Modern Management Accounting Essay

A ) “Critically discuss the function of modern direction accounting, and the extent to which it shapes, or is shaped by, the altering organisational and planetary context within which it is practiced” .

B ) “With mention to relevant literature, critically measure the effectivity of Three recent developments in direction accounting techniques, within specific organisational or national contexts of your pick ( e.g. Manufacturing or Service Sectors, Advanced or Emerging Economies ) ” .

1 ) Introduction.

Over the last two decennaries, direction accounting developed as a practical assistance to concern directors and as a topic for academic instruction and research ( Robert W.S, 1993 ) . Management accounting therefore explains that “It is the procedure of identifying, mensurating and pass oning economic information to license informed judgements and determinations by users of the information” ( Drury, 2009:3 ) . Management accounting plays a really of import function, where in which it gives the director sufficient clip and relevant information and set marks, proctor public presentation and consistently better the efficiency and effectivity of the organisations in run intoing its aims systematically and adds value by making operations and procedure within the organisation ( Prit, 2009 ) .

To convey our history of direction accounting up to day of the month, developments since 1975 have recognized that an information and coverage system has an consequence on persons ( Robert S. Kaplan, 1982 ) . Although the direction accounting has developed in the 14th century, with rules of fiscal accounting and clerking, direction accounting was non practiced by the merchandisers and little concern proprietors prior to the industrial revolution. It was so in the 19th century the new accounting methods were developed because enterprisers were get downing to engage people on a long-run footing, to do capital investings, and present more complex production engineerings ( Brain H. Maskell, 1996 ) .

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With mentioning to the relevant literature, there have been few recent developments in direction accounting techniques within fabrication and service sectors. The pattern of modern direction accounting is different from traditional accounting. The recent developments enables directors to do sound determinations to minimise cost every bit good as in the same clip it adds value to the merchandises and services by bettering the quality of merchandises, which is required by the clients and cut down waste ( Prit, 2009 ) .

However, the pendulum swung in the other way over the following decennary as an consequence of new “Techniques” in direction accounting country. Activity-based-costing ( ABC ) , Just-in-time ( JIT ) , Total-quality-management ( TQM ) have been developed to update the traditional accounting theoretical account so it adequately reflects today ‘s fabrication environment ( Seed, Allen H, 1990 ) .

2 ) Modern Management Accounting:

2.1: Function of direction accounting.

The relation between accounting and direction has been normally expressed by the phrase, “Accounting is a tool of management” . Accounting pattern has developed in response to a altering concern economic system. In position of these alterations, effects have been made to clear up, redefine, and seek
credence of accounting philosophy and pattern ( Coleman R W, 1949 ) .

Management accounting systems ( MAS ) are recognized as supplying a most of import beginning of journal information in organisations, a beginning of power deducing from the ownership of that information, and a agency for administering that power and of pull offing the organisational system ( C S Jones, 1995 ) .

The direct impact of organisational alterations to different function of direction accounting is hard to mensurate. The altering function of direction accounting becomes apparent through sub-stantiate of direction accounting ( Loreta Valanciene, Edita Gimzauskiene, 2007 ) . ( Paul weetman 2000 ) Pointed out that the function of direction accounting consists of,

Direct attending: agencies supplying full information to the specific state of affairss e.g. Where the job occurs, who creates a loss. In the high competitory market, this function alerts the director about rival ‘s information such as their scheme, new merchandise.

Keeping the mark:

This function aims to reply the inquiries: how much and how many. ( How much implies to those things is related allotment and the portion of costs within the whole administration, and how many refers to the measure of inputs will be used ) . In the strategic direction, the reply to those inquiries may be widening such as how much the market portion, how many compared to the rivals.

Solving the jobs:

The direction accounting is a good channelize for director to supply the nearest relevant methods for work outing the subsisting jobs. Due to M/A, the director can roll up all elaborate information about the jobs such as which causes it, when it starts, and so based on those information, several replies will be provided and the undertaking of director is to take the most appropriate one ( Paul Weetman, 2000 ) .

2.2: Comparison of Traditional and Modern direction accounting:

During the 1950s and 1960s, comptrollers bit by bit discovered that merchandise costs, which had been constructed for fiscal coverage intents, were being taken earnestly by runing executives. In the late sixtiess and early 1970s, the direction accounting thought developed that attempted to subsume the two old attacks into a lodger conceptual model ( Robert S. Kaplan, 1982 ) .

