1. Fundamentals of Cost Accounting, 4th edition Lanen/Anderson/Maher
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2. Cost Accounting: Information for Decision Making
Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Cost Accounting: Information for Decision Making
We start the study of the Fundamentals of Cost Accounting with a review and overview of information necessary for decision making.

3. Learning Objectives LO 1-1 Describe the way managers use accounting
information to create value in organizations. LO 1-2 Distinguish between the uses and users of cost
accounting and financial accounting information.
LO 1-3 Explain how cost accounting information is used
for decision making and performance evaluation
in organizations.
LO 1-4 Identify current trends in cost accounting.
LO 1-5 Understand ethical issues faced by accountants
and ways to deal with ethical problems that you
face in your career.
After studying this chapter you should be able to: First, describe the way managers use accounting information to create value in organizations. Second, distinguish between the uses and users of cost accounting and financial accounting information. Third, explain how cost accounting information is used for decision making and performance evaluation in organizations. Fourth, identify current trends in cost accounting. And finally, understand ethical issues faced by accountants and ways to deal with ethical problems that you face in your career.

4. Value Chain LO 1-1 Describe the way managers use accounting
information to create value in organizations.
The value chain describes a set of activities that transforms raw materials and resources into the goods and services end users purchase and consume.
Value-Added Activities
Those activities that
customers perceive as
adding utility to the goods or services they purchase.
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.

5. The Value Chain Components
LO 1-1
The Value Chain Components
Research &
Development
Design
Purchasing
Production
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.
Marketing
Distribution
Customer
Service

6. LO 1-2
Accounting Systems
LO 1-2 Distinguish between the uses and users of cost
accounting and financial accounting information.
Financial
accounting
position and
income
Reports
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.
Cost
accounting
Information
about costs
Reports

7. Cost data for managerial use need not comply with GAAP or IFRS.
LO 1-2
Accounting Systems
The primary purpose of financial accounting is to provide investors and creditors information regarding company and management performance.
The financial data prepared for this purpose are governed by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States and by international financial reporting (IFRS) in many other countries.
Who establishes or defines the system? For financial accounting, external standard-setting groups (FASB, IFRS) do this. For cost accounting, management does this.
Cost data for managerial use need not comply with GAAP or IFRS.

8. Customers of Accounting
LO 1-2
Customers of Accounting
Accountants must work with the users of cost accounting information to provide the best possible information for managerial purposes.
The most important participant in any business is the customer. A customer is an individual who purchases or uses the product or service offered. Having said that, let’s consider the customers of cost accounting.
Who uses the information provided by the cost accounting system? Managers use the information in making decisions. Managers continually make decisions on how to improve operations. Owners of the firm also use cost accounting information. Owners use the information to evaluate the performance of the managers.
Different uses of accounting information require different types of accounting information.

9. LO 1-3
Managerial Decisions
LO 1-3 Explain how cost accounting information is used
for decision making and performance evaluation
in organizations.
Individuals make decisions.
Decisions determine the performance of the organization.
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.
Managers use information from the accounting system to make decisions.
Owners evaluate organizational and managerial performance with accounting information.

10. Cost Data for Managerial Decisions
LO 1-3
Cost Data for Managerial Decisions
Costs for decision making
Costs for control and evaluations
We emphasize that it is individuals (people) like us who make decisions.
Different data for different decisions

11. Costs for Decision Making
LO 1-3
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?
Now we are going to look at an example involving decision making using the company Carmen’s Cookies.

12. Carmen’s Cost Drivers Cost Rent Insurance Labor Ingredients Driver
LO 1-3
Carmen’s Cost Drivers
Cost
Rent
Insurance
Labor
Ingredients
Driver
Number of stores
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.
Number of cookies

13. LO 1-3
Differential Costs
Costs that change in response to a particular course of action.
Differential costs change (differ) between actions.
After identifying the cost drivers, Carmen looks at her differential costs. Differential costs are costs that differ between alternatives. Carmen’s differential costs are those costs that are different if she expands versus if she doesn’t expand. Get it? Differential costs differ.

14. Differential Revenues
LO 1-3
Differential Revenues
Revenues that change in response to a particular course of action.
Differential revenues change (differ) between actions.
Like differential costs, differential revenues differ between actions. What are Carmen’s expected revenues if she expands? What are her expected revenues if she does not expand? The difference between these expected revenues is differential revenue.

