The typical accountant is used to extracting data from a central accounting database that has been carefully stocked with the most accurate and reliable data, from such a variety of sources as accounts payable, billings, bills of material, and inventory records. However, the accountant who is assigned to a target costing project must deal with much more poorly defined information, as well as data that is drawn from much different sources than he or she may be accustomed to using. [...]