Accounting: Information for Planning, Decision Making, and Control

Introduction:

Managerial accounting is an activity that provides financial and non-financial information to business managers and other internal decision-makers of an organization. This course examines how managerial accounting information is gathered, and how it is used by business professionals to make effective plans & decisions. Lessons such as fundamentals of managerial accounting, cost accounting concepts, and managerial accounting approaches will provide you with the concepts, procedures, and analytical skills you'll need to make informed decisions in today's challenging business world.

Managerial accounting is not as widely used as other forms of accounting, nor is it as known. While companies concern themselves with financial accounting methods like audits, budgets, and financial statements, they often completely ignore the forward-thinking methods of managerial accounting.

Targeted Groups:

• Financial Officers
• Controllers
• Accountants
• Treasurers
• Corporate Planning
• Business Development Professionals
• Managers from any other non-financial areas willing to understand the financial aspects of Analysis, Planning, and Control
• Employees who want to get new knowledge to improve their career

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Use financial information for guiding decisions
• Understand how to optimize decisions through make vs. buy analysis
• Develop & critique plans that create results
• Control variances to industry standards
• Become comfortable conversing on accounting subjects
• Recognize the tools and techniques of financial analysis useful in decision Making
• Understand the use of the budgetary and Control Techniques
• Learn about Managerial VS Financial accounting
• Understand the Cost-Volume-Profit analysis for decision making
• Appreciate Fixed VS Variable VS Mixed costs for control
• Understand the capital budgeting that makes a difference
• Plan more accurately using managerial accounting
• Describe policies and company components that affect managerial accounting

Targeted Competencies:

• Cost terms and Concepts
• Cost Behavior: Analysis and Use
• Direct vs. Absorption Costing
• Overhead Costing for Planning and Control
• Standard Costs & Variance Analysis
• Relevant Costs for Decision Making
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Define managerial accounting & its impact on the organization
• Make better decisions through the results calculated
• Maintain better control of all costs

Course Content:

Unit 1: Managerial Accounting: a Perspective:

• The role of Managerial Accounting
• Financial vs. Managerial Accounting
• Cost Accounting vs. Managerial Accounting
• The work of management
• The Organization aspects of Managerial Accounting
• Using Managerial Accounting for planning, decision-making & control

Unit 2: Cost Concepts, Terms & Classifications:

• Diff cost s 4 diff purposes
• Cost classifications
• Cost by function
• Product vs. period costs
• FC, VC & Mixed costs
• Costs for planning, control & decision making

Unit 3: Cost Behavior Patterns:

• Analysis of cost behavior
• Fixed Costs-committed vs. discretionary
• Variable costs
• Semi-variable costs
• The Contribution Margin approach
• Comparing Gross Profit to The Contribution Margin

Unit 4: Cost-Volume-Profit & Break-Even:

• Cost-Volume-Profit & Break-Even defined
• Cost-Volume-Profit analysis
• Target income calculations
• Margin of safety calculations
• Sales mix analysis
• Break-Even analysis

Unit 5: Standard Costs:

• Responsibility accounting defined
• Responsibility centers
• Standard costs & Variance Analysis
• Fixed overhead variances
• VA for factory overhead
• Absorption VS Direct costing

Unit 6: Relevant Costs:

• Relevant costs defined
• Decision-making approaches
• Make VS Buy decisions
• Sell VS Process decision
• Lease VS Buy decision
• Adding or dropping a line decision

Unit 7: Capital Budgeting:

• Capital Budgeting decisions defined
• Capital Budgeting techniques demonstrated
• Mutually exclusive projects
• Capital rationing & decision making
• Investment decisions
• Decision-making tools

Unit 8: Performance Evaluation:

• Division evaluation
• Return On Investment (ROI)
• Profit planning
• Residual income (RI)
• Controlling results using ROI
• Controlling results using RI

Unit 9: Financial Statement Analysis:

• Ratio overview
• Liquidity ratios
• Activity ratios
• Leverage ratios
• Profitability ratios
• Market ratios

Unit 10: Statement of Cash Flows:

• P&L to Cash flow analysis
• Accrual basis of accounting
• Operations section explored
• Investing section explored
• Financing section explored
• Cash Flow statement to Balance Sheet connection