...Number 3 121 Cost Accounting In Auto Manufacturing Companies In Germany And The United States Robert Jinkens, USA RamMohan R. Yallapragada, Fayetteville State University, USA ABSTRACT Corporate accountants are mandated to prepare and distribute financial accounting reports for external U.S.ers at end of each accounting period. However, there are no similar statutory requirements for corporate accountants to provide managers of their companies with the management accounting information necessary for decision making in their bU.S.iness operations. Cost accounting is an important integral part of management accounting. Product costing has always been a much debated issue in management accounting. The area that has generated a host of conflicting views is the allocation of overhead costs to products. Traditional absorption costing is claimed to be resulting in an unfair allocation of overhead costs to products. New approaches such as the Activity Based Costing (ABC) did not receive widespread adoption. It is being realized in management accounting field that an emerging costing method known as Resource Consumption Accounting (RCA) is a better method for product costing. It is a method adopted by the German manufacturing companies. This paper describes the German cost accounting method and also compares the German cost accounting with the cost accounting in the United States, specifically in the automobile manufacturing indU.S.try. Keywords: Cost Accounting in auto manufacturing...
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...1. Executive Summary This report covers on the central problem the business encounters and offer solutions to reconstruct certain facets of the business. The main concern that Cambden Cakes faced is the inaccuracy of the method of costing used which results in a misstatement in its profit report. This report is to offer an alternative to the current costing method - Activity-Based Costing (ABC). The following detailed explanatory will be covered in the main body Limitations of original costing system and how ABC system overcome the limitations mentioned; The benefits of ABC system to the company; Comparison of calculated values and differences between the two methods; and lastly The implementation of ABC system and its issues 2. Background on Cambden Cakes Business in Cambden Cakes includes manufacturing and distributing of a variety of cakes and pastry products to supermarkets which are located all over Victoria, Australia. It has a factory in Clayton, Melbourne, Australia which both manufacturing and distributing process occurred, followed by delivery to Cambden Cakes' customers' warehouses which then send out to supermarket outlets. Chris Lee is Managing Director of Cambden Cakes. He showed keen interest in expanding the business and followed up on the interest by modernizing the manufacturing processes in the factory. This result in a shift from being labour-intensive in its original manufacturing...
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...The majority of the management accounting developments between the origins of cost accounting and the 1970s were of a functionalist nature, whilst during the period between 1970 and 2000, several approaches that can be categorised as interpretative or radical came to the fore. The long economic depression of the 1870s brought a continuing decrease in demand, results in spare capacity and decreasing prices. Many builders new avenues of increased efficiency and gave their attention from technology to upgrade management of operations (Chandler 1977:272, Chatfield 1977: 160). During this period the operations became intensively capital intensive and whereas previously, initial capital costs were low and output generated sufficient funds for expansion,...
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...THE APPLICATION OF INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES FOR ENHANCING PROFITABILITY AND COMPETITIVENESS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF JAMAICAN MANUFACTURERS Phillip C. James University of Technology, Jamaica College of Business and Management School of Business Administration ABSTRACT This study represents the first in management accounting research in Jamaica which seeks to determine the extent to which innovative management accounting principles (IMAPs) are applied in the manufacturing sector. The aim is to determine if manufacturers in Jamaica are using IMAPs to improve export competitiveness and enhance profitability .The study also seek to determine the factors that prevent manufacturers from adopting these management accounting principles. Five manufacturing organizations were examined using an exploratory case study approach. Results indicate that companies adopting IMAPs have more reliable information for decision making, higher levels of profitability and competitiveness when compared with non- adopting companies. Key Words: Innovative Management Accounting Principles, Profitability, Competitiveness 1. INTRODUCTION The manufacturing environment of the twenty-first century has changed considerably when compared with what existed decades ago. Arising from this development and with the increase in global competition, the need for accurate cost information has become an imperative. Manufacturers worldwide have suddenly realized that the continued...
