Support costs are those expenditures not directly incurred in the production process, but which are needed to keep manufacturing operations running. These costs do not directly vary with changes in unit volume, and so are considered part of factory overhead.

Examples of Support Costs

Examples of support costs are as follows:

Quality assurance department. This department monitors product quality levels through the production process.
Maintenance department. This department provides both scheduled and emergency maintenance service to the equipment in the manufacturing area.
Procurement department. This department sources goods and services for the manufacturing operation, including contract negotiations and order monitoring.