Explicit Cost vs Implicit Cost: Difference and Comparison

An organization’s costs include all its expenses when converting raw materials into finished products. Actual expenditure on inputs and the owner’s imputed value of the information are included in the cost.

The former is known as a direct cost, and the latter as an implicit cost. The firm should be able to differentiate between the two terms, as a failure to do so can have disastrous results.

Key Takeaways

1. Explicit costs are monetary expenses incurred by a business, such as wages, rent, and utilities.
2. Implicit costs represent the opportunity cost of using resources in one way rather than another, including the owner’s time and potential income from alternative investments.
3. Both explicit and implicit costs contribute to a company’s total economic costs, which impact profitability and decision-making.

Explicit Cost vs Implicit Cost

Explicit cost refers to the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by a firm in producing a good or service. These costs can be easily identified and measured. Implicit cost refers to the opportunity cost of using a firm’s existing resources to produce a good or service instead of renting or selling it out in the market.

Direct cost is the actual money expenditure on inputs or payments made outside for hiring their factor services. It involves actual money payment on buying and hiring inputs.

Paying wages to employees, paying rent on land, and purchasing raw materials are examples of these expenses. 

Implicit cost is the estimated value of the inputs supplied by the owner or the cost of self-supplied factors. It involves the input value of a factor owned by the firm.

There is no money involved. Some examples include interest in the capital, rent or own land, the entrepreneur’s salary, etc.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Explicit Cost	Implicit Cost
Definition	Implicit cost is a cost that does not have a monetary value. They are, instead inputs that a company owns.	Direct cost is also known as Out Pocket costs.
Alternative name	Direct cost is neatly defined in the books.	Implicit cost is also known as Imputed cost or Opportunity cost.
Records	Direct cost is considered to calculate both the accounting and the economic profit.	Implicit cost is not recorded in the books.
Consideration	The estimation of a direct cost is objective.	Implicit cost is considered only to calculate the economic profit.
Estimation	Direct costs can be tracked easily in the market.	The estimation of an implicit cost is subjective.
Tracking	Explicit costs can be tracked easily in the market.	Implicit costs cannot be tracked that easily in the market.
Example	Rent, wages, salaries, advertisement, etc.	Owners salary, owners rent, owner’s capital interest, etc.

What is an Explicit Cost?

Direct costs consist of actual payments for inputs or fees made to outside parties as factoring services. Direct prices include actual charges for information such as purchasing and hiring.

These expenses include paying wages to employees, paying rent on land, and purchasing raw materials. 

Direct cost is also known as Out Pocket costs. Direct cost is neatly defined in the books. Direct cost is considered to calculate both the accounting and the economic profit.

The estimation of a direct cost is objective. Direct costs can be tracked easily in the market.

Explicit costs occur during the production process or throughout the business. Payments in direct expenses are made to outsiders during the company’s running. The charges demonstrate that the company has exchanged funds. 

To keep track of the direct costs, firms must record and observe theThis enables the firm to understand its profit margin.de.

Furthermore, the number of direct costs spent can help businesses make critical decisions regarding cost-cutting, lowering the quality of expensive products, or production control. 

What is an Implicit Cost?

An implicit cost is the estimated value of inputs the owner provides or self-supplied factors. This involves input values of elements owned by the firm. It is not a financial transaction.

There are many examples, such as interest in the capital, rent on the land, and the entrepreneur’s salary.

Implicit cost is also known as Imputed cost or Opportunity cost. Implicit cost is not recorded in the books. Implicit cost is considered only to calculate the economic profit.

The estimation of an implicit cost is subjective. Implicit costs cannot be tracked that easily in the market.

There are no actual monetary transactions involved in implicit costs. The company is sacrificing something that already belongs to them to keep the production process going.

An implicit cost is associated with an asset the company uses instead of being leased out.

Keeping track of implicit costs is difficult because the organization does not incur them. Implicit costs have a significant impact on a company’s profitability. Implicit costs also affect the performance of a business.

Main Differences Between Explicit Cost and Implicit Cost

1. Direct cost is the costs an organization pays directly to the market for goods and services necessary for production. Therefore, it is also known as Out Pocket costs, while implicit cost has no monetary value. It is instead all the inputs that a company owns. Therefore, Implicit cost is also known as Imputed cost or Opportunity cost.
2. Explicit cost is nicely reflected in the books, whereas implicit cost does not appear.
3. Explicit cost is used to calculate accounting and economic profit, whereas implicit cost is only used to calculate economic profit.
4. Explicit cost is measured objectively, whereas implicit cost is measured subjectively.
5. Tracking explicit cost in the market is easier, whereas implicit cost is more challenging.

References

1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3664969
2. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdf/10.1257/aer.99.2.424

Last Updated : 13 July, 2023