Standard cost card

Standard cost card: a single document listing the standard quantity and price of materials, labour and overhead to make one unit, the reference for computing every cost variance.

ByHoang TruongUpdated July 5, 2026

See it move

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A furniture maker's standard cost card for one chair lists materials at €12.00, from 3kg of pine at €4.00 per kg, labour at €19.00, from 2 hours at €9.50 per hour, variable overhead at €6.00, and fixed overhead at €10.00, stacking to a standard cost of €47.00 per chair. Producing 500 chairs budgets a total standard cost of €23,500.

Where it fits

TopicFoundations & Cost ClassificationCoreSubjectManagerial AccountingCoreTopicStandard Costing & Variance AnalysisCore

The formula

LaTeX

SC = \sum_i (q_i \times p_i)

Variables

$S C$: Standard cost per unit (€)
$q_{i}$: Standard quantity of input i needed per unit (input units per output unit)
$p_{i}$: Standard price or rate per unit of input i (€)

Builds the standard cost card total from each cost element's standard input quantity and standard price or rate.

Check yourself

PracticeCORE

A bakery's standard cost card for one loaf of bread shows: flour, 0.6kg at €0.90 per kg; labour, 0.2 hours at €14.00 per hour; and variable overhead, 0.2 hours at €2.50 per hour. What is the standard cost per loaf?

Select an answer to check your understanding.