2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
• L.O.1 Describe the way managers use accounting information to create
value in organizations.
• L.O.2 Distinguish between the uses and users of cost accounting and
Financial accounting information.
• L.O.3 Explain how cost accounting information is used for decision
making and performance evaluation in organizations.
• L.O.4 Identify current trends in cost accounting.
• L.O.5 Understand ethical issues faced by accountants and ways to deal with
ethical problems that you face in your career.
3. Definition of Cost Accounting
• Cost Accounting is the field of accounting that measures ,record and
reports information about costs
• Key Financial Players in the organization
Partial Organization chart
• Board of Director
• Chief Executive Officer
• Chief Operation Officer
• 1.Industrial Department 2. Staff and Administration Department
• Financial vice present
• 1.Tresesurer 2. Controller 3. Internal Auditor
• Cost Accounting
4. Self Study Questions
1. Who are the key Financial players in the organizations?
2 Name the important things that each type of key financial
players does?
5. Value Chain
– Value added activities
– Non value added activities
• The Value Chain describes a set of activities that
transforms raw materials and resources into the
goods and services end users purchase and consume.
L.O. 1 Describe the way managers use accounting
information to create value in organizations.
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6. Value Added Activity
Value Added Activity
Those activities that customers perceive as adding utility to the goods or
services they purchase.
Non value-added activities
Activities that do not add value to the good or service from the customer’s
perspective. (for example, wages for employees and costs of equipment to
move the goods)
7. The Value Chain Components
Research &
Development
Design Purchasing
Marketing Distribution
Customer
Service
Production
LO1
1 - 7
8. The Value Chain Components, Example
Activities, and Example Costs
9. Supply Chain and Distribution Chain
Supply chain
Set of firms and individuals that sells goods and services to the
firm.
Distribution chain
Set of firms and individuals that buys and distributes goods and
services from the Firm
10. Self Study Questions
1. Explain the differences between financial accounting and
cost accounting. Why are these differences important?
2. Distinguish between the value chain and the supply chain.?
12. Accounting Systems
Financial accounting
Financial accounting information is designed for decision
makers who are not directly involved in the daily
management of the firm.
Cost accounting
Cost accounting information is designed for managers.
14. Cost Accounting, GAAP, and IFRS
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
Rules, standards, and conventions that guide the preparation of financial
accounting statements for firms registered in the U.S.
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
Rules, standards, and conventions that guide the preparation of the financial
accounting statements in many other countries.
16. Managerial Decisions
• Individuals make decisions.
• Decisions determine the performance
of the organization.
• Managers use information from the accounting
system to make decisions.
• Owners evaluate organizational and managerial
performance with accounting information.
L.O. 3 Explain how cost accounting information is used
for decision making and performance evaluation
in organizations.
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17. Term Related Cost Data for Managerial
Decisions
Cost Driver
Factor that causes, or "drives,” costs.
Differential Costs
Costs that change in response to a particular course of action.
Differential Revenues
Revenues that change in response to a particular course of action
18. Costs for Decision Making
• Carmen’s Cookies has been making and selling
cookies through a small store downtown.
• One of her customers suggests that she expand
operations and sell to wholesalers and retailers.
• Should Carmen expand operations?
LO3
1 - 18
20. Differential Costs, Revenues, and Profits
Sales revenue
Costs:
Food
Labor
Utilities
Rent
Other
Total costs
Operating profits
$6,300
1,800
1,000
400
1,250
1,000
$5,450
$ 850
$8,505a
2,700b
1,500b
600b
1,250
1,200c
$7,250
$1,255
$2,205
900
500
200
-0-
200
$1,800
$ 405
(1) Status Quo
Original Shop
Sales Only
(2) Alternative
Wholesale & Retail
Distribution (3) Difference
Carmen’s Cookies
Projected Income Statement for One Week
(a) 35 percent higher than status quo
(b) 50 percent higher than status quo
(c) 20 percent higher than status quo
LO3
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21. Costs for Control and Evaluation
Responsibility center
Specific unit of an organization assigned to a manager who is held
accountable for its operations and resources.
22. Responsibility Centers,
Revenues, and Costs
Carmen Diaz
President
Ray Adams
Vice-President
Retail Operations
Cathy Peterson
Vice-President
Wholesale Operations
LO3
1 - 22
23. Responsibility Centers, Revenues, and Costs
Carmen’s Cookies
Income Statement
For the Month Ending April 30
Sales revenue
Department costs:
Food
Labora
Utilities
Rent
Total department costs
Center marginb
General and admin. costs:
General manager’s salaryc
Other (administrative)
Total general and admin. costs
Operating profit
$28,400
13,500
4,500
1,800
5,000
$24,800
$ 3,600
$23,600
9,800
3,200
2,100
2,500
$17,600
$ 6,000
$52,000
23,300
7,700
3,900
7,500
$42,400
$ 9,600
5,000
3,200
$ 8,200
$ 1,400
Retail
Operations
Wholesale
Operations Total
(a) Includes department managers’ salaries but excludes Carmen’s salary
(b) The difference between revenues and costs attributable to a responsibility center
(c) Carmen’s salary
LO3
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24. budget
Financial plan of the revenues and resources needed to carry out
activities and meet financial goals.