Historical and modern-day surveies of accounting have shed visible radiation on the diverse ways in which accounting has been and is been implicated in a broad scope of activities and societal agreements ( Hopwood and Miller, 1994 ) .

Accounting can non be understood merely with mention to its supposed functional belongingss because it is implicated in the defining of its ain context ( Thomas Ahrens, and Christopher S. Chapman, 2007 ) .

This said, much of the grounds to day of the month suggests that, in pattern, traditional direction accounting techniques remain popular ( Dury et al. , 1993 ) . However, it appears besides that such traditional techniques are being used alongside new and ‘advanced ‘ accounting techniques, such as ABC, JIT and TQM ( J Burns and J Vaivio, 2001 ) .

Management accounting is used to assist directors make solid concern determinations ( Laura o, 2009 ) . Because of revolution in direction accounting, both smallest corner shop and largest transnational administration get down their ain invention on their accounting position ( Anonymous, 2004 ) .

Successful administrations adapt to alterations in their environment and proactively change their environment. Management accounting should assist administrations acknowledge the demand for originating alteration and suggest the appropriate response to an environment alteration ( Anthony A. Atkinson, et al 1997 ) .

2.3: Change in Global/ Organisational context and direction accounting:

Since 1975 of import alterations have taken topographic point in the context of political, economic and societal scenes ( Joan Amat, Salvador Carmona and Hanno Roberts, 1994 ) .The direction accounting faces few challenges over environmental alterations every bit good as internal procedure within administrations. Therefore, direction accounting, must response to these alterations by accommodating new techniques and constructs ( Wickramasinghe and Alwattage, 2007 ) .

The measuring of costs:

By utilizing the modern direction techniques, the value and profitableness of information services can be generated ( M S Magson, 1973 ) .

The birth of “hybrid” comptrollers:

As a consequence of new signifiers of administrations and demands of strategic direction accounting ( SMA ) . SMA links public presentation measuring system with corporate vision and schemes ( Wickramasinghe and Alwattage, 2007 ) .

Open-book accounting:

These techniques are of import portion of result control measuring for companies in inter-organisational relationships, which are another consequence of increased globalisation ( Hopper, 2007:276 ) .

In discoursing the nature of settled wonts of idea and action Hodgson, ( 1993 B ) defined wonts as more or less self-actualizing temperaments or inclinations to prosecute in antecedently adopted or acquired signifier of action ( John Burns and Robert W. Scapens, 2000 ) .

A scheme of alteration provides a critical assessment of current thoughts about ‘organizational civilization ‘ , ‘total quality direction ‘ , ‘flexibility ‘ , and ‘excellence ‘ . Dealing is an incorporate manner with the full spectrum of endurance in today ‘s altering environment ( David C. Wilson, 1992 ) .

3: Management accounting techniques:

3.1: Features of fabrication and service sectors:

Much of the literature on international concern has taken on a fabrication position. The recent literature has paid attending to the internationalisation of service houses ( Peter et.al. , 1999 ) .

Features of service production.
• Intangible end product.
• Customised end product.
• Labour intensifier.
Manufacturing Orientations in Service houses.



• Physical goods as a constituent as a service bundle ( Fitzsimmons and Sullvan, 1982 ; Sasser et Al, 1978 ) .
• Manufacturing logic in back-office service operations ( Chase, 1978 ) .
• Deprofessionalization of service production and bringing ( Northcraft and Chase, 1985 ) .
Service Orientations in Manufacturing Firms.


• Component of the merchandise ( e.g. , Gilmour, 1982, Lele, 1986 ; Levitt, 1969 ) .

• Component of merchandise scheme ( Buzzell and Gale, 1987 ; Lele, 1986 ; Porter, 1980 )

Features of fabrication production.
• Tangible end product.
• Standardized end product.
• Technical attention buffered from the client.


The struggle between fabrication and service sectors. The Centre box exhibits orientations among fabrication and service sectors. The right box exhibits the characteristics of the fabrication houses and the left box exhibits the characteristics of the service houses. ( David et al. , 1989 ) .Manufacturing houses, peculiarly those with diversified merchandise lines, have a good trade more flexibleness and control than extractive investors ; they may be able to exert considerable pick in their response to host state demands ( Stephen J, 1987 ) . The continued growing of service sectors in about all the developing economic systems has fascinated and on occasion alarmed economic experts and other perceivers. Why is the job more serious in some of the service sectors? Partially it is a information job, significantly, it is a conceptual one ( Zvi G, 1992 ) .Both fabricating and service company directors need operational control systems that will heighten the cost-improvement, quality-improvement, and process-time decrease activities of their employees ( Anthony A. Atkinson ; Rajiv D. Banker ; Robert S. Kaplan ; s. Mark Young, 1997 ) .

