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Opportunity Cost
Opportunity cost is a cost associated with a decision that includes both the explicitand implicitcosts. The unique aspect of opportunity cost is that it also includes costs associated with making an alternate decision. The costs associated with an alternative are called implicit costs. The accounting cost of making a decision is called the explicit cost.

While explicit, or accounting, costs are fairly easy to calculate, implicit costs are not as easy. Measuring the cost of the best foregone alternative can be not as easy as anticipated. By reading this Wiki right now, you are paying an implicit cost of your next best alternative. This can and often will be different for everyone. For you, it may be that the next best alternative instead of reading this is watching television. For someone else, it may be Surfing the internet.

IMPLICIT COST
A cost that is represented by lost opportunity in the use of a company's own resources, excluding cash. These are intangible costs that are not easily accounted for. For example, the time and effort that an owner puts into the maintenance of thecompany|companyrather than working on expansion.

EXPLICIT COST
A business expense that is easily identified and accounted for. Explicit costs represent clear, obvious outflows from a business that reduce its bottom-line profitability. This contrasts with less-tangible expenses such as goodwill amortization, which are not as clear cut regarding their effects on a business's bottom-line value. Good examples of explicit costs would be items such as wage expense, rent or lease costs, and the cost of materials that go into the production of goods. With these expenses, it is easy to see the source of the cash outflow and the business activities to which the expense is attributed

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"cost" represents the money paid for something and "opportunity cost" is the value of the thing given up when one chooses something else.

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10y ago
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Q: Difference between implicit cost and Opportunity cost?
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