# Overhead vs. Indirect expenses

**URL:** <https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/overhead-vs-indirect-expenses/4848>\
**Category:** Practice Management\
**Created:** [January 9, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/overhead-vs-indirect-expenses/4848 "2023-01-09T17:18:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![potoczakhalle](https://blackspectacles.com/uploads/images/8.png) [@potoczakhalle](https://community.blackspectacles.com/u/potoczakhalle)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/overhead-vs-indirect-expenses/4848/1 "2023-01-09T17:18:51Z")

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for ARE exams specifically, can we think of overhead and indirect expenses as the same thing?

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**Author:** ![coachchrishopstock](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.blackspectacles.com/coachchrishopstock/32/1662_2.png) [@coachchrishopstock](https://community.blackspectacles.com/u/coachchrishopstock)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/overhead-vs-indirect-expenses/4848/2 "2023-01-09T17:35:26Z")

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Yes, those terms are interchangeable - the AHPP glossary doesn’t even define ‘over head expense’ - they refer to the definition for indirect expense.

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**Author:** ![johnk](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.blackspectacles.com/johnk/32/1431_2.png) [@johnk](https://community.blackspectacles.com/u/johnk)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/overhead-vs-indirect-expenses/4848/3 "2023-01-22T17:31:30Z")

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was curious about the same thing, thank you

how about overhead rate, for some reason they use the word overhead instead of saying indirect expense rate, I’m sure there is a logical reason  
as per AHPP  
Overhead rate: The ratio of total indirect expenses to  
total direct labor.