It is estimated that over 80% of the Worlds manufacturers use some form of standard costing as their primary method of product costing. The CEO of a small manufacturer reads this statement in a management journal. As the business has been expanding and product costing is becoming more complex the CEO decides that perhaps they should also move to a standard costing system and asks the management accounting team to prepare for a meeting to discuss the pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages) of moving to this type of costing system. Other background information includes the following: The firm has recently secured large financial capital backing (an investor has made considerable funding available) and this has been used to invest in mostly automated machinery and plant so they can successfully compete for large contract work. Direct labour has become a much smaller cost compared to overheads and indirect costs and the company is constantly seeking skilled labour and operators for the new machin