The cost accounting team is responsible for providing relevant controlling data to university decision-makers and to decision-makers in the state Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg (MWK).
We also create cost and fee calculations for services that the university provides to third parties. We are further responsible for providing the legally required EU budget separation accounting services that the University of Konstanz can and must use to document that it makes a strict difference between research funds (e.g. the above-named contract research that is financed with recourse to market prices) and budget funds reserved for its sovereign responsibilities (general research and teaching activities funded by the taxpayer). In addition, the cost accounting team provides the data needed to make financially relevant decisions (e.g. investments and professorial appointments). We deliver data relating to the so-called product-oriented budget to the MWK, i.e. information about the costs incurred by the university for the provision of study opportunities in various subjects.
To be able to perform these duties, we access the university’s book keeping records (esp. incoming and outgoing payments) and fixed asset accounting (esp. write-offs), add additional imputed data (e.g. calculatory rent for state-owned buildings) and assign it to types of cost such as “staff expenses” or “office supplies”, “laboratory supplies”, “catering services” etc. (what is called cost-type accounting). These types of cost are then assigned to the various cost centres (e.g. administration, departments, library) that they originate in (i.e. cost centre accounting). To perform the above-mentioned calculations, the cost accounting team assigns all costs to so-called cost units - e.g. study programmes, research projects etc. that incur these costs (cost unit accounting).