Do prior department costs behave similarly to direct materials cost? - Answers

Prior department costs behave the same as direct materials, which are typically added at the start of production. They are treated separately because they represent the accumulation of costs from previous departments rather than the receipt of materials from the stores area. It is helpful to separate prior department costs from other costs because the manager of the department receiving the transferred units has no control over the costs incurred in prior departments. Thus, the prior department costs are not useful for evaluating the performance of the manager of the department receiving the units.