2121122, 642 AM What is managerial accounting? What is managerial accounting What is Managerial Accounting? Also called cost accounting or management accountancy, managerial accounting deals with compiling information to slow managers to make decisions and plan for future business needs, In managerial accounting, we frequently dal with "what if” Scenarios, There are very few rules, bu there are lots of best practices. It deals mostly with the preset and future. Make sure to check out the managerial accounting vdeo atthe end ofthe post with definitions and examples Differences between Managerial and Financial Accounting After taking financial accounting, many students dread the idea of another semester of journal entries, debits, and credit. To avoid this dread, check out our topics on financial accounting or all of our accounting topics. Fortunately, managerial accounting is very different from financial accounting. Ihave had number of students in the past who hated financial accounting but realy liked managerial accounting. Typically, most non-accounting majors feel that ‘managerial accounting is more relevant to their field. I hope that you will give managerial accounting some time before you make a judgment on the subject. There are @ number of ways in which managerial accounting differs from financial accounting. Let’s look at some of them here. You'll find more information in the video at the bottom of this post Who are the users of managerial accounting information? Unlike financial accounting which is designed for external users, managerial accounting is focused on internal managers. “Managerial accounting is designed to lelp managers plan for the future, make decisions for the company, and determine if their plans and decisions were accurate (also called controlling) Who makes the rules in managerial accounting? In financial accountng, the rales reset by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) or by the International ‘Accounting Standards Board (ASB). The standards sct by FASB arc collectively called GAAP (Generally Accepted ‘Accounting Principles) and the standards set by the IASB are collectively called IFRS (Intemational Finaneial Reporting Standards). These rules must be followed when companies are filing reports for external users Because the reports generated are for intemal management, there are no reporting rules in managerial accounting. In this course, we discuss best practices for obtaining the information that managers necd to plan and make decisions, There is no external body that states what our managerial reports must look like This also means that managerial accounting is not as simple as learning the income statement, statement of stockholder’s equity, balance sheet and statement of cash flows (maybe easy was the wrong word here). In managerial accounting, if you can come up with something you want to measure, we can usually create a report for it. That means thatthe possibilities are almost, endless. Want a financial analysis of future marketing costs and projected return on investment? We can do that, Want to know if'we should continue to make our product by hand oF automate the process? Yup, we ean do that, too, Need to create a capital budget plan for expanding a business? This is also something you would leam in your managerial accounting course, That's one of the things I love about managerial accounting, It takes a lot more thought and creativity than financial accounting. Looking at segments to monitor performance Financial accounting requires us to look at each company as a whole, Many companies are made up of a number of different brands but all of those brands are reported together in one sct of financial statements. Think of a company like GAP. GAP not only owns all the GAP branded stores, but also Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Athleta, and Intermix. All ofthese ‘brands are lumped together into a single set of financial statements, It would be very difficult for managers to do planning and decision making based on a single set of financial statements for a company like GAP. Instead, managers will break a company into segments based on what makes sense for the company. Some examples of ways that managers can break a company into segments include: ‘ead: itps_accountinginfocus.comyurlshitos%3A%2F%2Faccountingnfocus.com2F manageriakaccounting-2%2Fintroduction-manageriakacc.. 1/42121122, 842 AM What is managerial accounting? ‘+ Geographic location breaking the company into regions + Brand + Product lines — casual, dress, business wear + Specific products —a particular eut of jeans + Customer demographics — men vs women, urban vs, suburban, age groups Ifa manager can define a segment and believes thatthe information will be useful in planning, decision making, or conttolling, reports can be generated for that segment, Focus on the future Financial accounting is all about historical information, In the financial statements, we are reporting things that have already happened. Since managerial accounting deals mainly with planning and decision making, we are looking into the future and trying predict what will happen based on historical trends, We are always looking for the most up-to-date information to use in these tasks, Managerial accountants are more focused on relevant information, where financial accountants are required to ensure that information is reliable and objective. In order to make decisions in a timely manner, managers must be able to gather information quickly. Creating reports as often as needed Financial reporting rules state that reports are created quarterly and annually. Because managerial accounting reports are created for planning, decision making, and controlling, reports are ereated whenever these functions need to take place. Many financial reports are ezeated on a daily basis as part of the controlling function, Other reports are only created once in order to aid in the decision-making process. Budgeting reports can be created monthly, quarterly, or amnually based on need. There are no frequeney requirements in managerial accounting, Reports are created as needed to fulfill management needs, Managerial accounting is quite different from financial accounting but study habits are very similar AAs you can see, managerial accounting is very different from financial accounting. As you progress through your managerial accounting course, the differences will become more elear. However, I believe that the way you study for managerial accounting is similar to the successful study habits for financial accounting. Yes, there are alot of numbers and equations in managerial accounting but you can actually make it through the course without knowing a single formula, Focus on the concepts in the course. Link those concepts to the way business actually operates. When you think of these concepts in terms of the processes that are going on in the business, the numbers are easy to calculate, ‘As I write the material for this course, { will always discuss the processes to help you get around learning the formulas but 1 ‘will ist the formulas as well. It is my hope that as your understanding of the concepts increases, your reliance on the formulas will decrease. Managerial accounting uses basic math jus like financial accounting, If you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide, you have all the math skills needed for this course. Don't let all ofthe numbers overwhelm you, Focus On the concepts and the numbers are not difficult. One last piece of advice This may be the most important piece of advice I ean give you, Label all of your numbers. + Label al dottars with aS + Label activites withthe name of the activities, ike labor hours or machine hours {What if you tke $100,000 and divide it by 25,000 machine hours? Your answer willbe $4/machine hour This will be very useful as you try to apply this number to other parts of a problem, Get inthe habit of labeling all of your numbers early. This will save you 8 lot of time and confusion as you progress through the course, What is managerial accounting video: Introduction to Managerial Accounting: Overview ‘ead itps_accountinginfocus.comyurlshitos%3A%2F%2Faccountingnfocus.com2F manageriakaccounting-2%2Fintroduction-manageriakacc... 2/42121122, 8:42 AM What is managerial accounting? What if you need help with your study habits rae Ted “Maybe you have been out of college for years, or you do just what it takes to get by. STOP according to a recent study the average student with a GPA of 3.8 or higher makes 78% mote money after 3 years of work, Ifyou want to work in your field, you can learn to lear better, that is why this to help students have the sign up for my free ‘waining and have the best semester ever so when you earn your degree you can carn more money. Sharable post images What is managerial accounting? ‘ead: itps_accountinginfocus.comyurlshitos%3A%2F%2Faccountingnfocus.comé2F manageriakaccounting-2%2Fintroduction-manageriakacc... 3/4What is managerial accounting? AccountingInFocus.com