ACCT303 - Strategic Management Accounting

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

ACCT100 Introduction to Accounting OR ACCT210 Accounting Foundations

Teaching organisation

150 hours over a twelve-week semester or equivalent study period

Unit rationale, description and aim

Strategic management accounting includes not only internal information but also external economic information when analysing and preparing financial information. Management accountants provide information to managers that form the basis of decision-making within an organisation to create both customer and shareholder value. This unit focuses on developing students’ knowledge in cost management techniques and strategic management accounting. The use of budgets for planning and control purposes and developing skills in making a variety of value-based decisions. The unit also incorporates discussion about the effective use of cost management and budgeting techniques, and advanced tools for the basis of performance evaluation as well as to ensure fair and equitable compensation for employees. The unit also examines external economic information which can help companies plan for changes in the business marketplace outside of the company’s control, such as competitors entering the market or the threat of substitute goods and services competing for the company’s market share.

This unit delves into complex management accounting areas and provides students with the expert skills needed for decision support and managerial control in contemporary society. The aim of this unit is to further develop decision-making skills and promote the common good in various contexts globally.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Understand the role of management accounting and the importance of ethical professional values and how these can impact organisational corporate social responsibility (GA2, GA5)

LO2 - Apply different types of organisational costs, budgets, cash flows, working capital requirements and prices using various established methods to cost specific operating decisions (GA5)

LO3 - Evaluate the performance of an organisation, its products, people and business segments by identifying financial and non-financial indicators to measure business performance and their potential behavioural impact on organisational effectiveness and efficiency (GA5, GA8)

LO4 - Analyse data and information to prepare reports to provide business insights, recommendations and their rationale that support management decision making on quality control, performance measurement, and comparative analysis  (GA5, GA9)

LO5 - Evaluate the performance of an organisation, its products, people and business segments by referring to the role of strategies in business and outlining environment & organisational tools (GA4, GA5)

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include:

• The role and purpose of management accounting and the importance of ethics and corporate social responsibility
• Budgets and forecasts for management purposes
• Organisational costs and use established methods to cost specific operating decisions - includes cost volume profit analysis, job costing, process costing, standard costing and variance analysis, product costing - full absorption costing versus marginal costing, inventory management, cost-volume profit analysis.
• Management pricing methods
• The principles and procedures involved in analysing and managing an organisation’s cash flow and working capital requirements
• Performance management and control including quality control, comparative analysis, financial and non-financial key performance indicators, the balanced scorecard and benchmarking.
• How to write complex business reports and use critical thinking skills to provide business insights and well-reasoned conclusions and recommendations.
• The role of strategy in business  and environment & organisational tools used to evaluate organisational performance including PESTEL, SWOT, Porter's five forces, Value chain analysis and Porter's generic strategies)

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ACU’s teaching policy focuses on learning outcomes for students. Our teaching aims to engage students as active participants in the learning process while acknowledging that all learning must involve a complex interplay of active and receptive processes, the constructing of meaning for oneself, and learning from others. ACU promotes and facilitates learning that is autonomous and self-motivated, is characterised by the individual taking satisfaction in the mastering of content and skills and is critical, looking beneath the surface level of information for the meaning and significance of what is being studied.

The schedule of the workshop is designed in such a way that students can achieve intended learning outcomes sequentially. Teaching and learning activities will apply the experiential learning model, which encourages students to apply higher order thinking. The unit ensures that learning activities involve real-world scenarios that in turn assist with ‘real-world’ preparedness. The unit also uses a scaffolding technique that builds a student’s skills and prepares them for the next phase of the learning process.

This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops, most students report that they spend an average of one hour preparing before the workshop and one or more hours after the workshop practicing and revising what was covered. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for you to prepare and revise. It is up to individual students to ensure that the out of class study is adequate for the optimal learning outcomes and successes.

Mode of delivery: This unit is offered in different modes to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups.

Attendance Mode

In a weekly attendance mode, students will require face-to-face attendance in specific physical location/s. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops, most students report that they spend an average of one hour preparing before the workshop and one or more hours after the workshop practicing and revising what was covered. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for you to prepare and revise.

Blended Mode

In a blended mode, students will require intermittent face-to-face attendance determined by the School. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for you to prepare and revise.

Online Mode

In an Online mode, students are given the opportunity to attend facilitated synchronous online seminar classes with other students and participate in the construction and synthesis of knowledge, while developing their knowledge. Students are required to participate in a series of online interactive workshops which include activities, knowledge checks, discussion and interactive sessions. This approach allows flexibility for students and facilitates learning and participation for students with a preference for virtual learning.

ACU Online

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessments are used primarily to foster learning. ACU adopts a constructivist approach to learning which seeks alignment between the fundamental purpose of each unit, the learning outcomes, teaching and learning strategy, assessment, and the learning environment. In order to pass this unit, students must demonstrate competence in all learning outcomes and achieve an overall score of at least 50%. Using constructive alignment, the assessment tasks are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome. The overview of the assessment table is provided below under different delivery modes.

Overview of assessments

Attendance and Blended Mode:;

Online and ACU Online Mode:

Representative texts and references

Bhimani, A, Horngren, CT, Datar, SM & Rajan, MV 2019, Management and cost accounting, 7th edn, Pearson. 

Blocher EJ, Stout, D, Juras P & Cokins G 2019, Cost management: A strategic emphasis, 9th edn, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York.

Clerkin B, & Quinn,M .2021, Institutional agents missing in action?: Management accounting at non-governmental organisations, Critical Perspectives on Accounting (forthcoming) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2020.102276

Eldenburg, LG, Brooks, A, Oliver, J, Vesty, G, Dormer, R. & Murthy, V 2020 Management accounting, 4thedn, Milton: John Wiley & Sons.  

Hadid, W & Al-Sayed, M 2021, Management accountants and strategic management accounting: The role of organizational culture and information systems, Management Accounting Research, 50, 100725 pp. 1-17.

Hilton, RW & Platt, DE 2019, Managerial accounting: creating value in a dynamic business environment, 12th edn, McGraw-Hill, North Ryde. 

Winston, W 2017, Microsoft Excel data analysis and business modelling, 5th edn, Pearson Education. 

Jan Endrikat,J, Guenther,T.W, Titus, R 2020, Consequences of Strategic Performance Measurement Systems: A Meta-Analytic Review, Journal of Management Accounting Research,32 (1),pp. 103–136.

Langfield-Smith K, Smith, D, Andon, P, Hilton, R & Thorne, H 2018, Management accounting: Information for managing and creating value + Connect Online, 8th edn, McGraw-Hill, North Ryde.  

 McPhail, K & Ferguson, J 2016, The past, the present and the future of accounting for human rights, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 29 (4), pp. 526-541

Noreen EW , & Brewer PC, Garrison RH 20120 Managerial Accounting for Managers 5th edn, McGraw-Hill Education.

Xinning Xiao & Shailer, G 2021, Stakeholders’ perceptions of factors affecting the credibility of sustainability reports, 2021, The British Accounting Review (forthcoming), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2021.101002