Chapter 1 summary

The Accountant’s Role in the
Organization

1

I.

CHAPTER OUTLINE
LEARNING
OBJECTIVE

1

Distinguish financial accounting
…reporting on past performance to external users
from management accounting
…helping managers make decisions

1.1

Accounting systems process economic events and transactions into information
helpful to managers. This data is collected, categorized, summarized, and
analyzed.

1.2

Accounting systems provide information found in the financial statements as well
as in internal performance reports.

1.3

Managers use this information to administer the activities of their area of
responsibility.

1.4

Information needs may vary depending on managerial needs.
TEACHING POINT. It is good here to stop and evaluate the
different needs of different users within the company. Sales
managers are interested in sales data by region or sales
person; distribution managers may be interested in orders by
geographic location or requested due dates; manufacturing
managers may be interested in quantities of products ordered
so production scheduling can occur. All of these are interested
in different aspects of the sales data.

1.5

Management accounting has a different focus than financial accounting. The
management accountant reports financial and nonfinancial information that helps
managers make decisions that will help the company achieve its goals or
implement its strategy. It is forward-looking.
TEACHING POINT. Students need to understand from the
start the “decision-making” focus of management accounting.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

1.6

Management accounting reports information in a manner that will help managers
do their jobs better and are not restricted by Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles.
TEACHING POINT. This is a good time to introduce an
overriding element of management accounting—the cost-benefit
ratio. Engage the students in a cost-benefit analysis from
personal experience. For example, compare the cost of getting a
college education (including lost wages) with the benefits. Link
the discussion to the original decision to (1) attend college and
(2) the choice of a college.

1.7

Financial accounting has a historical focus, as it reports the results of operations
to external parties. These reports must adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles.

1.8

The cost accounting and financial accounting do not operate independently. Cost
accounting, in addition to providing information for management accounting
decision-making needs, also provides data to meet financial accounting
inventory-valuation needs.
(Exhibit 1-1 summarizes the major differences between financial
and managerial accounting.)

1.9

Cost Management describes the approaches and activities of managers to use
resources to increase the value to customers and to achieve organizational goals.
It is not just about reducing costs, but involves revenue and profit planning as
well.
TEACHING POINT. Students are frequently confused by cost
accounting terminology. Explain that different practices arise in
different companies. Because cost accounting is not for external
reporting purposes, there is frequently a lack of communication
between companies, and no standard terminology developed.
Many cost accounting terms lack a uniform definition, and many
practices may go by different names.

Refer to Quiz Question 1

LEARNING
OBJECTIVE

2

Understand how management accountants affect
strategic decisions
…they provide information about the sources of
competitive advantage


2.1

Strategy describes how an organization will compete and the opportunities
management should pursue. It involves matching its capabilities with the
opportunities in the marketplace to accomplish its objective.
TEACHING POINT. Emphasize here the difference in strategic
and tactical decision making. Strategy focuses on the long-term
and is performed by upper management. Tactical decision
making is short-term and is in the realm of lower to middle
management. For students a strategic decision is their choice of
a college and a major. A tactical decision would be what class to
study for tonight.

2.2

Two broad strategies include competing on the basis of price or on the basis of
product differentiation.
TEACHING POINT. Have the students brainstorm for names of
companies that have pursued either strategy. How have they
implemented the strategy of price competition? How have they
differentiated the product?

2.3

Strategic Cost Management describes cost management specifically focused on
strategic issues. This seeks answers to questions such as:
•

Who are our most important customers and how do we deliver value to
them?

•

What substitute products exist in the market? How do they differ from
ours?

•

What is our most critical capability? What do we do best?

•

Will adequate cash be available to fund the strategy or is outside
financing needed?


LEARNING
OBJECTIVE

Problem 1-25

3

Describe the set of business functions in the value
chain and identify the dimensions of performance
that customers are expecting of companies
… R&D, design, production, marketing, distribution,
and customer service supported by administration
to achieve cost and efficiency, quality, time, and
innovation

3.1

The value chain is the sequence of business functions in which customer
usefulness is added to products or services.
(Exhibit 1-2 illustrates the six business functions in the value


chain.)

3.2

Research and Development involves generating and experimenting with new
ideas related to new products, services, or processes.

3.3

The Design function undertakes detailed planning and engineering of products,
services, or processes.

