WAC

Abbreviation with 2 meanings

WAC
Stands forWeighted average cost
Meanings2
CategoriesBusiness & Finance, Medical

WAC has two meanings. It stands for Weighted average cost (accounting) or Wholesale acquisition cost (pharmacy).

Meanings of WAC at a glance

#WAC stands forContext
1Weighted average costBusiness & Finance › Accounting
2Wholesale acquisition costMedical › Pharmacy

1. Weighted average cost

Business & Finance · Accounting Abbreviations

Inventory costing method that values units sold and ending inventory at the average cost of all units available during the period, weighted by quantity. It smooths out price fluctuations and produces results between FIFO and LIFO.

Example: At a WAC of $4.20 per unit, the 1,000 units sold cost $4,200.

Permitted under both US GAAP and IFRS. Perpetual inventory systems recalculate the average after each purchase (moving average), while periodic systems compute it once per period. In finance, WACC with two Cs means weighted average cost of capital, a different concept.

2. Wholesale acquisition cost

Medical · Pharmacy Abbreviations

Manufacturer's list price for a drug sold to wholesalers or direct purchasers, before rebates, discounts or other price reductions. Reported price increases for brand drugs usually refer to WAC.

Example: The manufacturer raised the WAC on its insulin pen by 9.9% in January.

WAC is defined in the Social Security Act for Medicare Part B purposes. Because large rebates are paid after the sale, a drug's net price can be far below WAC, which matters to patients whose coinsurance is calculated on the list price.

More accounting abbreviations

  • SOX – Sarbanes-Oxley Act
  • T&E – Travel and expenses
  • TB – Trial balance
  • VIE – Variable interest entity
  • WIP – Work in progress
  • WoW – Week over week
  • XBRL – eXtensible Business Reporting Language
  • YoY – Year over year

See all 95 accounting abbreviations →

More pharmacy abbreviations

  • 1/2NS – Half-normal saline
  • AB – Therapeutically equivalent rating (Orange Book code)
  • ADC – Automated dispensing cabinet
  • ADF – Abuse-deterrent formulation
  • AHFS – American Hospital Formulary Service
  • amp – Ampule
  • ANDA – Abbreviated New Drug Application
  • APhA – American Pharmacists Association

See all 134 pharmacy abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.

This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.