Management Accounting, Group E

The primary objective of this course is to teach students the basic principles and techniques of Cost Accounting, which is the discipline of studying cost system design and use. Cost systems are part of the broader management accounting and control (MAC) systems central to the module. Organizations broadly use cost systems for (1) facilitating decision making (i.e., the Decision Making function) and (2) influencing decision making (i.e., the Control function). Therefore, the course will focus on the following aspects:

Decision Making function:

• You will become familiar with tools helping employees evaluate decision alternatives effectively.
• You will learn about cost accounting concepts (e.g., what costs are, how they relate to revenues, what activities drive costs, cost behaviors, product costs, and product price calculation).
• We will also discuss how to choose between different methods to allocate costs to cost objects.
• You will learn how to choose the right degree of costing sophistication for diverse organizations.

Decision Control function:

• We will examine how an organization’s architecture can be designed to monitor and measure employee behavior and performance.
• We will examine the basics of holding the right people accountable for the right decisions and discuss how it helps reduce conflicts in organizations.
• We will discuss the essentials of motivating employee behavior and describe what conflicts typically remain.

Throughout the course, we will discuss relevant Concepts, use Exercises to apply these concepts, and go through Practical Examples that students should understand and face in their future professional careers.