3.4

Production is acquiring, coordinating, and assembling resources to produce a
product or deliver a service.

3.5

Marketing involves promoting and selling products or services to customers.

3.6

Distribution is the process of delivering the products or services to customers.

3.7

Customer Service provides after-sale support to customers.
TEACHING POINT. All of these functions are important and
interrelated. The failure of a company to deliver any one of
these adequately will have a negative impact on the others.
Ask the students about negative experiences they have had
with a company and which element of the value chain was
involved. Probe further, exploring how this failure impacted the
student’s perception of the company in other areas.

3.8

Management accountants are involved in the value chain as they keep track of
costs incurred in each category. This information helps managers evaluate costbenefit trade-offs.

3.9

Related to the value chain is the supply chain. Whereas the value chain is
internal, the supply chain involves the flow of goods, services, and information
from the initial source of materials and services to the delivery to consumers. The
value chain can involve one or many different organizations.
(Exhibit 1-3 illustrates an overview of the value chain.)

3.10

The value chain and supply chain should be used by the company to deliver
improving levels of performance for the customer. Key success factors in
accomplishing this delivery include the following:
•

Cost and efficiency—Determine what customers are willing to pay for a
product or service and set a “target price.” By subtracting the desired
profit, the company can then work to accomplish its “target cost.”

•

Quality—Customers expect high levels of quality. Total Quality
Management (TQM) is a philosophy that seeks to improve operations
throughout the company and exceed customer expectations.
TEACHING POINT. Emphasize that quality does not have to
be the most expensive. A product or service can be a quality
product or service if it conforms to its intent. This is quality of
conformance. Quality of design relates to products being
thought of as being top-notch. A Rolls Royce automobile has
quality of design. There is a more thorough discussion of
quality in Chapter 19.

•

Time—New product development time and customer response time are
two elements of this factor. In today’s time-conscious society, the


customer wants the product or service now. Any delay is unacceptable. A
company that can compete on the basis of time, whether in development
or delivery is one that has an edge in today’s market.
TEACHING POINT. When Fred Smith founded Federal
Express to deliver packages overnight, many thought he would
not succeed. However, Smith realized an unmet demand for
quick delivery.

•

Innovation—A constant flow of new products or services is the basis for
ongoing company success.

Refer to Quiz Questions 3 and 4

LEARNING
OBJECTIVE

Exercise 1-18

4

Explain the five-step decision-making process and
its role in management accounting
… identify the problem and uncertainties, obtain
information, make predictions about the future,
make decisions by choosing among alternatives,
and implement the decision, evaluate performance
and learn to do planning and control
and its role in management accounting
… planning and control of operations and activities

4.1

Managers should go through a routine process in order to make effective
decisions. This five-step decision process can be utilized to make a variety of
decisions.
•

Identify the problems and uncertainties. What are the choices that are
being faced and where do the uncertainties lie?

•

Obtain information. Gather information before making a decision helps
the manager to make a more informed decision.
TEACHING POINT. Guard against information overload, or
obtaining too much information. Narrow the choices so the
volume of information is manageable. Too much information
can lead to “paralysis of analysis,” or the inability to formulate a
viable solution.

•

Make predictions about the future. On the basis of the information
obtained attempt to predict the outcome of each course of action.

•

Make decisions by choosing among alternatives. The information has
been gathered, and projections made. Select an alternative.


TEACHING POINT. Do not shy away from making a decision.
Someone once asked the President of General Motors if he
had ever made a bad decision. His response was that to reach
the level of success he had achieved, you were doing good to
bat .500. You are going to make bad decisions, learn from
them.

Collectively, the four preceding steps are known as planning—the
selection of organizational goals, predicting results under alternative
ways of achieving these goals, deciding how to attain these goals, and
communicating the goals to the entire organization.
A budget has been described as the quantitative expression of a
proposed plan of action. It is a planning tool.
Control is the action taken to implement the planning decisions
represented by the budget.
•

Implement the decision, evaluate performance, and learn. All the
effort expended in steps 1 through 4 is useless unless the decision is put
into action.
TEACHING POINT. Most people have been associated with
organizations or individuals who would have great plans, and
would go through steps 1 through 4 of the process, only to fail
to implement the decision. A colleague once came into work
one morning, announcing an intention to return to school for an
advanced degree. Fifteen years later, that colleague is still in
the same company, without the degree.

