An activity measure in activity-based costing (ABC) systems is a metric that gauges the volume or rate of an activity. It serves as a basis for cost allocation within an activity cost pool, correlating changes in the measure with changes in total activity cost.
In a system of activity-based costing, any factor such as the number of units, number of transactions, or duration of transactions that drives the costs arising from a particular activity. When such factors can be clearly identified and measured, they serve as the basis for allocating costs to cost objects.
