The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

School of Accounting and Finance

AF2110: Management Accounting I
Semester 1, 2021/2022

Instructors: Office Email Tel Consultation hours*

Dr. Justin Law M718 justin.law@polyu.edu.hk 2766-4443 By appointment

Dr. Ken Lee M819 oikent.lee@polyu.edu.hk 2766-4160 By appointment
Dr. Qin Li M834 qin.a.li@polyu.edu.hk 2766-7411 By appointment
Dr. Shuran Zhang M844 shuran.zhang@polyu.edu.hk 2766-7120 By appointment

* Appointments in advance are required.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This subject aims to enable students to prepare and analyze managerial accounting reports for organizations,
evaluate the processes and structures of organizations’ planning, decision making, motivating and controlling
activities, understand the applications and implications of the latest technologies to practices and decisions in
managerial accounting context.

LEARNING OUTCOMES & ASSESSMENTS

Upon completion of the subject, students will be able to:

a. Understand and critically apply the appropriate concepts and techniques to generate cost information to
help management in organizational planning and control, and prepare and analyze reports for
organizations (BBA Outcomes 7a).
b. Identify and analyze the means to create value in goods and services and deliver to end users, using
appropriate costing methods and management accounting techniques.
c. Evaluate ethical issues and entrepreneurial business opportunity from a management accounting
perspective and suggest appropriate responses to aid management decision-making processes.
d. Comprehend current progress of data technology and to apply data science in management accounting
(BBA Outcomes 7c).

Textbook:
Ray H. Garrison, Eric W. Noreen and Peter C. Brewer, Managerial Accounting, 17th Edition,
McGraw Hill.
(A few ebook copies are available from PolyU library.)

References:

Tracie Miller-Nobles, Brenda Mattison, Horngren's Accounting, The Managerial Chapters, 13th
Edition, Pearson

John Wild and Ken Shaw, Managerial Accounting, 8th Edition, McGraw Hill

Carl Warren, William B. Tayler, Managerial Accounting, 15th Edition, Cengage Learning

John Sands, Lanita Winata, Sophia Su, Maryanne Mowen, Don Hansen, Dan L. Heitger,
Managerial Accounting: Asia-Pacific Edition, 2nd Edition, Cengage Learning

Colin Drury, Management Accounting for Business, 7th Edition, Cengage Learning
1
Assessments:
Continuous Assessment
Group Project 30%
Individual Essay 10%
Attendance & Participation 10%
Sub-total 50%
Individual Final Assignment 50%
100%

The following is the detailed description of the above assessments.

(I) Group and individual assessment

In order to ensure a balanced mix of students from different backgrounds, we will assign a
group number to each student. A group should have 4-6 students. No change is allowed after a
group is formed.

(A) Group Case Report and Presentation 30%

Each group will be responsible to look for its own case for in-depth analysis, which must integrate
management accounting topics (financial, business, behavioral, ethical issues or other related issues).
Students are strongly encouraged to apply the knowledge learned in AF2110 class in the case study.
Students are expected to identify a firm for analysis from business news, articles from professional
journals or business magazines, or internet. A thorough report is required (see page 9 of the
Appendix attached for guidelines for case presentation). Each group will have 15 minutes to present
the case.

Remarks:
See detailed requirements on page 7.

(II) Individual assessments

(B) Participation 10%

Students are expected to participate in class*. You should often raise and answer questions, speak
and share your thoughts to facilitate intellectual exchange in class discussions and in case
presentations. Before attending each lecture, students are required to read the textbook chapters as
stated in the lecture programme below. Students will be assigned questions/cases for exercises after
each lecture. Interactive learning is always effective to students in terms of retaining and enhancing
knowledge.

Students are required to do the assigned questions/cases to help reinforce the understanding in
topics covered in the lectures. Also this will help you to practice for final examination.
*Students who have 100% attendance rate will NOT automatically earn any participation mark.

(C) Individual Essay 10%

Each student will choose a company other than the company chosen for the Group Project in (A) to
discuss and/or recommend how one or more of the ABCD emerging technologies (see Week 1
lecture PPT) can be applied to address the management accounting issues specific to the company
concerned. The length of the essay should not exceed 800 words. The individual essay is required to
be submitted through Turnitin on or before 18:00 of November 27, 2021 (Saturday). Late
submission will NOT be accepted.