15. Differential Costs, Revenues, and Profits
LO 1-3
Differential Costs, Revenues, and Profits pp
Sales revenue
Costs:
Food
Labor
Utilities
Rent
Other
Total costs
Operating profits
$6,300
1,800
1,000
400
1,250
$5,450
$ 850
$8,505a
2,700b
1,500b
600b
1,200c
$7,250
$1,255
$2,205
900
500
200
-0-
$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
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.
(a) 35 percent higher than status quo
(b) 50 percent higher than status quo
(c) 20 percent higher than status quo

16. Costs for Control and Evaluation
LO 1-3
Costs for Control and Evaluation
A responsibility center is a specific unit of an organization assigned to a manager who is held accountable for its operations and resources.
Responsibility centers may be departments, divisions, segments, or subsidiaries. The manager assigned to lead the unit is accountable for the unit’s operations and resources.

17. Responsibility Centers, Revenues, and Costs
LO 1-3
Responsibility Centers, Revenues, and Costs
Carmen Diaz
President
Ray Adams
Vice-President
Retail Operations
Cathy Peterson
Wholesale Operations
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?

18. Responsibility Centers, Revenues, and Costs
LO 1-3
Responsibility Centers, Revenues, and Costs
p. 12; added location
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
$ 8,200
$ 1,400
Retail
Operations
Wholesale
Total
Do you think that general and administrative costs should be distributed to the two operations?
(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

19. Responsibility Centers, Revenues, and Costs
LO 1-3
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
Total labor
Utilities
Rent
Total cookie costs
Number of cookies sold
$ 2,100
5,200
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
$12,900
$24,200
$ (100)
500
100
-0-
$ 600
$ -0-
$ 600
Actual
Budget
Difference
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.

20. Trends in Cost Accounting
LO 1-4
Trends in Cost Accounting
LO 1-4 Identify current trends in cost accounting.
Research and development
Design
Purchasing
Production
Marketing
Distribution
Customer service
8. ERP – Enterprise resource planning
9. Creating value in the organization
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.

21. Cost Accounting in Research and Development
Lean manufacturing techniques are not simply about production.
Companies partner with suppliers in the development stage to ensure cost-effective deigns for products.
Product engineers need cost accounting information to make decisions about alternative materials. For example, Johnson Controls, a manufacturer of automobile seats, needs to make trade-offs between the cost and weight of materials.

22. Cost Accounting in Design
LO 1-4
Cost Accounting in Design
Product designers must write detailed specifications on a product’s design.
This is often referred to as design for manufacturing (DFM).
ABC assigns costs of activities needed to make a product, then sums the cost of those activities to compute the total cost of the product.
Product designers must write detailed specification on a product’s design and manufacture. In general, activity-based costing provides more detailed cost information, enabling managers to make more informed decisions.

23. Cost Accounting in Purchasing
LO 1-4
Cost Accounting in Purchasing
Performance measurement indicates how well a process is working.
It minimizes unnecessary transaction processes.
Benchmarking methods measure products, services, and activities against the best performance.
The cost accounting system provides performance measures which summarize the increase or decrease in how well a process, unit, individual, or organization is working.
Benchmarking is an ongoing process resulting in continuous improvement.

24. Cost Accounting in Production
LO 1-4
Cost Accounting in Production
A lean accounting system provides measures at a work cell or process level.
JIT is an inventory system designed to lower the cost of maintaining excess inventory.
Just-in-time (JIT) method in production or purchasing each unit is produced or purchased just in time for its use.

25. Cost Accounting in Marketing
LO 1-4
Cost Accounting in Marketing
Cost relationship management (CRM) is a system that allows firms to target profitable customers by assessing customer revenues and costs.
Harrah’s Entertainment provides “complimentary” services to some customers (typically called “comping”).
Customers are the life-blood of companies. It is essential to satisfy the customer’s needs. In order to provide competitive services, many companies offer premium customers perks such as “complimentary” services, frequent flyer miles, or points which can be redeemed for products or services.

26. Cost Accounting in Distribution
LO 1-4
Cost Accounting in Distribution
Outsourcing occurs when a firm’s activities are performed by another organization or individual in the supply or distribution chain.
Nikon, for example, relies on UPS for distribution.
In order to minimize costs or provide better quality, firms frequently hire other firms to help in particular aspects of their business. A common example is the use of shipping companies such as Federal Express.

27. Cost Accounting in Customer Service
LO 1-4
Cost Accounting in Customer Service
TQM is a management method which focuses on excelling in all dimensions.
The emphasis is placed on quality. Quality is defined by the customer.
Total Quality Management is a management system which places emphasis on quality. All aspects of the business are analyzed, from purchasing to selling to customer support, for ways to improve the quality of the good or service.
Cost of quality is a system that identifies the costs related to quality—prevention, appraisal, and failure.

