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The purpose of costing is to provide information on costs of products, works or services realized and used by an enterprise to establish itself in the market. An important tool in solving problems related to cost savings is the full costing approach, a costing method based on the calculation classification of costs, traditionally used in modern enterprises. In the constantly changing conditions of market environment, the importance of new requirements of managers for more detailed classification of cost items in their calculations is growing. Increasingly the emphasis is placed on classification of costs according to their response to changes in production volume. Improved cost management process may be realized through the variable costing approach. This type of calculation allows for an efficient way to drive the costs efficiency. It helps to achieve cost savings and improve efficiency and performance of an enterprise. The paper analyzes both costing approaches and outlines research assumptions associated with using these calculations in business practice. While verifying the research assumptions the author of the paper used outputs from the questionnaire survey that addressed representatives of various business entities. The analyzed results were evaluated and summarized in tables. The findings became the basis for confirmation/refutation of research assumptions as well as for outlining the likely further use of the above mentioned costing approaches in activities of business enterprises under the current economic conditions in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper surveys the Czech banking sector from the perspective of corporate financing. The article presents the current state of the Czech financial market, and the importance of the banking sector for the economy. The questionnaire survey investigated main trends in the use of various products offered by the banking sector for financing, satisfaction of companies with banking products and overall confidence of business customers in the banking sector in the Czech Republic. Results of investigation and empirical study confirmed that the Czech banking sector is stable in long term, and that the enterprises in the Czech Republic most often turn to banks for necessary sources of financing. Bank loans were considered by respondents as the most important debt source of financing. In general, corporate customers are satisfied with products and services offered by banking sector and financial market in the Czech Republic. At the same time their confidence in the banking sector is on a high level. Findings of this article indicate that fundamental changes in the approach of Czech companies to financing cannot be expected in the near future, and the Czech Republic will continue to be ranked among bank oriented economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the specific features of business financing in the Czech Republic, thereby contributing to an ongoing discussion on the corporate capital structure and its optimal form. The paper aims to provide up-to-date empirical evidence on the debt and equity financing of selected companies from the Czech Republic within 4 business sectors. Findings of this article are based on the questionnaire survey and subsequent data analysis. The statistical methods and procedures were used for the research evaluation. Results of the empirical questioning show that majority of respondents use any form of debt financing (to a various extent). The prevailing debt sources of financing are bank loans, leasing, trade credit, and down payments of customers. Only a small percentage of respondents indicate that they use bonds as a source of corporate financing. To the most frequent reasons for the use of debt resources in companies belong the lack equity sources, tax deductibility of interest cost, or the lower cost of debt. All respondents confirmed the use of equity (to a various extent) in business financing. The primary equity sources of financing are retained earnings, accumulated depreciation, subsidies, reserve funds, and common stock. Furthermore, the findings indicate that to the main reasons for the use of equity sources belong efforts to the reduction of indebtedness, availability of sufficient equity sources, and a lower risk. Even though most companies confirm the use of debt to some extent, it can be stated, that their decisions are in accordance with the pecking-order theory, in which firms consider their own resources (equity and profit) as primary source of financing, and they start considering the debt financing only in case of their shortage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]