Cavinti, Laguna — The primary motivation in starting a business is to make a profit. Whether the owner makes a profit or not depends on the pricing of the products and services offered. Entrepreneurs consider pricing as one of the most important factors in business. They must know the price customers are willing to pay for the product or service.
Understanding the right costing will provide answer to the question, “Are my products/services priced too high or too low?” In general, consumers want to have the best bang for their buck.
In order to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to have a broader sense of Business Costing, the Negosyo Center (NC) Cavinti of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Laguna provincial office conducted its second run of the SME Roving Academy (SMERA) entitled “Understanding Business Costing for MSMEs” last 19 August 2021 held via Facebook livestream and Zoom. The session was spearheaded by Wilfredo V. Dangue, CPA and Instructor II of Laguna State Polytechnic University, Los Baños Laguna Branch.
New and potential entrepreneurs from different municipalities and cities participated in the said webinar. There were participants from Davao, Cavite, Manila, Bulacan, Los Baños, Nagcarlan, Calamba and Cabuyao.
The program was hosted by Negosyo Center Business Counselors (NCBCs)/Master of Ceremony (MC), Josephine A. Ballesteros of NC Cavinti. It was commenced with an opening prayer led by the Business Counselor and was immediately followed brief introduction of DTI Laguna’s Provincial Director (PD) Clarke S. Nebrao for opening remarks. The MSME participants were warmly welcomed and acknowledged for their efforts to take time and participate despite their busy schedules. PD Clarke also acknowledged participants from different provinces, noting that the webinars are not only for Cavintiins but also for the aspiring and existing entrepreneurs nationwide.
After the warm welcome remarks of PD Clarke this was then followed by a brief introduction of the speaker by the Business Counsellor.
The resource speaker began his five-part session with a comprehensive discussion on financial, managerial, cost accounting and the difference between merchandizing and manufacturing operations. Dangue reminded the participants to take down notes for them to keep up as well. He carefully discussed the topics through flow charts and simple examples.
The second and third part of the session proceeded with the discussion about job order costing and process costing, two types of costing systems dedicated to special order products or one-of-a-kind product and for bulk manufacturing. Dangue shared to participants the major differences between the two costing systems again in a simple yet approachable manner. He also mentioned that a separate discussion should be conducted for the two costing systems as they are a bit tricky and tedious.
The fourth part of his discussion was all about cost classifications which includes variable cost, fixed cost and mixed cost. He carefully tackled each classification and presented examples in a tabular form for an easier approach. He also shared to participants the meaning of Break Even Point. Last part of his presentation were all about cost classifications according to cost object, planning and control, time frame perspective, decision making and analytical purpose.
After his lengthy yet informative session he proceeded to discussing some tips for starting a small business. Sharing some insights, reminders and even encouragement to entrepreneurs to keep on pushing and continue the hard work started. An open question and answer portion was done before proceeding to award the Certificate of Appreciation to Dangue. This was then followed by closing remarks delivered by none other than our Business Division Development Chief Marcelina Alcantara.
The SMERA on Understanding Business Costing for MSMEs was concluded by accomplishing of Client Survey Form from DTI Laguna and LSPU Los Baños digitally. The Business Counselor also invited the participants to the schedules of the upcoming webinars for the last week of August organized by other NC of Laguna. Participants were also invited to like the official DTI-Laguna Facebook Page to learn more about free upcoming webinars by NC. Moreover, information regarding sending of their e-certificates of participation and copy of the resource speaker’s presentation were divulged.
The BC formally ended the session acknowledging again the participants and generosity of the speaker in sharing his time to help MSMEs. ♦
Date of Release: 9 September 2021