Pointers/outline of discussion and review

 Accounting

 Users of financial information

o Owners
o Management and employees
o Creditors
o Investors/shareholders
o Customers
o Government
o Public

 Difference between financial accounting and management accounting

o Legal requirements

o Focus on individual parts/segments

o GAAP

o Time dimension

o Report frequency

 Functions of management accounting

o Allocate costs between COGS and inventories for internal and external reporting
o Provide relevant information to help managers make better decision
o Provide information for planning, control, performance measurement and continuous
improvement
 Decision-making process
o Identifying objectives
o Alternative courses of action
o Select from alternative courses of action
o Implement the decision
o Compare actual and planned outcomes
o Respond from divergence from the plan
 The impact of the changing business environment on management accounting
o Global competition
o Changing product life cycles
o Advances in manufacturing technologies
o Impact of information technology
o Environmental and sustainability issues
o Ethical behavior
o Deregulation and privatization
o Customer orientation
 Globalization and management accounting international practices