Total absorption costing (TAC) is a method of Accounting cost which entails the full cost of manufacturing or providing a service. TAC includes not just the costs of materials and labour, but also of all manufacturing overheads (whether ‘fixed’ or ‘variable’). One of the main reasons for absorbing overheads into the cost of units is for inventory valuation purposes.
Traditional TAC was developed in the age of manufacturing and mostly used to arrive at the full manufacturing cost of producing goods; an alternative method of arriving at full cost known as activity-based costing (ABC) is often thought to be more appropriate for services.