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...Strategic management accounting: how far have we come in 25 years? Kim Langfield-Smith Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the origins of strategic management accounting and to assess the extent of adoption and “success” of strategic management accounting (SMA). Design/methodology/approach – Empirical papers which have directly researched SMA and prior review papers of the adoption and implementation of SMA or SMA techniques are reviewed. As well as assessing the extent of adoption of SMA and the reasons underlying an apparent low adoption rate, the role of accountants in adopting and implementing SMA is considered. Finally, the success or otherwise of SMA is discussed. Findings – SMA or SMA techniques have not been adopted widely, nor is the term SMA widely understood or used. However, aspects of SMA have had an impact, influencing the thinking and language of business, and the way in which we undertake various business processes. These issues cut across the wider domain of management, and are not just the province of management accountants. Research limitations/implications – There is limited value in conducting future surveys of the adoption and implementation of SMA or SMA techniques. Rather, the focus should be on how SMA-inspired techniques and processes diffuse into general practice within organizations. Originality/value – Twenty-five years after the term strategic management accounting was first introduced...
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...reasons given for this is globalization, highs information technology (IT) investments and the rapid pace of technological change. Organizations are responding in different ways and at different rates to the wide range of IT based opportunities and pressures. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effects of IT related organizational changes on the management accounting function and to contribute to the body of knowledge about to what extent IT affects the ability to solve accounting tasks. The relationship between IT and accounting practices was investigated qualitatively using six case studies and we will measure the impact of IT on accountants’ tasks. The findings suggest a tendency for change and the decentralization of accounting tasks. Index Terms—Accounting, Accounting Information Systems, Financial Documents, Information Technology, Management Information System. I. INTRODUCTION Nowadays the business world is changing at a faster and faster pace. The reasons given for this is globalization, highs IT investments and the rapid pace of technological change in combination with escalating costs of research and development (Frishamar, 2002). The role of information technology (IT) has shifted over the last decades (Teng & Calhoun, 1996) to become an important part of how companies manage and control their resources. Organizations are responding in different ways and at different rates to the wide range of IT based opportunities and pressures (Johnson...
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...in management accounting innovations An overview of its recent development Nur Haiza Muhammad Zawawi Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia and School of Accounting, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, and Management accounting innovations 505 Zahirul Hoque School of Accounting, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of paper is to present a review of the literature on management accounting innovations (MAIs). Specifically, it explores recent developments in research on MAIs and offers suggestions for future research. The review differs from existing reviews by its specific focus on MAIs and the recent time period covered. In this paper, MAIs refer to the adoption of “newer” or modern forms of management accounting systems such as activity-based costing (ABC), activity-based management, time-driven ABC, target costing, and balanced scorecards. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a review of findings from journal articles published in 22 notable accounting journals. Findings – The review finds that research on MAIs has intensified during the period 2000-2008, with the main focus on exploring the extent to which a host of organizational and environmental factors influence the implementation and use of MAIs in organizations. In addition, research on MAIs indicates the dominant use of sociological theories and increasing use of empirical/field studies. Research limitations/implications...
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...Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 1, June, 2010 2010-023X Information Technology roles in Accounting Tasks – A Multiple-case Study Maria do Céu Gaspar Alves Abstract—Nowadays the business world is changing at a faster and faster pace. The reasons given for this is globalization, highs information technology (IT) investments and the rapid pace of technological change. Organizations are responding in different ways and at different rates to the wide range of IT based opportunities and pressures. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effects of IT related organizational changes on the management accounting function and to contribute to the body of knowledge about to what extent IT affects the ability to solve accounting tasks. The relationship between IT and accounting practices was investigated qualitatively using six case studies and we will measure the impact of IT on accountants’ tasks. The findings suggest a tendency for change and the decentralization of accounting tasks. Index Terms—Accounting, Accounting Information Systems, Financial Documents, Information Technology, Management Information System. I. INTRODUCTION Nowadays the business world is changing at a faster and faster pace. The reasons given for this is globalization, highs IT investments and the rapid pace of technological change in combination with escalating costs of research and development (Frishamar, 2002). The role of information technology (IT) has shifted over...