(D) Individual Final Assignment 50%

The final assignment will cover the entire syllabus and the format is expected to include technical
questions, short essays, and case analysis etc. Students will be asked to provide alternative solutions
to the business context in question. Ethical issues will also be covered.
2
 Course Schedule (Tentative)
Semester 1 – 2021/2022

* Students are required to read the textbook before attending each lecture so as to help the understanding of topics to be covered in the lectures.

Class Week Lecture Topic Outline Learning Objectives Readings Assignments

Managerial Accounting: An Overview To be able to achieve: Chapter Assignment 01:

Prologue
The role of managerial accounting To understand the role of management accountants in an Problem Set 1 on Blackboard
Aug 30 – The need for managerial accounting information organisation
1
Sept 3 Management accounting in a broader business context
Professional ethics To understand the importance of professional ethical standards
Corporate Social Responsibility
To understand the role of managerial accounting in a broader
business context

Cost Terms, Concepts and classification Assignment 02:

To understand the differences between variable costs and fixed Chapter 1
The cost classifications for predicting cost behavior costs Problem Set 2 on Blackboard
The cost classifications for assigning costs to cost and
objects To understand the differences between direct and indirect costs
Sept 6 – The cost classifications for decision making Chapter 5,
2
Sept 10 To define and give examples of cost classifications used in making Appendix 5A
Cost Behavior – Analysis and Use decisions.

The type of cost behaviour patterns To understand how fixed and variable costs behave and how to
The analysis of mixed costs use them to predict costs
The contribution format income statement
To analyze a mixed cost using the high-low method

Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis To explain how changes in activity affect contribution margin and Chapter 5 Assignment 03:
net operating income.
The Cost-Volume-Profit analysis Ch5:
The break-even analysis To show the effects on contribution margin of changes in variable P5-20, P5-22, P5-28, P5-29, Case 5-
costs, fixed costs, selling price, and volume 32
Sept 13 –
3 To determine the level sales needed to achieve a desired target
Sept 17
To compute the margin of safety and explain its significance

To compute the break-even point for a multiple product company

and explain the effects of shifts in the sales mix on contribution
margin and the break-even point

3
Class Lecture Topic Outline Learning Objectives Readings Assignments

Job-Order costing To distinguish between process costing and job-order costing. Chapters 2 Assignment 04:
and 3
The flow of costs To understand the flow of costs in a job-order costing system and Ch2:
Sept 20 – The problems of overhead application prepare appropriate journal entries to record costs and under or E2-11, E2-15, P2-16, P2-20
4
Sept 24 Job-order costing in service companies over applied overhead cost
Ch3:
E3-6, P3-13, P3-16, Case 3-29 &
Case 3-18

Absorption and Marginal Costing To explain how marginal costing differs from absorption costing Chapter 6 Assignment 05:

Overview of absorption and marginal costing To prepare income statements using both costing methods Ch6:
Income comparison of absorption and variable costing E6-13, P6-23, P6-25, P6-27 & Case
Sept 27 –
5 Effect of changes in production on net operating To reconcile marginal costing and absorption net operating 6-29
Oct 1
income income and explain why the two amounts differ

To understand the advantages and disadvantages of both marginal

and absorption costing

Decision making To understand the decision process and its composite factors Chapter 13 Assignment 06:

The decision process To understand and apply the concept of relevant cost in decision Ch13:
Routine and non-routine decisions process P13-18, P13-21, P13-23, P13-28 &
Oct 4 – Case13-30
6, 7 Oct 8 The relevant cost concept To understand and apply the concept of opportunity cost in
Oct 11- The opportunity cost concept decision process
Oct 15 Adding and dropping product lines and other segments Assignment 07:
The make or buy decision To appreciate the different approaches in handling risk and
Special orders uncertainty situations Ch13:
Utilisation of constrained resource P13-20, P13-22, P13-25 & Case13-
Joint product costs and the contribution approach 32

Master Budgeting To understand why organizations budget and the processes they Chapter 8 Assignment 08:
use to create budgets.
8 Oct 25 – The basic framework of budgeting Ch8:
Oct 29 To prepare the master budget To prepare master budget, cash budget, income statement and E8-10, P8-27, P8-30, Case8-32 &
The international aspects of budgeting balance sheet. Case 8-33

4
 Class Lecture Topic Outline Learning Objectives Readings Assignments

Pricing Product and Services To have an appreciation of why and how a pricing policy is set Assignment 09:
Chapter 13A
Setting of pricing policy To acquire detailed knowledge on economic aspect of pricing Chapter 13A:
Economic pricing decisions 13A-6, 13A-8, 13A-11 & 13A-12
Cost based pricing
9 Nov 1 –
To acquire detailed knowledge on cost based pricing
Nov 5
Target costing
Services companies To review the concepts and mechanism of specific product pricing

