Learning objectives
The course introduces students to the fields of cost analysis, budgeting & planning, and business decision making.
With the successful completion of the course students will have mastered:
a) as far as knowledge and understanding is concerned, the Managerial Accounting System, the introduction of Management Science (i.e. of Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making) based on MA information, the different Costing Methods and Techniques.
In addition, students will have acquired knowledge and understanding about the diverse methods and techniques of programming and planning, as well as about the Softwares supporting company decisions (MSExcel and Solver).
b) the ability of applying knowledge and understanding within the Planning and Control Department. Students will be capable to assist and support Management Accountants in determining the costs of product, service and other Cost Objects, as well as in the preparation of Budgets and Capital Budgets, and in the process of Decision Making.
the ability of applying knowledge and understanding assumes a working placement period, possibly a university organized internship.
c) the potential of Making judgements, to evaluate almost independently the issues and opportunities related to the many and varied methods of costing, budgeting and planning in business environments characterized also by risk. Almost autonomously S/he will assist or support the controller in the definition of the economic and financial consequences arising from the use of different MA methodologies.
d) Communication skills consisting in the use of an appropriated technical language used to relate with those involved in the management and financial accounting. The students will have improved their problem-solving skills, the relational capacity and expression, both written and oral. The latter will allow them to liaise with business stakeholders expressing clearly their MA reasoning and submit their conclusions.
e) Learning skills, specifically the ability to undertake more advanced studies with a degree of autonomy, particularly with reference to the courses of Advance Management Accounting of the Second Cycle Degree.
Prerequisites
It is assumed in this course that students have an appreciation and good understanding of Financial Accounting and Statistical Methods. Hence suggested prerequisites are Accounting Theory, Financial Accounting, Statistics and Business English.
Course unit content
The course of management accounting emphasizes the internal business-building role of accounting and finance professionals who design, implement, and manage internal systems that support effective decisions, plan, and control the organization's value-creating operations.
The course explores cardinal topics of management accounting in single- and multiple-period business settings also under market and company conditions characterized by risk.
The course covers the following topics:
1) Cost Behavior and Cost Management Systems;
2) Master Budget and Variance Analysis, Capital Budgeting;
3) Management Accounting Decision Theory;
4) Fundamentals of the Managerial Accounting Tools (MS Excel and Solver).
Full programme
1. The Nature of Accounting Systems, and of Management Accounting (MA). An introduction to the Origin and Development of MA.
2. The Behavior of Costs.
3. Contribution Margin and Cost-Volume-Profit Relationships.
4. Full Costs and Their Uses.
5. Activity-Based Costing.
6. Strategic Planning and Budgeting.
7. Flexible Budgets and Variance Analysis.
8. Reporting and Evaluation.
9. Short-Run Alternative Choice Decisions. An introduction to Enterprise Information Systems, ERP.
10. Longer-Run Decisions: Capital Budgeting.
Bibliography
1) Andrea Cilloni (Editor), Programmazione e controllo, McGraw-Hill CREATE, 2017, ISBN 9781307084115. On the Moodle Elly web application are precisely detailed the chapters of the Textbook to be studies (see also below the list).
2) Professor's lecture notes available on the Moodle Elly web application.
Suggested Reading:
Lino Cinquini, Cost Management, Volume I, G. Giappichelli Editore, 2017.
Chapters of the Textbook to be studies (please consider that the title of each chapter is in Italian because the book is in Italian language)
1. Introduction - La natura e lo scopo dei sistemi contabilità, p. 2
2. Chapter 1 La natura della contabilità direzionale, p. 10
3. Chapter 2 La classificazione dei costi in funzione del loro comportamento, p. 28
4. Chapter 3 Il margine di contribuzione e le relazioni fra reddito e volume, p. 48
5. Chapter 4 I costi pieni e il loro impiego, p. 68
6. Chapter 5 Ulteriori aspetti dei sistemi di determinazione dei costi, p. 94
7. Chapter 6 La determinazione dei costi basata sulle attività, p. 130
9. Chapter 8 L'analisi degli scostamenti dei costi di produzione, p. 186
10. Chapter 9 L'analisi degli scostamenti dei costi non di produzione, p. 204
13. Chapter 12 La pianificazione strategica e lo sviluppo del budget, p. 278
14. Chapter 13 Il reporting economico, p. 308
15. Chapter 14 Le decisioni di breve termine fra alternative diverse, p. 326
16. Chapter 15 Le decisioni di lungo termine: la scelta degli investimenti, p. 360
19. Chapter 18 I sistemi di valutazione della performance dell'organizzazione, p. 420
20. Introduction - Origine ed evoluzione del controllo direzionale nella lettura italiana e straniera by Arcari, p. 452
21. Chapter 9 Budget flessibili e analisi delle performance, p. 453
22. Chapter 1 Sistemi informativi aziendali, p. 483
Teaching methods
The teaching will consist of lectures (Active Learning Techniques are didactically implemented), practice exercises and Businesspeople seminars.
Assessment methods and criteria
Students will be examined and assessed on knowledge and skills taught directly on class materials covered during Lectures through a Final Written Exam.
More specifically, to assess knowledge of topics, communication skills, appropriate use of terminology and independence of judgment, students will be required to:
a) answer 1 extended open question (10 points);
b) answer 5 short questions (2 points each);
As regards the applied perspective, knowledge and skills will be assessed through an application exercise (10 points).
As usual the Registrar schedules all final examinations, including deferred and supplemental examinations. The Registrar will post the schedules of final examinations as early in a term as possible.
The duration of final examinations is 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Students attending classes have the possibility to integrate the vote of the examination with a project work, to be managed in groups of 4 people, on a case study. The professor, during the first and second week of lesson, defines the groups and attributes the cases study to analyze. Particularly is assigned to each group a management accounting case study on advanced either costing or decision making techniques, to analyze on the base of the indications furnished by the teacher in the classroom and written in the vademecum upload on the Elly website.
The participants must present the project work to the teacher and the classroom following the deadlines defined in the vademecum. The teacher, once the presentations will be completed publish the marks on Elly. The score range of the project work is 0-4 points on the final mark of examination, i.e. the score achieved in the project work is added to the score achieved in the examination. If the sum of the mark of the final exam and of project work is higher than 30/30 the score 30 cum laude is obtain given an evaluation of the written exam equal to 30/30.
Other information
Disability Support: any student with a documented disability condition (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations should contact me as soon as possible at the beginning of the semester. Students with special needs should also contact Disability Support Services on campus.
