1. Managerial Accounting and the Business Environment
Chapter 1: Managerial Accounting and the Business Environment.
This chapter describes the larger business environment within which management accounting operates. It is divided into six sections: (1) what is managerial accounting, (2) managerial accounting and globalization, (3) a strategic view of managerial accounting, (5) value creation perspectives: external, internal, leadership and cultural, (5) Business management perspectives,: ethics, corporate governance, enterprise risk management, corporate social responsibility and sustainability, and (6) the professional qualifications of Management Accountants.
Chapter 1

2. Comparison of Financial and Managerial Accounting
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Comparison of Financial and Managerial Accounting
There are seven key differences between managerial accounting and financial accounting:
 Users: Financial accounting reports are prepared for external parties, whereas managerial accounting reports are prepared for internal users.
 Emphasis on the future: Financial accounting summarizes past transactions. Managerial accounting has a strong future orientation.
 Relevance of data: Financial accounting data should be objective and verifiable. Managerial accountants focus on providing relevant data even if these data are not completely objective and verifiable.
 Less emphasis on precision: Financial accounting focuses on precision when reporting to external parties. Managerial accounting aids decision makers by providing good estimates as soon as possible rather than waiting for precise data later.
 Segments of an organization: Financial accounting is concerned with reporting for the company as a whole. Managerial accounting focuses more on the segments of the company. Examples of segments include: product lines, sales territories, divisions, departments, etc..
 Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP): Financial accounting conforms to GAAP. Managerial accounting is not bound by GAAP.
 Managerial accounting – not mandatory: Financial accounting is mandatory because various outside parties require periodic financial statements. Managerial accounting is not mandatory.

3. Work of Management Planning Controlling Decision Making
Managerial accounting helps managers carry out three main activities—planning, controlling, and decision making.

4. Planning Establish Goals. Specify How Goals Will Be Achieved.
Develop Budgets.
Planning involves establishing goals and specifying how to achieve them.
Plans are often accompanied by a budget.
A budget is a detailed plan for the future that is usually expressed in formal quantitative terms.

5. Controlling The control function gathers feedback to
ensure that plans are being followed.
Feedback in the form of performance reports that compare actual results with the budget are an essential part of the control function.
Controlling involves gathering feedback to ensure that the plan is being properly executed or modified as circumstances change.
Part of the control process includes preparing performance reports.
A performance report compares budgeted to actual results to improve future performance.

6. Decision Making Decision making involves making a selection among
competing alternatives.
What should
we be selling?
Who should
we be serving?
Decision making involves selecting a course of action from competing alternatives.
Many managerial decisions revolve around answering three questions:
What should we be selling?
Who should we be serving?
How should we execute?
How should
we execute?

7. A Strategic View of Managerial Accounting
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A Strategic View of Managerial Accounting
A strategy is a “game plan” that enables a company to attract customers by distinguishing itself from competitors.
A strategy is a “game plan” that enables a company to attract customers by distinguishing itself from competitors.
The focal point of a company’s strategy should be its target customers.

8. Customer Value Propositions
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Customer Value Propositions
Understand and respond to individual customer needs.
Customer Intimacy Strategy
Operational Excellence Strategy
Deliver products and services faster, more conveniently, and at lower prices.
Part I.
Companies that adopt a customer intimacy strategy strive to understand and respond to individual customer needs better than competitors. Examples of companies that pursue this strategy include: Ritz-Carlton, Nordstrom, and Starbucks.
Part II.
Companies that adopt an operational excellence strategy strive to deliver products and services faster, more conveniently, and at a lower price than competitors. Examples of companies that pursue this strategy include: Daiso, Southwest Airlines, Wal-Mart, and The Vanguard Group.
Part III.
Companies that adopt a product leadership strategy strive to offer higher quality products than competitors. Examples of companies that pursue this strategy include: Louis Vuitton, BMW, Cisco Systems, and W.L. Gore.
Product Leadership Strategy
Offer higher quality products.

