Meaning & use
incremental expenses
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Meaning
nounpluralbusinessfinance
Extra costs that are added gradually, especially as a result of a change or increase in activity.
Grammar: Always plural; use with plural verbs (e.g., 'are', 'were').
Patterns
- incremental expenses of something
- cover incremental expenses
- incur incremental expenses
The project budget must account for incremental expenses such as additional staff hours.
Moving to a larger office brought incremental expenses like higher utility bills.
We need to track incremental expenses to see if the new policy is cost-effective.
Common combinations
- incremental expenses associated with
- The incremental expenses associated with the expansion were higher than expected.
- cover incremental expenses
- The grant will cover incremental expenses for the first year.
- incur incremental expenses
- The company incurred incremental expenses when it upgraded its software.
- additional incremental expenses
- We must avoid any additional incremental expenses.
Synonyms and how they differ
- marginal costs
- More technical and often used in economics; refers to the cost of producing one more unit.
- additional costs
- Broader; can refer to any extra costs, not necessarily ones that increase gradually.
- extra expenses
- Informal; simply means expenses beyond the usual ones, without the sense of gradual increase.
Opposites
Word family
- incremental adjective
- Increasing gradually in small steps.
- increment noun
- A small increase or addition.
- expense noun
- The cost of something; money spent.
Commonly confused: incremental expenses or incidental expenses?
incremental expenses vs incidental expenses
'Incidental expenses' are small, minor costs that happen by chance, while 'incremental expenses' are extra costs that grow step by step with increased activity.
Practice
The finance team analyzed the ___ expenses that would arise if production doubled.
Choose one answer.
The adjective 'incremental' correctly modifies 'expenses'. 'Increment' is a noun, 'incrementally' is an adverb, and 'increments' is a plural noun, none of which fit before 'expenses'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “incremental expenses”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.