Abstract
Most Iraqi companies suffer from high costs of their products, and they lack the application of modern methods in measuring and determining costs, and they lack the use of contemporary cost techniques that would reduce product costs and improve the competitive position of economic units. Reducing costs is one of the most important strategies adopted by economic units to achieve competitive advantage and requires an integrated framework for cost management. Hence, the process of relying on traditional systems for measuring costs should be reconsidered. Therefore, the current research worked on adopting the use of modern methods for measuring cost, which is an input. Cost is based on attributes in response to the need of economic units for modern methods that are compatible with changes in the modern environment. The current research, titled (An approach to measuring costs based on specifications with the aim of reducing costs), has designed its methodology to identify the basic problem represented by clarifying the cognitive foundations of costing technology based on specifications and its role in reducing costs, and by studying and analyzing the possibility of applying this technology in Iraqi industrial companies in achieving customer requirements and rationalizing resources and thus reduce costs