To describe some elements in pricing review

To understand some marketing factors in pricing

Performance measurement To understand the basics on performance measurement Assignment 10:

Chapters 11
10 Nov 8 – General rules for performance measurement. To acquire an appreciation of the techniques in relationship to & 12 Ch6:
Nov 12 Responsibility centres and performance measurement performance measures P6-21 & Case 6-30
Performance measurement for activities and managers
Performance measurement in divisionalised companies To understand how a balanced scorecard fits together and how it Ch11:
Segment reporting and profitability analysis. supports a company’s strategy E11-6, E11-14, P11-15, P11-21 &
Alternative performance measures Case 11-23
Balanced scorecard To compute manufacturing cycle efficiency (MCE), and overall
Operational performance measures equipment effectiveness (OEE) Ch12;
Nov 15 – Overview of transfer pricing P12-12, P12-20, Case 12-21
11 To gain a preliminary understanding of the issues on transfer
Nov 19
pricing

Nov 22 –
12 Revision Class To summarize the whole course and integrate various topics
Nov 26
covered

Notes:
1. Sept 22, Oct 1 and Oct 14 are statutory holidays for the day following Mid-Autumn festival, National Day and Chung Yeung festival respectively. Class fall on these days are cancelled accordingly.
2. The week of Oct 18 to Oct 22 is reserved for make-up classes for those classes cancelled in (1).
3. This schedule is subject to change when necessary.

5
Grading
In conforming to the PolyU’s policy, grades for all course assessments components will be awarded using the criterion-referenced basis. The following assessments are
specifically designed to evaluate students’ performance with respect of the subject learning outcomes in terms of critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills.
A+ to A-
Final Individual Achieve a standard of excellent
Assignment performance in analysis of
problems; synthesis and
application of knowledge;
provision of extended ideas
such as element of own opinion,
originality and creative
thinking; and presentation of
relevant answers to the
respective questions.
Case Presentation - present arguments that have
and Report an element of originality
(See specific - demonstrate a strong
indicators in understanding of all relevant
Appendix) knowledge
- excellent presentation style
- respond to all questions in a
logical way
- excellent written report with
critical analysis of the
problems; reflection of what
the student has learned from
the real-world case; clear and
logical presentation
Individual Essay - Excellent written essay with - Good written essay with very
extensive coverage of the
technology elements and
their specific applications in
addressing MA issues faced
by the chosen company.
Class - actively participate in
Participation* classroom discussion;
- demonstrate logical / critical - willing to answer questions.
thinking in answering
questions.
- other relevant indicators
B+ to B-
Achieve a standard of good
performance in analysis of
problems, synthesis and
application of knowledge, with
proper referencing of
a wide range of materials beyond
those provided in the course, and
presentation of relevant answers
to the respective questions.
- present arguments that go
beyond the lecture and
textbook
- demonstrate a strong
understanding of all relevant
knowledge
- good presentation style
- respond to some questions in a
logical way
- good written report with critical
analysis of the problems;
reflection of what the student
has learned from the real-world
case; clear and logical
presentation
good coverage of the
technology elements and their
specific applications in
addressing MA issues faced by
the chosen company.
- demonstrate a high level of
classroom discussion;
- other relevant indicators
C+ to C-
Achieve a standard of satisfactory
performance in analysis of
problems, synthesis and
application of knowledge, and
presentation of relevant answers
to the respective questions.
- display a basic understanding
of the concepts involved
- organize the presentation in a
well-structured manner
- satisfactory presentation style
- respond to all questions in a
satisfactory way
- satisfactory written report with
sufficient analysis of the
problems; reflection of what the
student has learned from the
real-world case; clear and
logical presentation
- Good written essay with
adequate coverage of the
technology elements and their
specific applications in
addressing MA issues faced by
the chosen company.
- demonstrate a satisfactory level - little participation in classroom
of classroom discussion.
- willing to answer some
questions.
- other relevant indicators
D+ to D
Demonstrate a standard of
marginally satisfactory
performance in analysis of
problems, synthesis and
application of knowledge, and
presentation of relevant answers
to the respective questions.
- barely address the questions as
set
- display a minimum
understanding of the concepts
involved
- the organization of the
presentation is marginally
satisfactory
- marginally satisfactory
presentation style
- respond to some questions in a
satisfactory way
- marginally satisfactory written
report in terms of analysis and
presentation
- Weak written essay with
inadequate coverage of the
technology elements and their
specific applications in
addressing MA issues faced by
the chosen company.
discussion;
- not willing to answer
questions.
- other relevant indicators
F
Fail to meet a minimum standard
in analysis of problems, synthesis
and application of knowledge,
and presentation of relevant
answers to the respective
questions.
- do not address the questions as
set
- display a poor understanding of
the concepts involved
- the presentation is poorly
organized
- marginal satisfactory
presentation style
- fail to respond to questions
- poor written report in terms of
analysis and presentation
- Poor written essay barely
covers of the technology
elements and their specific
applications in addressing MA
issues faced by the chosen
company.
- no participation in classroom
discussion;
- not answering questions
willingly.
- other relevant indicators
6
 CASE PRESENTATION GUIDELINES
Requirements

