How to Calculate Standard Unit Cost | Bizfluent

How to Calculate Standard Unit Cost

Written By
Carter McBride
Carter McBride
Jun 25, 2010
1 minute read

Standard unit cost is a cost and managerial accounting concept. It is used for determining variance accounting. The standard unit cost is the amount a company should pay for each uni, and it is the company's estimated amount. During the year, unit prices tend to fluctuate, and the company will either pay more or less than they should have paid. The standard cost is compared to the actual costs to determine variances.

Determine how much of the unit you think you will need within a given time period. For example, Firm A estimates they will need 100,000 widgets for this month. This is the standard unit.

Determine the standard price you expect to pay per unit. For example, Firm A looks over previous periods' accounts and sees that it usually pays about $3 per widget. This is the standard cost

Multiply the standard units by the standard cost to determine standard unit cost. In our example, 100,000 times $3 equals $300,000.

References

Carter McBride

Carter McBride started writing in 2007 with CMBA's IP section. He has written for Bureau of National Affairs, Inc and various websites. He received a CALI Award for The Actual Impact of MasterCard's Initial Public Offering in 2008. McBride…

Bizfluent Logo

Bizfluent equips entrepreneurs with the tools and tactics they need to build and grow their small businesses, from starting a first venture to refreshing an established one.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.