Film Accounting Glossary
Unallocated
What is unallocated?
Also called unallocated cost, or unassigned cost.
Unallocated cost is spending that has been recorded but not yet assigned to a department, account, episode, or production.
It is a normal temporary state and a serious reporting problem if it persists, because unallocated cost is invisible in every department's variance while still being real. Productions clear unallocated balances before each cost report so no department is reviewing an incomplete picture of its own spend.
Example
At the week-four cut-off, $58,000 sits unallocated. Every department reviews a variance built on incomplete data until it is cleared, so four department heads sign off on numbers that are quietly wrong.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Cleared to zero before each cost report is issued, so no department reports on a partial picture of its own spend.
Common mistake
Issuing a cost report with a material unallocated balance. Every department then reviews a variance built on incomplete data and signs off on it.
Related questions
- What is unallocated cost on a production?
- Spending recorded in the ledger but not yet assigned to a department, account, episode, or production.
- Why must unallocated cost be cleared before reporting?
- Because it is invisible in every department's variance while still being real, so the report understates the departments it actually belongs to.