Divide all attributable production-process costs for a defined cohort by the number of files in that cohort that pass the agreed acceptance standard. Keep unresolved files, rejected assignments and the cohort’s maturity visible.
The desk’s proposed formula is:
Cost per accepted file = (production + review + correction + exceptions + attributable reinspection + technology + allocated implementation and oversight) ÷ accepted files.
| Cost category | What to include | Double-counting check |
|---|---|---|
| Production | Supplier charges or internal drafting labour | Do not add internal drafting already replaced by the supplier |
| First review | Carrier time checking the first delivered package | Separate it from supplier QA included in the fee |
| Corrections | Required edits, supplier queries, re-review and resubmission handling | Do not count the same labour in review and correction |
| Exceptions | Specialist escalation and additional coordination | Exclude unrelated claim handling |
| Reinspection | Additional visits attributable to missing or defective production inputs | Exclude visits needed because genuinely new damage emerged |
| Technology | Incremental licences, usage charges and integration support | Separate existing sunk expenditure from incremental costs |
| Implementation | Configuration, testing, training and transition | State the allocation period and expected volume |
| Oversight | Vendor management, rule maintenance and independent QA | Include only the attributable share |
Use matched cohorts. Do not divide October’s supplier invoices by an unrelated set of claims completed in October. Track files from assignment through acceptance and subsequent identified production corrections.
For immature cohorts, label the result provisional and report: files assigned, first delivered, accepted, returned, withdrawn and still unresolved. Compare cohorts at similar ages, or wait until they mature. A supplier should not improve its apparent economics by leaving difficult files outside the reported population.
Maintain two cost views: a fully loaded operating view and an incremental cash view. They answer different buying questions.