs
• Allocating overhead across activities for true cost‑to‑serve

In practice:

Combine worksheets with performance metrics to target high‑impact improvements.

Related terms: Activity; Process; Benchmarks

FAQs:

Q: What inputs are needed?
A: Activity definitions, time/resource data, cost rates, and volumes.

Q: How is it used in optimisation?
A: Identify high‑cost activities, test automation or redesign, and measure impact.

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