Accounting for Management Control

This book describes the aims and methods of management accounting with a view to creating a modern management control system in a large company. The book begins by describing various methods of product costing (including activity based costing). Extensive analyses of internal transfer pricing, budgeting, corporate investment analysis and ways of evaluating divisions are also included and addressed. Descriptions of the modern heirs of budgeting, i.e. rolling forecasts and balanced scorecards, are provided in separate sections. There is also a chapter on how to calculate depreciation and interest in the appropriate way in times of inflation. While these methods and techniques are described in considerable detail, the main message of the book is concerned with understanding their connections and interdependencies and how they influence the decision-making of managers in a large organization. Logic alone is not enough when creating a management control system - especially when individual irrationality has to be taken into account. The book is intended for use in connection with management accounting and control courses at university level and in MBA programs. Earlier versions of the book have also been used successfully in management training programs and for accountants working with management control issues in their daily work. The final case contains a wealth of information that management accountants faced with having to make policy decisions will surely find useful.