Which of the following are considered period costs?

Period costs are expenses that are not tied directly to the manufacturing process; instead, they are incurred during a specific time period and are expensed in the period in which they are incurred. Advertising costs fall squarely into this category because they are associated with marketing and promoting products or services rather than the production of goods.

In contrast, direct materials, factory utilities, and manufacturing overhead are all associated with the production of goods and are categorized as product costs. These costs are capitalized as inventory and only expensed when the product is sold, reflecting their direct relation to the manufacturing activities of the business. Thus, advertising costs represent an expenditure that is recognized on the income statement within the period in which they occur, validating that they are classified as period costs.