How to use the Regulatory burden measure | Guidance notes
Form 3 – create activity costing
About this form
Here, you name your activity, choose the cost category it belongs to, then cost the activity. You can create one or more activities for a task.
This form is step-by-step. You make a choice, then click the Apply button to make the next choice. The Apply buttons change the form to suit the choices you’ve made. Note: If you have Javascript turned on, you won't see the Apply buttons.
Handy links
What to include
Handy hint! You can fill in the activity name now, save your work and return later to calculate your costs.
Activity name
This is a short description/title of the activity costing. Make it as clear and descriptive as possible, but keep it short (no more than 8 words).
It helps you tell the difference between one activity and another.
Cost category
Pick the cost category that's relevant to your activity costing. Click the Apply button (if you don't have JavaScript turned on).
The next set of choices will be available.
Important! What you choose here will affect your next set of choices.
Cost type
Choose the radio button that fits the type of cost you're trying to calculate. Is it an outsourced cost or an internal cost? And, if an outsourced cost, is it a product or service?
Start-up or ongoing
Choose the radio button that shows whether the cost is a one-off cost or a cost that will happen several times over a certain period. Click the Apply button (if you don't have JavaScript turned on).
Important! Not all the options below will be available. It depends on what radio buttons you clicked on.
Ongoing year
This is the year your activity costing relates to – the year the activity will be done.
This only appears if your costs will change from year to year (that is, your costs are variable). You choose this when you set up your constraints.
Size of entity affected by activity
The selections you made at the option level will appear here, and these will vary for each segment. For example, if your activity is for the business or community organisation segment, you may see one or more of the following: small, medium, large, community organisation. Click the relevant radio button .
Number of entities affected by activity
This is the actual number of entities affected by the activity.
You can round the number up or down or provide exact numbers.
Important! The number you enter must be less than or equal to the corresponding number you entered at the option level.
Number of times service purchased per year
This shows how often you'll purchase the service over a year. Enter 1 if you'll only purchase the service once a year, 2 if you'll purchase it twice a year, and so on.
Number of times product purchased per year
This shows how often you'll purchase the product over a year. Enter 1 if you'll only purchase the product once a year, 2 if you'll purchase it twice a year, and so on.
You can also enter a fraction. If a licence is renewed once every three years then the fraction to enter would be 1/3=0.3333.
Purchase cost per activity
This is the cost of materials, equipment, and so on that you need to purchase.
Service cost per activity ($)
This is the cost of the services performed by the external organisation.
Number of people per entity performing activity
This is the number of people per entity who'll be doing the activity, such as the number of staff per business, or the number of community members.
Number of times activity performed per year
This is the number of times you'll do the activity over a year. Enter 1 if you'll only do the activity once a year, 2 if you'll do it twice in a year, and so on.
You can also enter a fraction. If a licence is renewed once every three years then the fraction to enter would be 1/3=0.3333.
Average time of each person to do activity (in hours)
Add all the times each person will take to do the activity and give the average time - 2 for 2 hours, 160 for 160 hours and so on.
Labour cost ($/hr) (wage + non-wage labour costs)
For businesses and community organisations this is the cost of the labour of your staff, such as their salaries added together. Here, you must also include any taxes or other non-wage labour costs, such as superannuation. For individuals, you are essentially costing the value of their leisure time.
Level of certainty of ALL costing info
Choose the radio button showing how certain you are the info you’ve entered is correct. The level of certainty relates to ALL the info you’ve entered.
Supporting evidence
This is any evidence that supports the info you’ve entered into the form. This includes info you entered in the number of entities affected, labour cost field and so on.
You don't have to fill in this field, but it will help make your case.
What next?
When you’ve filled in the form, click the Add this activity/cost button. You'll see the activity costing appear in the list.
Click the Cancel button to exit the form. This will not save anything you’ve entered.
Handy links
Any problems?
Error messages
You might see an error message if you don't fill in a field.
You can't save the activity costing until you follow the instructions in the message that appears.
You'll also see an error message if the number of businesses is greater than the number of businesses you entered for the option.