$$ How do costs and expenses differ? $$ How would you define indirect costs $($overhead costs$)?$ What are some rules of allocating indirect costs to cost objects $($i$.$e$.,$ logic or criteria of selecting allocation bases$)?$ Why inappropriate methods of overhead allocation can distort profitability analysis? $$ Advantages of using contribution margin over gross margin $($or operating income$)$ Cost$-$volume$-$profit relationship, price$-$volume tradeoff effect on contribution margin $$ Implication of operating leverage on business decisions $$ Benefits of activity analysis: more reasonable cost allocation, pricing, cost reduction initiatives, $...$ How to identify relevant cost, incremental cost, or differential cost between alternative options? $$ How firms can incorporate cost information into pricing? $$ Things to consider in evaluating performance against a certain type of performance benchmark