9. Value Creation: Value-added activities and processes
Create value to stakeholders
Need to pay attention to value-added (vs. non-value- added) activities and processes
Possible techniques focusing on value-added activities and processes include:
Activity-based costing and management
Lean production
Just-in-time inventory management and production
Theory of Constraints
Kaizen costing
Life-cycle costing
Target pricing and costing
Quality management, e.g. total quality management and six sigma

10. Managerial Accounting: Beyond the Numbers
In addition to the External, Internal, Leadership and Cultural Perspectives, the following four business management perspectives also go beyond the numbers to enable intelligent planning, control, and decision making:
An Ethics Perspective
A Corporate Governance Perspective
An Enterprise Risk Management Perspective
A Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Perspective
In addition to the External, Internal, Leadership and Cultural Perspectives, the following four business management perspectives also go beyond the numbers to enable intelligent planning, control, and decision making:
An Ethics Perspective
A Corporate Governance Perspective
An Enterprise Risk Management Perspective
A Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Perspective

11. 1-10
An Ethics Perspective
All Professional Management Accountants Bodies issue their own Code of Conduct but they all share similar fundamental principles and conceptual approaches as the one issued by the Institute of Management Accountants.
The Institute of Management Accountants’ (IMA) Statement of Ethical Professional Practice consists of two parts that offer guidelines for:
 Ethical behavior.
 Resolution for an ethical conflict.
All professional accountants’ bodies issue ethical guidelines.
The Institute of Management Accountants’ Statement of Ethical Professional Practice consists of two parts — guidelines for ethical behavior and guidelines for resolution of an ethical conflict.

12. An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
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An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
Recognize and communicate professional limitations that preclude responsible judgment.
Maintain professional competence.
Competence
Follow applicable laws, regulations and standards.
Management accountants have responsibility for ethical behavior in four broad areas. The first area is professional competence.
Management accountants must:
Maintain professional competence.
Follow applicable laws, regulations, and standards.
Provide accurate, clear, concise, and timely decision support information.
Recognize and communicate professional limitations that preclude responsible judgment.
Provide accurate, clear, concise, and timely decision support information.

13. An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
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An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
Do not disclose confidential information unless legally obligated to do so.
Do not use confidential information for unethical or illegal advantage.
Confidentiality
The second area is confidentiality. Management accountants must:
Not disclose confidential information unless legally obligated to do so.
Ensure that subordinates do not disclose confidential information.
Not use confidential information for unethical or illegal advantage.
Ensure that subordinates do not disclose confidential information.

14. An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
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An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
Mitigate conflicts of interest and advise others of potential conflicts.
Refrain from conduct that would prejudice carrying out duties ethically.
Integrity
The third area is integrity. Management accountants must:
Mitigate conflicts of interest and advise others of potential conflicts.
Refrain from conduct that would prejudice carrying out duties ethically.
Abstain from activities that might discredit the profession.
Abstain from activities that might discredit the profession.

15. An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
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An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
Communicate information fairly and objectively.
Disclose delays or deficiencies in information timeliness, processing, or internal controls.
Credibility
The fourth area is credibility. Management accountants must:
Communicate information fairly and objectively.
Disclose all relevant information that could influence a user’s understanding of reports and recommendations.
Disclose delays or deficiencies in information timeliness, processing, or internal controls.
Disclose all relevant information that could influence a user’s understanding of reports and recommendations.

16. 1-15
An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Resolution of an Ethical Conflict
Follow employer’s established policies.
For an unresolved ethical conflict:
Discuss the conflict with immediate supervisor or next highest uninvolved manager.
If immediate supervisor is the CEO, consider the board of directors or the audit committee.
Contact with levels above the immediate supervisor should only be initiated with the supervisor’s knowledge, assuming the supervisor is not involved.
When faced with an ethical conflict, the employer’s established policies for conflict resolution should be followed. If the conflict cannot be resolved within established policies, a management accountant should:
Discuss the conflict with immediate superior or next highest uninvolved manager.
If immediate supervisor is the CEO, consider discussing the conflict with the board of directors or the audit committee.
Remember that contact with levels above immediate supervisor should only be initiated with the supervisor’s knowledge, assuming the supervisor is not involved.

