Management Accounting: Information for Creating Value and Managing Resources

Both financial and managerial accounting analyze economic data, however the major differences between the two strands include; user groups, information type, regulatory control and reporting frequency (Atrill and McLaney, 2012)

Management accounting also help the organisation to evaluate the internal financial situation of the organisation in regards of regulatory authorities, investors and shareholders. In order words, management accounting is interlinked with organisational operations on different levels that help the companies to operate in the national and international market (Kaplan & Atkinson,

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants defines MA as information that comes from combination of accounting, finance and management that needed to ensure the success of the organization. The changes in management accounting (MA) are a continuous matter that has been discussed by literature over an age. Thus, this paper also aims to discuss about the evolution of management accounting and changing roles of management accountants together with the development of strategic management accounting (SMA). In chapter introduction, this paper will explain the history and development of management accounting from ancient until now and also information about future of management accounting.

The management accounting is an effective and important provider for business information that helps the management to make decisions relating to business activities and investment decisions. Managerial accountants play a crucial role in advising managers about the financial implications of projects; and run some analysis such as cost benefit analysis, sensitivity analysis. At the same time managerial accounting streamline the management by explain the financial consequences of business decisions. It plays a crucial role in formulate business strategy to assist the higher management to build the strategic goals and strategic plan. Managerial accountants always monitor spending and financial control as well as conduct internal business audits. The management accounting is a control tool used for various internal business processes of the enterprise, consequently becoming essential in any manager’s daily processes and operations.

Management in business and human organization activity, in simple terms means the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals. Management comprises planning, organizing, ->resourcing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.

Managerial accounting focuses on the needs of internal users (managers) and on data relevant for decision making.

Rothschild, J. M., Lee, T. H., Bae, T., and others. "Survey of Physicians' Experience Using a Handheld Drug Reference Guide." (Presented at AMIA 2000 Annual Symposium). American Medical Informatics Association, Los Angeles, California, March 2000.

A financial report that summarizes the amounts and types of costs that were incurred in the manufacturing process during the period is a: Manufacturing statement.

The following data were taken from the records of Clarkson Company for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014.

|6. |If Buffo plans to produce and sell 3,000 units next month, the expected contribution margin would be: |

“Ending Inventory” = “Beginning Inventory” ($22,000) + “Purchases” ($30,000) – “Cost of Goods sold” ($24,000) = $52,000 - $24,000 = $28,000

Pittman Company is a small but growing manufacturer of telecommunications equipment. The company has no sales force of its own; rather, it relies completely on independent sales agents to market its products. These agents are paid a commission of 15% of selling price for all item sold.

Rivalry among the Existing Players: The level of competition between the airlines is very high. One reason for this is the increase in popularity of low-cost airlines, who employ innovative business models to differentiate themselves and drive the profitability of their businesses. Another reason is attributable to the nature of operation of the airlines – the marginal cost of having extra passengers on a scheduled flight is close to zero, which implies that airlines are capable of varying the price of air tickets from time to time, or even engaging in price wars with their rivals. For instance, the recently banned operation of Tiger Airways has created opportunity for two other major domestic airlines in Australia, Jetstar and Virgin Blue, to increase prices in order to take advantage of the less competitive environment and to increase their market shares.

Generally, the directing progress of a decision making model for managers to follow is: gathering information; making predictions; choosing the best scheme; implementing the decision; evaluating performance. Obviously, accountants make a crucial contribution in furnishing a solid foundation for decision-making in the first two steps. Secondly, with regard to management accounting, there are strong differences when compared to financial accounting. First and foremost, the purpose of management accounting is primarily highlighting forward-looking information rather than presenting historical events. Instead of being designed to be used by external users, such as investors, creditors, shareholders and public regulators, management accounting is intended for use by managers within the company. Because of its internality, management accounting information is usually classified and employed in the management process, instead of being reported to the public. Moreover, MA is generally model-based with a certain degree of assumptions to support decision making while financial accounting is basing on case study (Shah, Malik & Malik, 2011). A pivotal function of MA is that it is an effective tool not only for cost measurement but also for decision support and cost planning.

For instance, the concept of cost estimation which assists in estimating future expenditure as the expenditure depends on the cost of the respective activities can be applied in the setting of a budget which is simply an estimate and schedule of all costs required to be assigned to an activity. One can make an estimation of the resources required for an activity by applying the cost estimation techniques. Since there are limiting factors to each activity such as scarcity of resources for activities, the concept of constraints can be applied together with the concept of cost volume profit analysis to ensure that maximum benefits are driven from the scarce resources and the number of activities that are available. This facilitates the allocation of resources that most equitable and profitable. The theory of constraints is also applicable in the process of setting up budgets. In setting up budget one considers the amount of resources that are available and cannot therefore set a budget plan that exceeds the amount of resources that are available. This implies that the budget is constrained by the amount of