28. Enterprise Resource Planning
LO 1-4
Enterprise Resource Planning
Information technology linking various processes of the enterprise into a single comprehensive information system
Purchasing
Production
Technology
Human
Resources
Finance
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.
Marketing

29. Key Financial Players in an Organization
LO 1-4
Key Financial Players in an Organization
Chief financial
officer (CFO)
Manages entire finance
and accounting function
Signs off on financial
statements
Major Responsibilities
Example Activities
Title
Treasurer
Manages liquid assets
Determines where to
invest cash balances
Controller
Plans and designs
information systems
Determines cost
accounting policies
As a financial or operation manager in an organization, you will work with many financial professionals.
Internal
auditor
Ensures compliance
with laws
Ensures that procurement
rules are followed
Cost
accountant
Records, measures,
and, analyzes costs
Evaluates costs of
products and processes

30. Ethical Issues for Accountants
LO 1-5
Ethical Issues for Accountants
LO 1-5 Understand ethical issues faced by accountants
and ways to deal with ethical problems that you
face in your career.
The cost accounting system has the potential to be misused to defraud customers, employees, or shareholders.
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.

31. LO 1-5
Ethics
Follow the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) guidelines:
DISCUSS conflicts with the immediate superior, unless the superior is involved. If so, go to the next authority level.
CLARIFY the relevant issues and concepts by discussion with a disinterested party or contact the appropriate confidential ethics “hotline.”
In an attempt to influence the accounting profession, professional organizations such as the Institute of Management Accountants (the IMA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (the AICPA) have developed codes of ethics to which their members are expected to adhere. The IMA code of conduct appears both in this chapter and in the appendix to this chapter. The IMA’s Standards of Ethical Conduct prescribe the established course of action a member should take when faced with significant ethical issues.
CONSULT an attorney about your rights and obligations.

32. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Address problem What is the of corporate
LO 1-5
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
What is the
intent?
Address problem
of corporate
governance
Who is
impacted?
Accounting firms
and
corporations
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.
How are
corporations
impacted?
Corporate
responsibility

33. Corporate Responsibility
LO 1-5
Corporate Responsibility
Who is impacted?
CEO – Chief Executive Officer
– Manages entire corporation
CFO – Chief Financial Officer
– Manages accounting and finance
What is the impact?
The officers of the corporation must sign the financial
reports stipulating that the financial statements do not
omit material information.
Title III of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act deals with corporate responsibility. The law requires that the chief executive officer, the individual who manages the entire corporation, and the chief financial officer, the individual who manages the entire accounting and finance function of the corporation, sign financial reports and stipulate that the financial statements do not omit material information. They must further disclose that they have evaluated the company’s internal controls and have notified the company’s auditors and the audit committee of any fraud that involves management.
The company must disclose the evaluation of their
internal controls.

34. Appendix: Institute of Management Accountants Code of Ethics
Competence
Confidentiality
Integrity
Credibility
Appendix: Institute of Management Accountants Code of Ethics
The Institute of Management Accountants Code of Ethics addresses four standards: competence, confidentiality, integrity, and credibility.

35. Competence Members have a responsibility to:
1. Maintain an appropriate level of professional expertise
by continually developing knowledge and skills.
2. Perform professional duties in accordance with
relevant laws, regulations, and technical standards.
3. Provide decision support information and recommendations
that are accurate, clear, concise, and timely.
The competence standard addresses members’ responsibilities related to the level of professional competence, the performance of professional duties, and the preparation of reports and recommendations.
4. Recognize and communicate professional limitations
or other constraints that would preclude responsible
judgment or successful performance of activity.

36. Confidentiality Members have a responsibility to:
1. Keep information confidential except when disclosure
is authorized or legally required.
2. Inform all relevant parties regarding appropriate use
of confidential information.
3. Refrain from using confidential information for unethical
or illegal advantage.
The confidentiality standard requires members to refrain from disclosing confidential information, to inform subordinates regarding the confidentiality of information acquired, and to refrain from using confidential information for personal gain.
4. Monitor subordinates’ activities to ensure compliance.

37. Integrity Members have a responsibility to:
1. Mitigate actual conflicts of interest, regularly communicate
with business associates to avoid apparent conflicts of
interest. Advise all parties of any potential conflicts.
2. Refrain from engaging in any conduct that would prejudice
carrying out duties ethically.
3. Abstain from engaging in or supporting any activity that
might discredit the profession.
The integrity standard addresses conflict of interest, the communication of unfavorable as well as favorable information, and the members’ responsibility to the profession.

38. Credibility Members have a responsibility to:
1. Communicate information fairly and objectively.
2. Disclose all relevant information that could reasonably
be expected to influence an intended user’s understanding
of the reports, analyses, or recommendations.
3. Disclose delays or deficiencies in information, timeliness,
processing, or internal controls in conformance with
organization policy and/or applicable law.
And finally, the credibility standard refers to members’ responsibility to be fair and objective and to disclose all relevant information.

39. End of Chapter 1
End of Chapter 1.