17. 1-16
An Ethics Perspective: IMA Guidelines for Resolution of an Ethical Conflict
Follow employer’s established policies.
For an unresolved ethical conflict:
Except where legally prescribed, maintain confidentiality.
Clarify issues in a confidential discussion with an objective advisor.
Consult an attorney as to legal obligations.
Additional guidelines for an unresolved ethical conflict are:
 Except where legally prescribed, communication with individuals not employed by the organization is not appropriate.
Clarify relevant ethical issues with an objective advisor, such as a member of the IMA’s Ethics Counseling Service.
Consult an attorney regarding your legal obligations.

18. An Ethics Perspective: Why Have Ethical Standards?
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An Ethics Perspective: Why Have Ethical Standards?
Ethical standards in business are essential for a smooth functioning economy.
Without ethical standards in business, the economy, and all of us who depend on it for jobs, goods, and services, would suffer.
Abandoning ethical standards in business would lead to a lower quality of life with less desirable goods and services at higher prices.
Ethical standards are motivated by a very practical consideration — if the standards are not followed in business, then the economy, and all of us, would suffer.
Abandoning ethical standards would lead to a lower standard of living with lower-quality goods and services, less to choose from, and higher prices. In short, ethical standards are essential for the smooth functioning of an advanced market economy.

19. An Ethics Perspective: Company Codes of Conduct
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An Ethics Perspective: Company Codes of Conduct
Broad-based statements of a company’s responsibilities to:
And to the communities in which the company operates.
Employees
Customers
Suppliers
Many companies have a formal code of conduct. These codes are generally broad-based statements of a company’s responsibilities to its employees, its customers, its suppliers, and the communities in which the company operates.

20. A Corporate Governance Perspective
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A Corporate Governance Perspective
The system by which a company is directed and controlled.
Board of Directors
Top Management
Stockholders
To pursue objectives of
Incentives and monitoring for
Corporate governance is the system by which a company is directed and controlled.
If properly implemented, the corporate governance system should provide incentives for the board of directors and top management to pursue objectives that are in the interests of the company’s owners and it should provide for effective monitoring of performance.

21. An Enterprise Risk Management Perspective
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An Enterprise Risk Management Perspective
Should I try to avoid the risk, share the risk, accept the risk, or reduce the risk?
A process used by a company to proactively identify and manage risk.
Part I.
Enterprise risk management is a process used by a company to proactively identify the risks that it faces and manage those risks.
Part II.
Once a company identifies its risks, perhaps the most common risk management tactic is to reduce risks by implementing specific controls.
Once a company identifies its risks, perhaps the most common risk management tactic is to reduce risks by implementing specific controls.

22. An Enterprise Risk Management Perspective
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This slide contains a subset of the business risks and controls shown in Exhibit 1-7 of the textbook. Collectively, these examples illustrate the diversity of risks that companies can face.

23. Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability Perspective
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby organizations consider the needs
of all stakeholders when making decisions.
Customers
Employees
Suppliers
Communities
Stockholders
Environmental & Human Rights Advocates
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby organizations consider the needs of all stakeholders when making decisions. CSR extends beyond legal compliance to include voluntary actions that satisfy stakeholder expectations.
Stakeholders include groups, such as customers, employees, suppliers, communities, stockholders, and environmental and human rights advocates, whose interests are tied to the company’s performance.
CSR extends beyond legal compliance to include voluntary actions that satisfy stakeholder expectations.

24. Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability Perspective
This slide presents examples of corporate social responsibilities that are of interest to the six stakeholder groups just mentioned.

25. End of Chapter 1
End of chapter 1.