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...2010 2010-023X Factors Influencing Activity-Based Costing Success: A Research Framework Zhang Yi Fei and Che Ruhana Isa becoming more and more popular [3-7] ABC aims to provide accurate costing information to managers to allocate activity costs to products and services by applying cost drivers [8]. Academics who advocate ABC, such as, Cooper and Kaplan [9], and Swenson [10] argue that it provides more accurate cost data needed to make appropriate strategic decisions about product mix, sourcing, pricing, process improvement, and evaluation of business process performance. These claims have led many firms to adopt ABC systems [8]. The benefits of ABC and its positive impact on firm’s performance motivated a numerous studies which examined various aspects of ABC. Among such studies are McGowan [11] who assessed the integrity of ABC success, Innes and Mitchell [4, 12] and Yanren [13] who conducted research on factors affecting ABC adoption, and Shield [3], Shields and McEwen [14], Gosselin [15] and Baired et al.[16, 17]who concentrated on factors influencing ABC success especially at the implementation stage. However, there is mounting evidence that suggests most of firms are experiencing problems in implementing ABC and, in some extreme cases, ABC implementation is not successful [3], which later resulted in abandoning the ABC systems altogether [15]. Questions arise as to why ABC implementation is successful in certain companies and fails in others. Based on the contingency theory...
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...Department of Accounting A Graduation Research Proposal Presented to the Faculty of Commerce The Islamic University of Gaza Prepared By Mosa zuhair al-nassan Mosbah al-shaghnobi Mohammed Nabaheen 120091941 120092552 120102597 Supervisor's name Mr. Salah Shubir 3102 I I A Holy Qur'an Verse A Holy Qur'an Verse } وَقُل اعْمَلُوا فَسَيَرَى اللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولهُ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ{ سورة التوبة– اآلية 105 صدق اهلل العظيم I Dedication Dedication We dedicate this work to our lovely Palestine, to second home of Islamic university, and to our parents, who sacrificed everything in their life for us, and also we thank them for pushing us to success. For all of Those, Who are inspiring us and see us on our way. II II Acknowledgement Acknowledgement In the beginning, we thank Allah for giving us the strength and health to let this work see the light and our parents for their help and support. Our Prophet Mohammed said: “Who doesn’t thank people he doesn’t thank Allah”. We want to thank everyone help and participated in making this study starting from our honorable: Mr. Salah Shubair. Who put a lot of faith in our capabilities and encouraged us to complete this study. We thank all of our teachers in the faculty of commerce and our colleagues and friends for their support . III Abstract Abstract The study aims to discuss and evaluate one of the accounting problems, which...
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...of Management Accounting Techniques in Decision-making: An Empirical Study on Manufacturing Organizations in Bangladesh Farjana Yeshmin* and Md. Amran Hossan** Management accounting is concerned with gathering and reporting internal financial information to facilitate decision-making process. As management accounting is not required to conform to national accounting standards, it allows business to customize the management accounting techniques as per demand of company. As a process of this customization, some advanced quantitative as well as number of qualitative techniques accompany with the traditional techniques, have been emerged to cater the information need in decision making. This study attempts to measure the significance of management accounting techniques in decision making of the selected manufacturing organizations in Bangladesh. In doing so, a total of 74 manufacturing organizations have been surveyed with a structured questionnaire by using 5 point Likert Scale measurement from different categories of manufacturing organizations. Findings reveal that cash flow statement analysis, ratio analysis, budgetary control, CVP analysis, variance analysis and fund flow analysis have been frequently high-ranking techniques. Secondly, the authors have recognized five factors to calculate the variability in decision-making with the help of rotated component matrix which shows that 75.125 % of the total variability has found in the usage of management accounting techniques. Finally...
