MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING: FINANCIAL DECISION TOOLS
Année du cours : 1 année(s)
Etablissement : IÉSEG School of Management
Langue : English
Formation(s) dans laquelle/lesquelles le cours apparait :
Période : S1
A prior course in managerial accounting is essential. This course reviews several methodologies introduced in prior managerial accounting courses, with the objective of instilling a deeper understanding of their underlying theories, methods, applications, and limitations. Practial applications and casework move rapidly through the areas. Prior work in variance analyses, capital investment modeling (present value methods), variable costing, and break-even is fundamental to success in the course.
At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
1. Better understand the role and value of managerial accounting, (including terminology).
2. Differentiate between short and long-term decision relevance criteria; matching requisite performance techniques with analytic needs for optimal strategic decisions.
3. Further utilize CVP tools, including probability modeling, for short-term profitability planning.
4. Develop greater understanding of long-term capital budgeting (NPV, DCF) methods, including reasons underlying use of cash-based analyses over financial rules-based determinants.
5. Apply variance concepts to revenue and margin analyses.
6. Improve communication skills through analyses and group case work presentations
Managerial accounting [/finance] is all about providing objective, analytic support for many levels of organizational decisions. Management courses focus on the more subjective organization and human factor issues; managerial accounting targets specific decision areas amenable to objective, quantifiable analyses. Key to the process is identification of decision alternatives, relevant information, and applicable analytic tools. Profit-maximizing firm decisions are the result.
Building on prerequisite foundation managerial accounting methods, and designed for the hands-on decision-maker, several popular, practically-based management accounting areas are presented, actively demonstrated, and discussed. Each area builds from an introductory technique perspective, reviewing first the fundamental decision framework, working toward advanced decision theory applications, and culminating with case analyses. The cases are designed to explore each method’s business relevancy, applicability, and practical usage. With the prerequisite foundation, this course provides a lasting review and in-depth understanding of several crucial financial decision tools. The following issues, decision techniques, and theories are among those examined: (1) Why Management Accounting? Whatever happened to simple cost accounting? (2) Long-term resource allocation decisions: It’s All About Cash – What happened to Financial Reporting Standards? (3) “How’d We Do?” / Performance modelling: Adapting traditional variance work to the Sales and Margin side. (4) Coming Up Short? Strategies supporting short-term business planning, including multi-product, probabilistic, break-even modelling. (5) Is That All There Is? Some management accountants, inspired by Goldratt’s bottleneck solutions, favour dropping cost accounting. Why? Activity-Based Hogwash? ~ Disappointments, resolutions. Group presentations culminate the course. Creative analysis, innovative approaches / solutions, and professional reporting are the foundation of the assignment. Insightful, inventive thinking, with a dash of enthusiasm: the coup de maitre
