look in the kitchen ... includes two PDF files

Anyone who has made themselves familiar with our work over the last few years will know that we recommend that anyone who finds that it is difficult to get to grips with business studies, cost accounting and many of the other aspects of the world of work in general should work in a kitchen for a while. It doesn't have to be an industrial kitchen either. Any kitchen will do.

Why do we recommend a trip to the kitchen: what on earth has it got to offer the business studies and accounting student and practitioner? Look as we unravel just some of the key topics that can be explored even in the smallest kitchen:

• logistics
• cost accumulation
• yield and waste
• job processing and costing
• batch processing and costing
• process processing and costing
• service processing and costing
• marketing
• total quality control
• and more

Are we serious? Yes! Look at our explanations now:

logistics shopping, transport, storage, bills of materials (recipes!), cost tables ...
cost accumulation as you prepare a meal or snack you can readily identify the direct and indirect costs ... raw materials and direct labour costs (opportunity costs at least) and then consider your overheads ... rent/mortgage, electricity, gas, cost of use of equipment and machinery
yield and waste you put one kilogramme of ingredients in but a one and a half kilogramme loaf comes out or you put 500 grammes of potatoes and 1 litre of water in and just 510 grammes of mashed potatoes come out ... how do you calculate that and account for it?
job processing and costing each meal may be a job ... you do it just once and everything is prepared there and then
batch processing and costing you harvest your apples from a tree in the garden and cook and freeze them ... all 15 kilogrammes of them at one time
process processing and costing you are working with your parents or friends at preparing for a big barbecue party ... you form a chain as you wash the vegetables, your father peels them and your mother finishes them off
service processing and costing the meal is ready and you need to organise the plating up and/or the storage and/or the serving of it ... don't forget the washing up!
marketing persuading your captive audience that the carrot and carraway soup you have just crafted is the best soup they will ever taste (aside: you should try it by the way as it is delicious and takes around 5 minutes to prepare, 15 minutes to cook and a life time to appreciate)
total quality control you don't buy rotten fruit and vegetables do you or cook and serve badly prepared or mouldy dishes? You do make sure that the dishes, plates and utensils you use are fit for purpose, clean and safe don't you?
and more there's loads more to think about here and it's all there, right in the centre of your house or flat.

So, spend a bit more time in the kitchen and you'll be doing yourself a favour! Take time, though, to take a look at the two PDF files that accompany this page ... click on each graphic to go there.