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...and Cultural Studies Human resource accounting and international developments: implications for measurement of human capital Maria L. Bullen Clayton State University Kel-Ann Eyler Wesleyan College Abstract Human Resource Accounting (HRA) involves accounting for expenditures related to human resources as assets as opposed to traditional accounting which treats these costs as expenses that reduce profit. Interest and contributions to growth in HRA have been evident in a number of countries. The strong growth of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) is an indication that the environment for international financial accounting is one that potentially encourages the consideration of alternative measurement and reporting standards and lends support to the possibility that future financial reports may include nontraditional measurements such as the value of human resources using HRA methods. Keywords: Human Resource Accounting, Human Capital, Intellectual Capital, International Accounting, International Financial Reporting, International Financial Reporting Standards Human Resource Accounting, Page 1 Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies Introduction Human Resource Accounting (HRA) involves accounting for the company’s management and employees as human capital that provides future benefits. In the HRA approach, expenditures related to human resources are reported as assets on the balance sheet as opposed to the traditional accounting approach which...
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...IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION ON MANAGEMENT’S DECISION MAKING – VINAMILK CASE STUDY TRUONG THUY CHUNG BACHELOR OF BUSINESS (ACCOUNTING) HONS HELP UNIVERSITY COLLEGE October 2011 i THE IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION ON MANAGEMENT’S DECISION MAKING – VINAMILK CASE STUDY By TRUONG THUY CHUNG Graduation Project Submitted to the Department of Business Studies, HELP University College, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Business (accounting) Hons OCTOBER 2011 ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that the graduation project is based on my original work except for quotations and citations which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other course/degree at HELP University College or other institutions. The word count is 10,036 words. _____________________ TRUONG THUY CHUNG Date: 17 October 2011 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, my sincere gratitude is dedicated to my supervisor – Ms Nguyen Van Anh. Thanks for your strong support, guidance, intuitive comments and also motivation through the process of completing this thesis. In addition, I would like to send my gratitude to the International School and HELP for giving me an opportunity to conduct my study in my favorite area. Thanks to all my family and friends for your supports, helps and motivation and made it possible for me to complete this study iv THE IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION...
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...IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION ON MANAGEMENT’S DECISION MAKING – VINAMILK CASE STUDY TRUONG THUY CHUNG BACHELOR OF BUSINESS (ACCOUNTING) HONS HELP UNIVERSITY COLLEGE October 2011 i THE IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION ON MANAGEMENT’S DECISION MAKING – VINAMILK CASE STUDY By TRUONG THUY CHUNG Graduation Project Submitted to the Department of Business Studies, HELP University College, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Business (accounting) Hons OCTOBER 2011 ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that the graduation project is based on my original work except for quotations and citations which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other course/degree at HELP University College or other institutions. The word count is 10,036 words. _____________________ TRUONG THUY CHUNG Date: 17 October 2011 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, my sincere gratitude is dedicated to my supervisor – Ms Nguyen Van Anh. Thanks for your strong support, guidance, intuitive comments and also motivation through the process of completing this thesis. In addition, I would like to send my gratitude to the International School and HELP for giving me an opportunity to conduct my study in my favorite area. Thanks to all my family and friends for your supports, helps and motivation and made it possible for me to complete this study iv THE IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION...
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...2010 2010-023X Factors Influencing Activity-Based Costing Success: A Research Framework Zhang Yi Fei and Che Ruhana Isa becoming more and more popular [3-7] ABC aims to provide accurate costing information to managers to allocate activity costs to products and services by applying cost drivers [8]. Academics who advocate ABC, such as, Cooper and Kaplan [9], and Swenson [10] argue that it provides more accurate cost data needed to make appropriate strategic decisions about product mix, sourcing, pricing, process improvement, and evaluation of business process performance. These claims have led many firms to adopt ABC systems [8]. The benefits of ABC and its positive impact on firm’s performance motivated a numerous studies which examined various aspects of ABC. Among such studies are McGowan [11] who assessed the integrity of ABC success, Innes and Mitchell [4, 12] and Yanren [13] who conducted research on factors affecting ABC adoption, and Shield [3], Shields and McEwen [14], Gosselin [15] and Baired et al.[16, 17]who concentrated on factors influencing ABC success especially at the implementation stage. However, there is mounting evidence that suggests most of firms are experiencing problems in implementing ABC and, in some extreme cases, ABC implementation is not successful [3], which later resulted in abandoning the ABC systems altogether [15]. Questions arise as to why ABC implementation is successful in certain companies and fails in others. Based on the contingency theory...
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