The concept of depreciation is also credited to the railroad era, when railroad owners allocated the cost of their trains over time, but Rosenthal notes that slave owners were doing this before then.

FORBES: The Messy Link Between Slave Owners and Modern Management

In a statement, the council said it was not possible to calculate the exact amount it spent on bottled water because it was not allocated a specific cost code in its records.

BBC: RELATED BBC SITES

The rule also established reforms for cost allocation, most notably that costs allocated to a transmission facility must be roughly commensurate with estimated benefits.

FORBES: New Transmission Lines: Coming to an Area Near You?

There is also an opportunity cost: money, time, and people allocated to customer A are resources not available for customers B, C, or D.

FORBES: How to Break Through a Growth Stall

The second reason is that if you can track the success of advertising, especially if you can follow sales leads, then marketing ceases to be just a cost-centre, with an arbitrary budget allocated to it.

ECONOMIST: Internet advertising

Each company has been allocated similar areas of the city to service, and their cost and performance will be compared with that of the public sector.

ECONOMIST: City and private-sector workers go bin-to-bin

As well as supporting artists with the cost of performing at the Fringe, money can also be allocated to help Scottish artists or performing companies take up international touring opportunities arising from the Fringe.

BBC: Scots Edinburgh Festival Fringe musicians offered cash

Every resource that is allocated to a free user and every hour in support spent helping a free user come at the cost of a paying user.

FORBES: Why Freemium Isn't Free