Management accounting is the process of identifying, measuring, analyzing, interpreting, and communicating information by accounting managers to set up a business organization’s goals. Accounting managers prepare financial statements and balance sheets and assists with audit requirements and regulations.
It keeps a record of all the operational business accounting processes. The financial reports including transactions and budget reports are also part of management accounting. It uses performance reports to note variances between actual results from budgets.
Management Accounting VS Financial Accounting:
Management accountants are usually confused with financial accountants; both provide valuable services to an organization. The major difference between the two is:
| Management Accounting | Financial Accounting |
| The accounting management team carries the internal processing to account for business financial transactions. | The Financial management team involves the collection of accounting data for making financial statements. |
This article covers:
- What’s management accounting and its function?
- What is a management accounting system?
- What is the role of management accounting?
What Is Management Accounting And Its Functions?
Management accounting is making reports of business operations, which then helps a manager make decisions. The functions of management accounting are:
Forecasting Future:
It answers the questions which help in forecasting the future trends in business.
Example:
- Should a company invest more assets?
- Should it expand to different markets and regions?
- Should they buy another company?
- Should it increase its productivity?
Decision Making:
Management accounting works on cost and product availability, which decides the purchasing processes. It helps the management team of the business to make decisions on both operational and strategical levels.
Forecasting Cash Flows:
Cash flow has a great impact on business. It helps the companies plan their future activities by considering the costs and revenues (were to incur the costs and where the revenues will come). Accounting professionals work on creating budget and trend charts to decide the allocation of money and resources for its revenue growth.
Understanding a Performance variance:
It refers to the variance between prediction and achievement. Management accounting helps the management in building on the positive variances by using analytical techniques.
Analyzing The Rate Of Return:
If you are starting a project that needs a large investment, then you should analyze the Rate of Return (ROR). Management accounting answers many questions under ROR. Some of them are:
- How does a business choose between investment opportunities in terms of profit?
- How much time will a company take to break even on a project?
- What are the estimated cash flows?
What Is Management Accounting System:
Internal Management Accounting System provides important information to management for decision making in operational business. It helps in generating different reports regarding the cost and management of business processes. It deals with all the billings and in-house requirements of a business.
What Is The Role Of Management Accounting?
Managerial Accounting plays different roles, such as:
- Help managers to make decisions within a company.
- It identifies, analyzes, interprets, and communicates the information to managers for achieving business goals.
- It allows the management of business operations, including the cost of products and other purchasing processes.
- It uses performance reports to check the deviation of actual results in comparison with the budgeted ones.
A certified management accountant must hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree in accounting, statistics, finance, business, or any related field with outstanding accounting skills.
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