1. For this group-based case presentation assignment, you are required to select a case firm
(local or non-local) for in-depth analysis from business news, articles from professional
journals or business magazines, or internet (the news/articles to be chosen should be published
on or after 1 September 2020). You should identify the problems in the case firm and
recommend any possible actions to solve the problems or reduce the negative impacts
deriving from those problems. Your analysis should focus on management accounting
aspect with reference to other disciplines where appropriate. Again, students are strongly
encouraged to apply the knowledge learned in AF2110 class in the case study.

2. Given the current situation, all groups are required to submit the video presentation. Each
group should submit only one video that includes all group members’ presentation. The
length of the video presentation should be no more than 15 minutes.

3. When submitting the video, the group should also submit the soft copies of the ppt slides, and
case report should be submitted to your instructor.

4. The case report should not be more than 20 pages (excluding attachment and references, if
any), typed, double spaced, 10 to 12 pitch with one-inch margins. The case report should
include a section that clearly states the work allocation for each member in the case study.

5. Deadline of submission: 11:59pm, November 26, 2021 (Friday).

6. Any violation of the above rules will be penalized. Late submission will NOT be
accepted.

Deadlines

Deadline of submission: 11:59pm, November 26, 2021. All the video, soft copies of PPT slides, and
case report should be submitted to your instructor before the deadline.

Marking Scheme (both group and individual basis)

It is substantially awarded on a group-basis for the content of the report and the presentation which
should cover (i) identifying key issues/problems of the case; (ii) collecting information relevant to
the problems from different sources and (iii) suggesting all possible actions/strategies, where
appropriate. In addition, individual presentation skills will also be assessed and this will be
incorporated in the ultimate grade obtained in this assessment component.

7
 THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE

CASE PRESENTATION EVALUATION

Date________________________ Name of Student: ____________________ (ID No.____________)

Presenting Group: ______________________Presentation Topic:_________________________________

Total Presentation Time: ______________ minutes

Please evaluate the presenter by circling the appropriate ratios for each of the following five evaluation criteria which
are defined by the sub items. Mark "I" for improvement needed on the left side of appropriate bulleted sub items. Add
the total points on the bottom of each column and the overall score.

No. A+ B+ C+ D+ to F Evaluation Criteria

to A to B to C D
1 Presentation style:
• Is relaxed, enthusiastic, confident and professional.
• Speaking - conversational, clear, varied speed and volume.
• Avoids using filler words - ok, so, uhm, you know, well, etc.
• Maintains eye contact, good gesture, posture, and facial
expression.
• Does not read from prepared materials.
• Keeps to the time limit.
2 Effective use of learning aids:
• Distributes appropriate handouts.
• Use visual aids--blackboard, flip charts, or overheads--
appropriately.
• Provides high quality and readable visual aids.
3 Content: Coverage
• Provides good introduction and conclusion.
• States the purpose of the presentation clearly.
• Is well organized.
• Is well prepared and knowledgeable.
• Covers key areas of assigned readings.
• Spends appropriate time on key areas.
• Provides accurate and factual information.
• Explains materials clearly and concisely.
4 Content: Uses real world examples
• Examples - newspaper, journals, class readings, work
experience.
• Examples - relate well to topic.
5 Content: Encourages class discussion to promote learning
• Asks thought provoking questions.
• Welcomes questions and responses.
• Provides creative class activities and tasks
Overall Excellent = A /A+; Good = B /B+; Satisfactory = C /C+; Marginal
Satisfactory = D/D+; Poor = F

1. Please list the presenter's strengths.

2. Please list areas that the presenter needs to improve.