25. Responsibility Centers, Revenues, and Costs
Carmen’s Cookies
Retail Responsibility Center
Budgeted versus Actual Costs
For the Month Ending April 30
Food:
Flour
Eggs
Chocolate
Nuts
Other
Total food
Labor:
Manager
Other
Total labor
Utilities
Rent
Total cookie costs
Number of cookies sold
$ 2,100
5,200
2,000
2,000
2,200
$13,500
3,000
1,500
$ 4,500
1,800
5,000
$24,800
32,000
$ 2,200
4,700
1,900
1,900
2,200
$12,900
3,000
1,500
$ 4,500
1,800
5,000
$24,200
32,000
$ (100)
500
100
100
-0-
$ 600
-0-
-0-
$ -0-
-0-
-0-
$ 600
-0-
Actual Budget Difference
LO3
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26. Cont…
Another important use of cost accounting information is the evaluation of the
performance of an organization. Comparing the actual results to the budgeted
results allows managers to evaluate the performance of the organization and
owners to evaluate the performance of individual managers. For example, look
at Carmen’s actual activity and costs compared to her budgeted activity and
costs. If Carmen budgeted selling 32,000 cookies and actually sold 32,000
cookies in the month of April, why were her food costs $600 higher than she
anticipated?
In evaluating activities for April, Carmen is also interested in seeing that actual
labor costs equaled the amount budgeted. As part of the planning and control
process, managers prepare budgets containing expectations about revenues and
costs for the coming period. At the end of the period, managers compare actual
results with the budget. This allows them to see whether changes can be made to
improve future operations.
27. Trends in Cost Accounting
1. Research and development
2. Design
3. Purchasing
4. Production
5. Marketing
6. Distribution
7. Customer service
8. ERP – Enterprise resource planning
9. Creating value in the organization
L.O. 4 Identify current trends in cost accounting.
1 - 27
28. Trends in Cost Accounting
Cost Design ,
Activity Base Costing (ABC) Costing method that
first assigns costs to activities and then assigns them to
products based on the products’ consumption of
activities
In Purchasing , performance measure Metric that
indicates how well an individual, business unit, product,
or firm is working. Benchmarking Continual process of
measuring a company’s own products, services, and
activities against competitors’ performance.
29. Cont…
In Production just-in-time (JIT) method In production or
purchasing, each unit is produced or purchased just in time for its
use. lean accounting A cost accounting system that provides
measures at the work cell or process level and minimizes wasteful
or unnecessary transaction processes.
In Marketing customer relationship management (CRM) System
that allows firms to target profit table customers by assessing
customer revenues and costs.
30. Cont…
In Customer Services total quality management (TQM)
Management method by which the organization seeks to excel on
all dimensions, with the customer ultimately defining quality.
cost of quality (COQ) System that identifies the costs of
producing low-quality items, including rework, returns, and lost
sales.
31. Self Study Questions
What are the major causes of changes in cost accounting systems
in recent years?
32. Enterprise Resource Planning
• Information technology linking various processes
of the enterprise into a single comprehensive
information system
Technology
Purchasing
Human
Resources
Marketing
Production
Finance
LO4
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33. Ethical Issues for Accountants
• The design of the cost accounting system has
the potential to be misused to defraud customers,
employees, or shareholders.
L.O. 5 Understand ethical issues faced by accountants
and ways to deal with ethical problems that you
face in your career.
1 - 33
34. Cont…
Accountants report information that can have a substantial
impact on the careers of managers who are generally held
accountable for achieving financial performance targets. Failure
to achieve a target can have serious negative consequences for a
manager. Therefore, accountants may find themselves under
pressure by management to make accounting choices that
improve performance reports rather than accurately reflect
performance. As a professional accountant, manager, or business
owner, you will face ethical situations on an everyday basis.
35. Ethics
The IMA Code of Ethics discusses the steps cost accountants should take when
faced with an ethical conflict. Essentially, these steps are:
• DISCUSS the conflict with your immediate superior or, if the conflict
involves your superior, the next level in authority. This might require contacting
the board of directors or an appropriate committee of the board, such as the
audit committee or the executive committee;
• CLARIFY the relevant issues and concepts by discussions with a
disinterested party or by contacting an appropriate and confidential ethics
“hotline”;
• CONSULT your attorney about your rights and obligations.
36. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
What is the
intent?
Who is
impacted?
How are
corporations
impacted?
Address problem
of corporate
governance
Accounting firms
and
corporations
Corporate
responsibility
LO5
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37. Appendix 1
Institute of Management Accountants’ (IMA)
Code of Ethics: Standards
1. Competence
2. Confidentiality
3. Integrity
4. Credibility
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38. Self Study Questions
What are the three essential steps a cost accountant should take
when faced with an ethical conflict?
We start the study of the Fundamentals of Cost Accounting with a review and overview of information necessary for decision making.
The value chain describes the set of activities that increase the value of an organization’s products or services. Value-added activities are activities that customers perceive as valuable because the activity adds utility to the goods or services they purchase. In other words, customers define value.
