Development of a nomenclature of expenses for maritime logistics companies

M aritime logistics companies perform an important task in logistics. Efficiency of their performance is determined with accurate accounting of all expenses in a shipping company. This can contribute into more rational exploitation of the company’s resources. Most shipping companies transport cargoes and passengers both domestically and internationally under different regulating documents which define overall expenses and do not account for specific features of maritime logistics companies, therefore a lack of the unified approach to the nomenclature of their expenses is particularly a burning issue. The purpose of this research is to develop the nomenclature of expenses for a maritime logistics company. The analysis of typical classifications of expenses associated with the shipping companies revealed some limitations in terms of defining direct expenses. The proposed nomenclature of expenses gives detailed variable and fixed expenses which could identify breakeven shipping volumes and manage the costs of shipping services. The paper describes the algorithm for presenting the expenses in the balance sheets accounts. Unexpected expenses, including expenses associated with the emergencies and equipment failures, are defined. The analysis of the unplanned expenses for several reporting periods could help allocate special funds for these expenses. The paper shows the possibilities for integrating the proposed nomenclature of expenses of maritime logistics companies under the IFRS principles. Further research is seen to be connected with testing the proposed tools with the data of the shipping companies.