2. COST ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS FOR IS ORGANIZATIONS › 2.4 Transaction Accounting › 2.4.1 Resource Accounting/Transaction Accounting Examples

2.4.1 Resource Accounting/Transaction Accounting Examples

The examples below illustrate the difference between
current resource accounting approaches and transaction
accounting.  They compare a traditional batch charge-out case
to TSO transaction accounting examples.


BATCH SYSTEM EXAMPLE

A batch payroll system consists of numerous program processes
that are directed at updating the master payroll file and
producing payroll checks and associated accounting reports
such as the check register report.  The data center most
likely accumulates charges either at the job or job step
level based on the programs executed and the computing
resources used, in accordance with some of the charging
methods previously discussed.  The actual charges to the user
are expressed in terms the data center is able to measure,
such as:

JOBNAME       PROGRAM    TOTAL     CPU      I/O    MEMORY
                         CHARGE    COST     COST   COST

PAYDAILY     PAYEDIT     $241.56   $81.26  $138.21   $22.09
PAYDAILY     SORT        $534.87   $53.35  $401.63   $79.89
PAYDAILY     PAYUPDTD    $310.36  $156.23  $102.39   $51.74
PAYWEEKLY    PAYGROUP    $623.90   $68.45  $498.75   $56.70
PAYWEEKLY    SORT      $1,344.03  $246.80  $958.29  $138.94
PAYMONTH     PAYCHECK    $931.56  $105.90  $741.56   $84.10

The data center views program execution as the base unit for
accounting, an approach that is not necessarily well
understood by users and that offers little applicability to
the business process.

The user of the payroll system, in this case the payroll
department, would probably prefer to have its charges
expressed in terms of the numbers of employees maintained in
the system or the number of checks produced.  For example,
the payroll department could have been charged $36.45 per
month for each salaried employee maintained in the payroll
system.  This transaction accounting approach provides a cost
that is directly related to the business process and one that
provides a stable means to control, evaluate, and plan for
expenditures.

The batch payroll system is a straightforward illustration of
the difference between existing resource charging approaches
and transaction accounting.


ONLINE SYSTEM EXAMPLE

A more dramatic example is illustrated with the use of online
systems such as TSO, IMS, or CICS.  Consider the use of TSO
for program development and the simple problem of updating
and compiling a COBOL program under TSO.

Assume that the user of the TSO service, the application
programmer, has made 25 source program update changes through
the TSO EDIT sub-command facilities, then compiled the
program interactively.  Most data centers would consider the
resources (CPU, I/O, etc.) used during the TSO terminal
session as the base for charges.  In other words, a user
would be charged for all the processes completed during the
terminal session, including the update and compilation work.
However, this approach provides no breakdown of the types of
work done by the programmer or the associated charges.  The
programmer thus has little cost information with which to
evaluate and control the use of computing resources or the
design of specific programs from a cost standpoint.

This example of TSO usage illustrates the advantages of
transaction accounting.  If a standard fee had been
established for each TSO EDIT sub-command (for example, $0.03
per EDIT line change), resulting in a source program updating
charge of $0.75 (25 EDIT line changes at $0.03 per change),
each of the TSO EDIT sub-commands invoked could have been
charged out.  Additionally, because the processing of a COBOL
compilation is a data dependent process, the COBOL source
statement could be considered the transaction in this case.
With this qualification, it would be possible for the data
center to charge out interactive COBOL compilations on a per
source statement basis (for example, $0.05 per COBOL source
statement).