All products start with research and development. Is research and development (creating and developing ideas related to a new product) value-added or nonvalue-added?
Once we have the idea for a new product, the product must be developed and engineered. Does this add value?
The purchasing department is responsible for acquiring all of the necessary components and supplies in order to produce the product. Does this add value?
We must produce the product or deliver the service in order for the product or service to have value to a customer.
We need to inform potential customers about the attributes of our product or service.
Delivering the product or service to the customer adds value. If the customer does not have the product or service, it has no value.
Finally, chances are you have experienced the value of customer service. Have you ever called the technical support line for a software application you installed on your computer? If so, I hope the support added value to your product.
Distinguish between the value chain and the supply chain.
Financial accounting information is designed for decision makers who are not directly involved in the daily management of the firm.
Cost accounting information is designed for managers.
1.1
The key question is: What adds value to the firm? Let’s look at how cost information adds value to the organization. Cost information adds value to the organization if that information improves managers’ decisions.
Now we are going to look at an example involving decision making. Carmen’s Cookies.
What drives the cost of rent and the cost of insurance? The number of storefronts Carmen has drives rent and insurance. If Carmen opens a new storefront, her rent and insurance costs will increase. On the other hand, what drives the cost of labor or the cost of the ingredients for the cookies? How many cookies Carmen makes will determine how many employees she needs and how much flour and sugar are required.
Look at Carmen’s projected income statement. If Carmen maintains the status quo and does not expand, revenue will be $6,300. However, she expects revenues to increase 35% if she expands. Differential revenue is $2,205. If food, labor and utilities costs all increase 50%, Carmen has differential costs of $900, $500, and $200 for those costs. Carmen determines she currently has room for increased cookie production so she will not be required to rent additional space. Therefore rent is not a differential cost. However, her other costs also increase 20% for differential costs of $200. Using this cost information to analyze revenues and costs, Carmen determines that she has differential profits of $405 if she expands rather than maintaining the status quo.
This is an example of an organization’s chart. Please notice that Ray Adams is in charge of retail operations and Cathy Peterson is in charge of wholesale operations. Are these responsibility centers?
Do you think that general and administrative costs should be distributed to the two operations?
A budget, or a financial plan for the revenues and resources needed to meet financial goals, is an important tool for the financial success of both individuals and organizations. Do you have a budget?
Another important use of cost accounting information is the evaluation of the performance of an organization. Comparing the actual results to the budgeted results allows managers to evaluate the performance of the organization and owners to evaluate the performance of individual managers. For example, look at Carmen’s actual activity and costs compared to her budgeted activity and costs. If Carmen budgeted selling 32,000 cookies and actually sold 32,000 cookies in the month of April, why were her food costs $600 higher than she anticipated?
In evaluating activities for April, Carmen is also interested in seeing that actual labor costs equaled the amount budgeted. As part of the planning and control process, managers prepare budgets containing expectations about revenues and costs for the coming period. At the end of the period, managers compare actual results with the budget. This allows them to see whether changes can be made to improve future operations.
Cost accounting continues to experience dramatic changes. Developments in information technology (IT) have nearly eliminated manual bookkeeping. Emphasis on cost control is increasing in all types of organizations.
Cost Design , Activity Base Costing (ABC) Costing method that first assigns costs to activities and then assigns them to products based on the products’ consumption of activities
In Purchasing , performance measure Metric that indicates how well an individual, business unit, product, or firm is working. Benchmarking Continual process of
measuring a company’s own products, services, and activities against competitors’ performance. In Production just-in-time (JIT) method In production or purchasing, each unit is produced or purchased just in time for its use. lean accounting A cost accounting system that provides measures at the work cell or process level and minimizes wasteful or unnecessary transaction processes. In Marketing customer relationship management (CRM) System that allows fi rms to target profi table customers by assessing customer revenues and costs. In Distribution outsourcing Having one or more of the firm’s activities performed
by another fi rm or individual in the supply or distribution chain. In Customer Services total quality management (TQM) Management method by which the organization seeks to excel on all dimensions, with the customer ultimately defining quality. cost of quality (COQ) System that identifies the costs of producing low-quality items, including rework, returns, and lost sales.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) uses information technology to link the various processes of the enterprise into a single comprehensive information system. Because all the company’s processes are integrated, ERP has significant potential for providing information on the cost of products and services. However, implementation problems are keeping many companies from realizing this potential.
Accountants report information that can have a substantial impact on the careers of managers who are generally held accountable for achieving financial performance targets. Failure to achieve a target can have serious negative consequences for a manager. Therefore, accountants may find themselves under pressure by management to make accounting choices that improve performance reports rather than accurately reflect performance. As a professional accountant, manager, or business owner, you will face ethical situations on an everyday basis.
When there is a public perception of widespread ethical problems, the result is often legislation making certain conduct is not only unethical, but also illegal. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to address some of the more serious problems of corporate governance that surfaced in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In Appendix 1 to Chapter 1 is the Institute of Management Accountants’ Code of Ethics. The code of ethics addresses four standards; competence, confidentiality, integrity, and credibility.