Advanced Managerial Accounting
Learn to use accounting information for operational decision-making.
Credits: 3
Throughout the course, you will use cost-volume-profit analysis to develop a keen understanding of the relevance of fixed, variable and semi-variable costs.
In managerial accounting roles, you’ll be responsible for making major decisions that will affect your organization’s operations. Planning, organizing, directing and controlling a firm requires budgeting, evaluating performance, using statistical analysis and much more. Our advanced managerial accounting course helps you gain insight into these functions and see how you can leverage them to help make major business decisions.
Course Overview
As you explore the principles that guide the effective management of accounting systems, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of manufacturing costs, product costs, direct costs and indirect costs. You’ll also review how costs flow through inventory accounts and are reflected in the cost of goods.
The value chain and the concepts of value-added and non-value-added activities will be discussed as you review activity-based management and target costing. You’ll examine just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing systems, the cost of quality and key characteristics of quality measures.
As you master the concept of contribution margin, you’ll begin to see how it is used to make more informed business decisions.
Test Your Smarts
How can contribution margin be maximized when one factor limits productive capacity? Explore this concept and more in ACC 536.
The accounting information needed to make a decision depends on the specific situation. When making business decisions, you’ll evaluate what information is useful and not useful, such as opportunity costs, sunk costs, out-of-pocket costs and incremental costs.
You’ll also look at nonfinancial considerations related to decision-making. You’ll immerse yourself in the concept and application of responsibility accounting, including the role of cost centers, profit centers and investment centers, and you’ll see how contribution margin and responsibility margin are used to make short- and long-term business decisions.
Budgeting plays a critical role in a company’s fiscal success. You’ll examine the development and use of master and flexible budgets as well as the relationship between cash flow and profits. You’ll also see how to gauge return on investment, residual income and economic values added. As you discuss capital investment decisions, you’ll delve into the concepts of payback period, return on investment and discounted cash flow, as well as behavior issues relating to capital budgeting.
You’ll learn how incentives systems drive motivation and organizational performance so you can become a more successful workforce manager.
Sample Assignment
Critical thinking cases test analytical skills as you evaluate key concepts from the chapter and apply them to business decisions.
Course Topics
Throughout each week of the course, you will focus on a core topic or theme. Sample topics are listed below and are subject to change based on the instructor.
- Management Accounting: A Business Partner
- Costing and the Value Chain
- Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis
- Incremental Analysis
- Responsibility Accounting and Transfer Pricing
- Operational Budgeting
- Rewarding Business Performance
- Capital Budgeting
What You’ll Learn
In ACC 536, you’ll focus on how to make accounting-related decisions for planning, organizing, directing and controlling a firm’s operations, including budgeting, performance evaluation, statistical analysis and transfer pricing.
- Understand the importance, nature, theory, principles and accounting information used in the decision-making and budgeting processes within the accounting profession.
- Demonstrate critical thinking and effective writing skills by completing various writing exercises.
- Comprehend current ethical and corporate governance topics within accounting.
- Know and apply techniques to effectively manage an enterprise’s cost, compensation and budgeting aspects.
Learn More
You’ll acquire the decision-making framework and tools required to meet or exceed the ever-changing expectations of the accounting profession in ACC 536. For more information about this course or other courses in The University of Scranton’s online Master of Accountancy degree or online MBA: Accounting Specialization, request more information or call us today toll-free at (866) 373-9547.
The content presented on this page is representative information for example purposes and is subject to change as course and student needs change over time.