Lecture 1: Introduction to Modern Management Accounting

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Lecture 1: Introduction to Modern Management Accounting 04 October 2010

Topics • Forces of change • Contemporary issues • The "new economy" • Costing

Reading • Strategic Finance (Chapter 1,2)

Forces of Change Traditional Management Accounting Model

 Budgets are the accounting tool for implementing the planning action  Control is the capturing of the difference in actual to planned results List of Forces of Change in Management Accounting  The 1970s were hard times  Started with OPEC prices ↑  Any company that faces constraints becomes inward facing  This leads to management accounting  Servicing the needs of the services industries  The west became more service orientated  80% of OECD GDP is accounted for by the service sector  The advent of technology  Meant companies became more complex  Subservience to financial accounting  The residues of Japan + new influences  By the late 1970s Japan was taking over western markets  Japanese management influenced western management accounting  Strategizing accounting  Accounting for intellect Management Accounting versus Financial Accounting  Users  Standards  Levels of detail ○ Time focus / personalisation  Volume of information New Management Accounting Model

Changes in Management Accounting  Backward looking → Forward looking  Internal focus → External perspective  Product/Services → Customers and markets  Financial data → Financial and non-financial information  Functional → Process  Information → Knowledge The Traditional Finance Function

 7.5 pence in every £1 spent goes to the finance department We can cut costs by outsourcing services

Course Notes Page 1

Key Points • Forces of change in MA • MA vs. FA • Contemporary issues of MA • Cost management issues • Absorption costing • Variable costing • CVP analysis • CVP assumptions (5)

 We can cut costs by outsourcing services  Most of the transaction processing can be outsourced because it's cheaper and customers don't care  Other functions are difficult to outsource Contemporary Issues in Management Accounting  More complex production requires less labour costs but more overheads • Most products have shortening life cycles  Products are enhanced at a greater pace

Increasing Trends Affecting Management Accounting  Use of more flexible organisational technologies  Product complexity and diversity  Capital intensiveness in many industries  Outsourcing / Supply chain changes  Quality management  E-business application Management Accounting Concerns of Organisations ○ 60% - Activity based costing ○ 52% - Cost of quality reporting ○ 46% - Target costing ○ 44% - Strategic management accounting ○ 11% - Life cycle costing Satisfaction of Management Approaches

 As we move to the right, we see that management use and are most satisfied with externally approaches The "New Economy"  The advent of the internet and better technology has led to a new economy  This has created a new dimension for businesses

 Pure e-business may have high percentage of fixed costs Emerging Cost Management Issues  Digital vs. physical  Cost structure changes  Intellectual capital / Knowledge management  Dynamic trading  Versioning of products  Scalability  Corporate governance / corporate performance

Costing Important Words to Learn ○ Fixed costs ○ Variable costs ○ Semi-fixed costs ○ Semi-variable costs ○ Traceable costs  Direct materials  Direct labour ○ Untraceable costs  Factory overhead (Variable vs fixed) ○ Period costs ○ Product costs Absorption Costing  Normally externally focused  Also known as function costing

Course Notes Page 2