Advanced Management Accounting

This course explains the nature of management accounting and how it aids managers' decision-making. It looks at the impact that varying levels of costs and volume have on operating profit. The course also demonstrates how budgets are used to control and monitor the performance of an organization.

Investment appraisal aids decision-making when choosing capital projects that add value to an organization. This course demonstrates techniques to track the financial performance of an organization.

By attending this course, finance teams will recognize how the need to change is constant.

The course will wrap with a summary of the key learning points, followed by an action planning exercise with a view to apply the acquired knowledge and skills immediately upon your return to work. Post-course support is also available in relation to the implementation of your action plan, up to six (6) months following course completion.

Agenda

Accounting for Decision-making

• Key characteristics of accounting information
• The role of information technology
• Commercial objectives
• Capex and opex

The Key Relationship – Cost, Volume, Profits

• Costs for decision-making
• Breakeven analysis
• Types of profit
• Cost management strategies

Control through Budgeting

• Corporate plans
• Budgets and forecasts
• Types of budgets
• Behavioural aspects of budgeting

Management Accounting – Importance of Stakeholder Value

• Defining the identity and grouping of stakeholders
• Defining stakeholder value of each group
• Creating the appropriate range of performance indicators

Investment Appraisal for Capital Decisions

• Methods of investment appraisal
• Non-financial aspects of investment appraisal
• Risk in investment appraisal
• Financial management of capital projects

Measuring Financial Performance

• Comparison of performance to budgets
• Accounting for responsibility
• The importance of performance indicators
• The Balanced Scorecard

Changing Nature of Managerial Accounting

• Roadmap for finance effectiveness
• From tangibles to intangibles
• The stakeholder model of an organization
• Beyond budgeting

Understanding Financial Data Analytics

• The properties of data
• Steps in the analytics process
• How organizations use analytics

Course Review

• Summary and recap of key learning objectives
• Action Planning

Target Audience

This Management Accounting course is suitable for:

• Staff responsible for budget preparation and reporting.
• Managers who are budget holders or have budget responsibility.
• Staff with planning responsibility who need a deeper understanding of costs and budgets.
• Those who wish to extend their understanding of the management accounting function to a more strategic level.
• Finance staff who are in a position to make managerial decisions.
• Non-financial staff who need to understand the accounting function at a strategic level.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this Management Accounting course, you will understand:

• Understand how the finance function can create a decision support structure for managers.
• Explain the relationship between cost, volume and profits and why this is important to managers.
• Explain the scope of budgeting as a planning and control tool.
• The investment appraisal process and its management.
• Why and how measuring performance answers the question did we achieve what we set out to achieve and how do we spot warning signs on the way.
• How and why finance teams need to question and enhance the relevance of their function.
• How to implement an Action Plan at your workplace using the knowledge and skills acquired through the course.