Management Accounting

A comprehensive introduction to management accounting, enabling students to develop an understanding of the importance of accounting as a management tool, for example in:

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• Using and interpreting accounting to allow rational decisions to be made.
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• Making and implementing plans based on accounting decisions.
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• Exercising financial control over organizations.

Contents include: costs and decision making; investment appraisal; cost-volume-profit analysis, full costing; budgets and budgetary control; standard costs and variance analysis; evaluation of divisional performance.

1. An Introduction to Management Accounting.

2. Relevant Costs for Decision Making.

3. Investment Decisions.

4. Further Aspects of Investment Decision Making.

5. Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis.

6. Full (Total) Costing.

7. Budgets and Budgetary Control.

8. Control Through Variances.

9. Divisional Performance Measurement and Control.

Peter Atrill and Eddie McLaney are both Lecturers in Accounting at the University of Plymouth, UK. Management Accounting is part of a major new national programme of highly developed texts and modules for undergraduate business programmes published by Blackwell Business in association with the Open Learning Foundation.

This text provides an introduction to management accounting. It enables students to develop an understanding of how managers use and interpret information to make rational decisions, how they make plans based on those decisions and exercise control over their organizations, and how they implement those plans.

Topics covered include:

• 
  
• Costs and decision making
• 
  
• Investment appraisal
• 
  
• Cost-volume-profit analysis
• 
  
• Full costing
• 
  
• Budgets and budgetary control
• 
  
• Standard costs and variance analysis
• 
  
• Evaluation of divisional performance.

The material will be available in modules to provide a flexible resource base which can be readily adapted to meet the precise needs of students and lecturers.

In addition, comprehensive guidance is available for lecturers explaining how to integrate the material into existing programme structures, suggested answers to activities, and solutions to exercises and assessments.