what s the difference between variable costing and absorption costing 
absorption costing and variable costing treat fixed overhead costs differently absorption costing allocates fixed overhead costs across all units produced for the period variable costing on the other hand adds all fixed overhead costs together and reports the expense as one line item separate from the cost of goods sold or still available for sale in other words variable costing will yield one lump sum expense line item for fixed overhead costs when calculating net income while absorption costing will result in two categories of fixed overhead costs those attributable to the cost of goods sold and those attributable to inventory 