Managerial Accounting Case Study

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1. Role of Managerial Accounting There are so many different types of organizations in today’s business environment: retailers, government organizations, public companies, manufactures, service companies, and non-for-profit organizations. Despite differences in business structure, financial operations, tax regulations, and company size, managerial accounting should be an integral part of the management process. According to Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura (2014), managerial accounting is “the field of accounting that focuses on providing information for internal decision makers” (p. 961). In other words, a primary focus of managerial accounting is to help plan, guide, and control business operations by providing information for its managers, …show more content…

Hence, the practical aspect of managerial accounting is to reduce decision making risks, prevent defects, detect fraud, and effectively use corporate resources (Needles, Powers & Crosson, 2014). Managerial accounting helps managers improve company’s operational performance by providing information about Raw Materials Inventory, Work-in-Process Inventory, and Finished Goods Inventory, Cost of Goods Manufactured, and Cost of Goods sold (Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura, 2014). For example, Winnebago Industries, Inc. which is a manufacturer of recreational vehicles (RVs) and motorhomes, has the period costs and the product costs (Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura, 2014). Product costs are direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead. Since so many components are used in the finished product, the company’s managers must keep detailed records of inventory and other costs incurred to build its recreational vehicles (Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura, 2014). Thus, Winnebago Industries, Inc. uses “managerial accounting to help track costs and make decisions about production” (Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura, 2014, p. 960). In addition, managerial accounting is used “in service and merchandising companies to determine the cost per service and cost per item. Calculation of unit costs can help managers determine the sales price to charge …show more content…

Factors of Business Decision-Making By itself, decision-making is “a complex activity, which a number of authors have suggested should be defined and modeled as a process and comprises several stages” (Zarate, 2013 p.1). Speaking about this process, it is impossible not to mention the factors that affect business decision- making. They are the state of economy, federal taxation, global competition, and financial market perspectives. Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura (2014) emphasize that global competition and time-based competition affect business decision-making in numerous ways (Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura, 2014). Firstly, global competition forces companies to move operations overseas, partner with other companies or outsource resources (Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura, 2014). In its turn, the internet and ecommerce shape the new market and accelerate the pace of business. Namely, clients “who instant message around the world will not want to wait two weeks to receive merchandise they purchased online. Time is the new competitive turf for world- class business” (Nobles, Mattison & Matsumura, 2014, p.

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