What are Utilities Expenses?

Examples

For Example, the accountant of Company Y ltd is confused that all the expenses out of the below-mentioned incurred expenditure for August 2019 should be treated as the utility expenses of the company for the period or not. Calculate the total value of utility expenses out of the total below-mentioned expenses of the company during the period:

  • Telephone Bills: $1,000Gas Bill: $500Rent Expenses: $2,400Salary Paid: $150,000Electricity Expenses: $1,100Water Charges: $350

Solution:

Utilities Expenses are the cost that the company incurs during a period to avail of the services provided by the public utility companies in the place of operation like the telephone facility, electricity, gas, water, sewer, etc. Out of the expenses mentioned above, Telephone bills, Gas Bill, Electricity expenses, and water charges will be considered, as these are the services for which the infrastructure provided by the public utility companies is used. For the rest of the expenses, i.e., rent and salary, there is no use of the services provided by the public utility companies, so they will not be considered.

  • Total Utilities Expenses = Telephone bills + Gas Bill + Electricity expenses + Water charges= $ 1,000 + $ 500+ $ 1,100 + $ 350= $ 2,950

Important Points

  • A cost that the company incurs during a period to avail of the services provided by the public utility companies is known as the Utilities Expenses.All the costs that a company incurs on the utility expense related to its manufacturing operations are considered part of the total factory overheadFactory OverheadFactory Overhead, also called Factory Burden, is the total of all the indirect expenses related to the production of goods such as Quality Assurance Salaries, Factory Rent, & Factory Building Insurance etc. read more of the company. These costs are then allocated based on the total number of units produced during the period in which such expenses are incurred. Now, these will be considered as part of the closing inventoryClosing InventoryClosing stock or inventory is the amount that a company still has on its hand at the end of a financial period. It may include products getting processed or are produced but not sold. Raw materials, work in progress, and final goods are all included on a broad level.read more against those goods produced during the year but not sold in that year and thus will not be charged as an expense in that period.It is generally the policy of the utility companies to take some amount as the deposit from the customer at the beginning of the period when the customer starts taking the facility from the utility companies. This deposit will be recorded as an asset by the company on its balance sheetBalance SheetA balance sheet is one of the financial statements of a company that presents the shareholders’ equity, liabilities, and assets of the company at a specific point in time. It is based on the accounting equation that states that the sum of the total liabilities and the owner’s capital equals the total assets of the company.read more and not charged as an expense because such a deposit will be returned when the company stops availing of the facility.

Conclusion

Utilities Expenses in accounting are the cost that the company incurs during a period to avail of the services provided by the public utility companies in the place of operation of the company like the telephone facility, electricity, gas, water, sewer, etc. The company calculates these expenses incurred in the accounting period are calculatedAccounting Period Are CalculatedAccounting Period refers to the period in which all financial transactions are recorded and financial statements are prepared. This might be quarterly, semi-annually, or annually, depending on the period for which you want to create the financial statements to be presented to investors so that they can track and compare the company’s overall performance.read more and the same remains as the liability until the company makes the payment to the respective service provider. Most of the utilities are the basic utilities without which the organization will not be able to continue its operations and thus plays an essential part in the organization’s work.

This article has been a guide to Utilities Expenses. Here we discuss the example of Utilities Expenses in accounting, such as telephone, gas, electricity, etc., along with advantages and disadvantages. You can learn more about accounting from the following articles –

  • Incurred Cost MeaningSG&A Expenses MeaningNon-Operating Expenses MeaningList of Operating Expenses