3.2: Three techniques:

3.2.1: Activity Based Costing ( ABC ) :

“Activity – based bing in a method that is projected to supply directors on cost information for strategic and other decisions that potentially affect the capacity and hence ‘fixed ‘ costs” ( Ray et al.2000:322 ) .

Benefits related to activity –based costing ( ABC ) are many. In ABC, the purpose is to understand the operating expense and profitableness of the merchandises and clients ( Garrism and Eric, 2000 ) . ABC works chiefly in the big cost drivers related with a determination to be certain of or a procedure being studied ( Wiley, 2001 ) .

In developing states, the fabrication industries started following new techniques, to keep relationship between the market development and technological invention to file away the long-run success. Apparently, ABC developed as an accounting technique to supply applicable information for advanced fabrication houses bring forthing assorted merchandises in a competitory environment ( N. M. Panda, 1999 ) .

Whilst the contemplation, ABC as yet focused on fabrication houses, ABC can be utile to few service organisations. There are few really disputes among fabricating and service sectors. Manufacturing houses execute the similar type of activities ; nevertheless, there is a little similarity among the activities of an insurance house, a infirmary and jurisprudence houses. Service sector is less touchable and, harder to specify ( Glautier and Underdown, 2001 ) .

In developed states like UK, when the study of ABC took topographic point for about 1000 companies, the consequence indicated that even after following ABC, it has been rejected by a healthy figure, and bulk of the companies have to still take a determination on its usage ( John and Mitchell, 1995 ) .

As cost driver and ABC constructs improve the measuring of costs and allotment information for service sections within fabrication houses, service houses such as accounting/law house could besides utilize cost driver and ABC constructs ( Pirrong, 1993 ) .

3.2.2: Just-In-Time ( JIT ) :

“JIT is a procedure which is capable of instant response to demand without the demand for any overstocking, either in exclusion of the demand being extroverted or as a consequence of inefficiencies in the process” ( David Hutchins, 1999 ) . Under certain fortunes of JIT construct, a company steering a JIT system would purchase merely adequate natural stuffs each twenty-four hours to run into that twenty-four hours ‘s demand. ( Ray et al, 2000 ) .

JIT fabrication strategy calls for doing a good or service merely when the client, internal or external demands it. JIT fabrication is simple in theory, nevertheless, had to pattern it ( Anthony A, Atkinson, 1997 ) .”Keeping everyone busy” , is another features of a conventional fabrication.
JIT have many advantages, for eg, “An American criterion uses cell fabricating to cut stock lists and cut down fabrication clip. The consequence is a discovery in velocity. Manufacturing a pump now takes six proceedingss than two weeks” ( Ray et al, 2000 ) .

JIT production procedure and the fabrication effectivity ratio for fabricating operations, is every bit applicable to service companies excessively. Service bringing procedure is even more of import than in fabrication companies. Eg. In banking industries, for the procedure of deriving blessing for a mortgage on a house that we like to buy needful 26 yearss and after using JIT procedure they merely need 15 min ( Kaplan and Norten, 1996 ) .

3.2.3: Entire Quality Management ( TQM ) :

“TQM is the most popular attack to a uninterrupted betterment. Its major features are to concentrate on functioning clients and systematic job work outing squad made up of front-line workers” . Few 1000s of companies have been involved in TQM and similar plans ( Ray et al, 2000 ) .

For a concern, the major driving force is the component of competition. Competitiveness of providers is determined by the quality of its merchandise or services ( John & A ; Peter, 1997 ) .Most of the fabrication companies adopts TQM, either is to better the work atmosphere for the employees, or to assist better the net incomes of a company. “Penril Datacomm is a Maryland interior decorator and manufacturer of informations communications equipment. Before TQM the defect rate of the company were high. Using TQM techniques resulted in an 81 % lessening in defects, an 83 % lessening in failures and a 73 % lessening in freshman guarantee repairs” ( Ray et al, 2000:19 ) .

The construct and tools of service began with Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman ‘s “In hunt Of Excellence” , to accomplish client satisfaction, service companies such as Disney Corporation and SAS Airlines adopted TQM ( Kenneth et al, 2005 ) . TQM in instruction as a concern, is hard to

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