Startups Stack Exchange Archive

Should tooling development costs be included in r&d or manufacturing costs?

Are the costs involved with making custom tooling and production methods for a new technology typically considered R&D costs or are they factored in to the cost of manufacturing the product?

Answer 13382

As for any product development, yes it shouldn’t basically be a part of your R&D cost since there is no way to reliably measure the future economic benefits of those costs.

Answer 13710

If it carries a certain level of risk in terms of the first iteration is not guaranteed, prototyping may be required or it could fail to give improvements altogether before you decide to stop putting money into this project, it’s R&D. If it’s just buying something that upgrades your equipment, it’s probably a production cost.


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