Managerial Accounting, Applied to Successful Project Accounting Practices

 Financial Accounting is concerned with the past, while Managerial Accounting is concerned with the future.

Managerial accounting provides essential data about the functions within the business. The reports that are provided by the managerial accountants focus on the performance of the business and the business environment. Managerial accounting is manager oriented and managerial accounting focus on the accounting duties of a manager. Managerial accounting is used on a day to day operation providing an analysis of cost and the cost benefits. Managerial accounting function as a source for the business developments and the capital budgeting. The primary concern with managerial accounting is to provide positive outcomes in the business production and the profit.

Over the past few years, project managers and Project management has shown tremendous growth. Project management has evolved over the past several years from an activity in an organization to a discipline in its own right. Many professional bodies exist today to represent project management as a discipline, Some of which include, PMI, Prince2 Foundation, PM Bok.

The paper is divided into three sections, the first of which will establish a timeline of events. This project background will serve as a case study for the analysis in the following section that will be structured such that each of the previously mentioned facets will be independently analyzed and contrasted with project management principles. Finally the paper will conclude with a summary of the analysis and recommendations based on

A project manager must be a skillful planner and can inspire his or her team to produce as needed. Per LaBrosse (2007), project management can be used throughout the organization to boost personal and collaborative productivity by building a standardized system that embeds best practices into the way projects are managed” (p.26).

Management accounting is for commercial finance, analyzing past performance and projecting future results aiding in the commercial decision-making. This department defines and measures key targets needed to achieve for McDonald’s business strategy to be successful (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008).

In the current business environment, the demand for project managers is ever growing. In short, project management is a provisional project constrained by time, cost and scope (A guide to the project management body of knowledge, 2013). Between the immense organization, optimization, and communication assets skilled project management brings to a project, it is easy to see why project management is a booming field of study. Furthermore, project management can be both financially and personally rewarding when long term milestones and goals come to fruition.

“The accounting system generates the information that satisfies two reporting needs that coexist within an organization: financial accounting and managerial accounting” (Schneider, 2012, ch 1.1, para 1). Managerial accounting is the process of preparing reports and accounts required by management to make business decisions for daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly projects. Financial accounting is the branch of accounting that organizes accounting information for presentation to interested parties outside of the organization. Financial accountants produce annual reports for external

 Managerial accounting is defined as the activities carried out in a firm to provide its managers and other employees with financial and related information to help them make strategic, organizational, and operational decisions.

Project management provides a strong foundation for developing the attributes needed to pursue high-level leadership roles, analytical positions, and many other areas within the business environment.

Business has changed in the past 20 or so years. Products are being produced more rapidly and with the introduction of globalization competition has become more abundant. There is a need to become more customer focused but at the same time quicker to market while still reducing cost. Doing business the old way is just not cutting it anymore. Project management gives companies the ability to focus on many things at once without losing focus on their core business model. Processes become projects that have a start and finish and can be tracked and quantified

Managerial Accounting reports are primarily used by supervisors, line managers, process owners, as well as executives, to gain a better understanding of the current financial and operational health of the organization. (Internal)

3. Managerial Accounting deals with procuring of data for the organisation's management i.e. to serve the internal users with necessary accounting information to carry out the management tasks of planning, organising, actualising and controlling. " Management Accounting is the presentation of accounting Information in such a way as to assist management in creation of policy and in the day to day operations of an undertaking". 4. Financial Management deals with the process adopted by an organisation for taking financial decisions through analysing and interpretation of financial data for meeting the organisations objectives.

Prior to this course, I thought that in order to manage a project you need to be a project manager. However, this course changed my perspective on project management. As I continue to read the book, I realized that I actually manage many projects, and project management is not only limited to organizations. Throughout our lives, we manage many projects from planning a wedding to building a house, some of those projects may take few days and some may take years to complete. In addition, I also learned that there are no two projects that are alike, each project has it’s own unique elements that set it apart from other projects.

According to Will S, Ray H, & Eric E.N. (2009), management accounting is a branch of accounting that is concerned with providing information to managers who direct and control the firm’s operations. Management directing function seeks to effectively use both the human and raw material wealth of a firm to achieve organizational set objectives on routine basis. Controlling function is the art of tele-guarding the activities of the organization to consistently fall in line with set objectives. Management accounting achieves this function through effective budgeting.