Target costing: Model proposal for a small construction business

The implementation of a cost control system in construction companies contributes to reducing resource losses in the production process and increasing business productivity and profitability, especially when it comes to small business, which normally do not have a planning system and efficient control. Therefore, this article aims to propose a target costing model for a small construction business, concerning the efficient evaluation of its costs for the maximization of profits in proposals to provide services to public entities. A case study is used, in which data collection occurred through a questionnaire, observations of the process of preparing financial proposals, other unstructured questions, and documentary search, whose approach includes descriptive and qualitative research. The survey results revealed that the enterprise has a cost control system, but is technologically backward. Besides, the enterprise already intuitively used the concepts of target cost in preparing budgets. After evaluating the costs, a target costing model was suggested for the enterprise to use as a parameter in the bidding processes, however, it was not implemented due to the current unfavorable conditions