A certified public accountant is one who has earned a license in his or her state that attests to a high degree of skill, training, and experience. In addition to passing an accounting examination, a candidate must have the proper business experience, education, and moral character in order to qualify for the license. The letters CPA are commonly used and generally recognized to be the abbreviation for the title Certified Public Accountant.
For manufactured goods, direct costs also include raw materials, labor, and production expenses. Other costs, such as transportation and advertising, are not included in COGS. To calculate COGS, beginning inventory is added to current period purchases, and ending inventory is then deducted.
Direct cost of sales, or cost of goods sold (COGs), measures the amount of cash a company spends to produce a good or a service sold by the company. The direct cost of sales only includes the expenses directly related to production. The direct costs generally include direct materials, direct labor, utilities and shipping costs. COGs is reported on a company's income statement and may be considered an expense. There are several ways to calculate COGs.