Once implemented, the decision must be monitored. This is performance
evaluation. One way of doing this is by comparing the budget with the
actual results. This makes budgeting a control tool in addition to a
planning tool. Often this is accomplished by the use of a performance
report.
TEACHING POINT. Monitoring also helps keep the plan (or
budget) realistic. If the person proposing the project knows the
results will not be monitored, there is a tendency to overstate
the benefits so the project will receive approval.

Learn. If the results were not as planned, find out why. Use this
information to improve the decision-making process for future decisions.


Exercise 1-21

LEARNING
OBJECTIVE

5

Describe three guidelines management
accountants follow in supporting managers
… employing a cost-benefit approach, recognizing
behavioral as well as technical considerations, and
calculating different costs for different purposes

TEACHING POINT. These guidelines are the foundation for the
rest of the text. Students must understand that everything that is
to follow must be filtered through the lens of cost-benefit,
behavioral and technical considerations, and different costs for
different purposes.

5.1

Cost-benefit approach. Always ask if the benefits from undertaking the activity
exceed the costs of doing so.

5.2

Behavioral considerations. Consider the motivational aspect of the decision. Will
the managers and employees be motivated to work toward the goals of the
organization?

5.3

Technical considerations. This provides managers with appropriate information at
appropriate intervals to assist in decision making.

5.4

Different costs for different purposes. Much of this book is about alternative ways
to compute costs. In determining the cost, the first question that should be asked is
“What is the purpose of this cost number?” Performance evaluation, external
reporting, and internal decision making are three different purposes that might
require a different view of cost.


LEARNING
OBJECTIVE

Problem 1-26

6

Understand how management accounting fits into
an organization’s structure.
… for example, the responsibilities of the controller

6.1

Most organizations distinguish between line and staff relationships. Line
management is directly responsible for attaining the goals of the organization.
Production is a line function. Staff management supports line management with
advice and assistance. Accounting and human resources are two examples of staff
management functions.


6.2

The Chief Financial Officer or CFO (also called the finance director) is the
executive responsible for overseeing the financial operations of an organization.
Included among the responsibilities of the CFO are several functions:
•

Controller provides financial information to managers and shareholders
and oversees the overall operations of the accounting system.

•

The Treasury function includes banking, financing, investments, and cash
management.

•

Risk Management includes managing the financial risk of interest rate and
exchange rate changes as well as derivatives management.

•

Taxation includes income taxes, sales taxes, and international tax planning.

•

Investor Relations responds to and interacts with shareholders.

•

The scope and importance of Internal Audit has increased in recent years
and now includes reviewing and analyzing financial and other records to
attest to the integrity of the organization’s financial reports and adherence
to policies and procedures.
(Exhibit 1-6 illustrates a typical organization chart for the CFO)

Refer to Quiz Questions 7 and 8

LEARNING
OBJECTIVE

Problem 1-27

7

Understand what professional ethics means to
management accountants
… for example, management accountants must
maintain integrity and credibility in every aspect of
their job

1.1

Accountants have a special obligation regarding ethics, as they are responsible
for the integrity of the financial information provided to external and internal
users.

1.2

Sarbanes-Oxley focuses on improving internal control, corporate governance,
monitoring of managers, and disclosure practices of public corporations. This
legislation brought an increase in the ethical standards of managers and
accountants.

1.3

The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) is the largest association of
management accountants in the United States.

1.4

The IMA offers professional certification in the form of the CMA designation—
Certified Management Accountant. This certification represents a
demonstration of technical competency in financial and managerial accounting
and holds the CMA to high ethical standards.


1.5

The IMA Standards for Ethical Conduct for Practitioners of Management
Accounting and Financial Management presents guidelines on issues relating to
competence, confidentiality, integrity, and credibility.
(Exhibit 1-7 is a copy of the IMA Ethical Conduct Statement.)

1.6

In addition to the Standards, the IMA has an ethics hotline to assist members in
resolving their ethical dilemmas.
TEACHING POINT. Students sometimes don’t realize the
importance of proper ethical behavior. A sign on a church once
read “Integrity—Gained over a lifetime, lost in an instant.”
Emphasize that integrity, once lost, is difficult to regain. Also, it
is important for the accountant to avoid even the appearance
of unethical conduct.


Chapter 1 summary

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Chapter 1 summary