As a group, you are planning to establish a partnership supplying examination advice and tuition to school pupils in their homes. Each course of lessons will be regarded as a single ‘job’. Courses may vary in length and in target ability level, depending on the requirements of the pupil to be tutored. Divide the group to take on three different roles. One role is that of a tutor who is also a member of the partnership, sharing equally the profits of the business. The second role is that of the accountancy adviser to the partnership. The third role is that of a parent making enquiries about the price charged and the justification for that price. Each member of the group should take on one of the three roles and separately make a note of:

(a). The expected costs of a job (in terms of types of cost).

(b). How you would justify the costs (if supplying the service).

(c). How you would question the costs (if receiving the service).

Then all members of the group should come together, compare answers, and finally prepare a joint report on the problems of job costing in a service business.