STUDENT STUDY GUIDE FOR SELF STUDY

COURSE CODE: AFIN317

COURSE NAME: ADVANCED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING - PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

TARGET STUDENTS: FULLTIME/PARTTIME/DISTANCE

PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE:

TO ASSIST STUDENTS MANAGE SELF STUDY MORE EFFECTIVELY BY GUIDING THEM THROUGH
THE STUDY MATERIALS AS THEY FOLLOW THROUGH THE SYLLABUS UNITS.

LECTURER: MR KAWANGA KAPALAYI

MOBILE: 0979 261585

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UNIT 1 and UNIT 2

Learning expectations(Things you need to grasp as you study)

1. You must understand businesses must management performance and that performance
is linked to the objective and goals set by organisation.
2. Understand the you need targets or yardstick to manage performance.
3. You understand the factors that affect performance and the performance
concerns(things that worry organisations in terms of performance)
4. You must know that planning is critical for any organisation and part of this is setting out
Vision, Mission Statement, Objectives/goals and Core values and be able to explain each
one of them clearly and why it’s important.
5. Understand the steps in the planning process
6. Be able to explain the link between planning and control
7. Understanding the value of information as an input to planning and decision making and
the sources of information. Must be to explain how technology is advancing information
use for decision making.
8. Understand that there are different types and planning (short term, long term; Strategic,
tactical, operational and know is involved in each of these plans.
9. Strategic Planning is critical you need in depth grasp of the details of what it is and why
organisation do strategic plans.
10. Understand the different steps in strategic planning and what goes on in these steps in
detail.

Reference materials to use on the portal: power point notes title (performance planning)
read all the slides. Hand out 1

UNIT 3

Learning expectations (Things you need to grasp as you study)

1. This unit links with unit two and continues with strategic management. Here you will be
now need to understand that a strategic plan cannot be put together minus the
information it needs. This information is gathered using tools so that the organisation can
know what to plan in the strategic plan and further that this information is gathered from
the environment( internal and external).
2. Understand how each tool works, what is aims to achieve or bring out for the attention
of the organisation to act upon.
3. Know these tools : SWOT analysis, PESTEL, Benchmarking, Gap Analysis and BCG matrix.
Know how they help organisations in strategic planning.
4. Under Multinationals companies it necessary the you know the different strategies that
organisation use. Understand the details of the different strategies used by companies to
operate, grow, diversify and become successful.

Reference materials to use on the portal: power point notes title (performance planning)
read all the slides. Hand out 1

Reference materials to use on the portal: power point notes title (Strategies). Hand out 2

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UNIT 4

Learning expectations (Things you need to grasp as you study)

1. This unit looks at costing methods used to determine costs and manage costs part of
which is a build up to cost and management accounting you did afin210.You must able to
know Absorption costing, marginal costing and understand the variable and fixed cost
behave. You will encounter new methods such ABC costing, lifecycle costing, target
costing, Value analysis JIT and environmental accounting.
2. Understand how to Absorption costing for overheads differs from Activity based Costing
(ABC) and how to calculate unit costs using the two methods and the merits and demerits
of each however none is more supreme.
3. You must understand that managing costs is important for financial performance and
overheads are the most difficult to deal with so management must keep an eye on them.
4. Read any materials on internet on the how overhead affect liquidity, what operating
leverage means in relation to overheads and how companies are reducing overhead costs.
5. Understand Target Costing, lifecycle costing Environmental Accounting (F5
notes).environmental accounting is limited to the theory components.
6. Understand Value Analysis, Just In Time (JIT) what they are and how the work. Research
on the internet and refer to the assignment questions.
7. Short term decision making focuses more on CVP Analysis which is a revision on most of
the components you did in cost and management accounting. Here you will need to know
calculations on breakeven analysis for single and multiple products, know how to compute
before and after tax target profits and be able to explain how operating leverage affects
breakeven points.
8. You must understand calculations on limiting factor analysis where constraints are
involved and you want to maximise contribution or profits
9. You must understand calculations on Throughput accounting ratios and profits. This
requires know the theory of constraints as well.

Reference materials to use on the portal: F5 Study Text - Hand out 10

Also read Hand out 8,9 and 10 plus go through the class work materials for practice hand
out 6

Note: Because much of this is computation you need to make use many study tools for accounting
books and e resources such ACCA opentuition websites which have many examples you can
download.

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UNIT 5

Learning expectations (Things you need to grasp as you study)

1. This unit looks at how risk is managed when you have long term investments. You need to
revise on your corporate finance investment appraisal techniques (NPV) as well as risk and
return.
2. Read on the difference between risk and uncertainty and the methods used to manage risk
which are Market Research, Conservatism, Payoff tables, Expected Values, Sensitivity
Analysis for NPV & Income Statements then look at Simulation. Skip decision trees. Make
use of F5 text here the notes and easy to follow.

Reference materials to use on the portal: F5 Hand out 10

Note: Because much of this is computation you need to make use many study tools for accounting
books and e-resources such ACCA opentuition websites which have many examples you can
download.

UNIT 6

Learning expectations (Things you need to grasp as you study)

1. This unit looks at how to measures and management performance in profit and non-profit
entities. Hence it focuses on financial and none financial performance measure or
indicators. Again here make more use of the F5 text follow this chapter.
2. Read thought financial performance here we limit to ratio analysis which you are familiar
with but go in detail to look at how ratios are interlinked and apply your analysis by looking
at the factor behind the numbers.
3. Read through non-financial performance measures and why they are important.
4. Read through how to measure performance in Not for profit organisation and what makes
it challenging to measure performance. Understand the Value for Money criteria such
economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
5. Read through Total Quality Management, The Balanced score Card as tools for managing
performance.

Reference materials to use on the portal: F5 Hand out 10

Note: Make use many study tools for accounting books and e-resources such ACCA opentuition
websites which have many examples you can download.

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UNIT 7

Learning expectations (Things you need to grasp as you study)

1. This unit looks at how to measures and management performance using budget
approaches and contrast two budget approaches incremental and zero based budgeting.
It also looks at transfer pricing as performance tools in performance management.
2. You need to understand basic theory of budgeting. You have covered budgeting in costing
and management accounting. Here we focus on the philosophy behind budgets and in
particular zero based and incremental and how the approached affect performance
management.
3. Understand the details of how these two budget are prepared and the merits and demerits
in relation to performance management.
4. Understand how basic pricing is done Cost plus and margins and the objectives behind
pricing in principle which profit.
5. Read on transfer pricing as applies to decentralised businesses such as multinational which
have subsidiaries that operate independently but are part of group companies. The focus
is how transfer pricing can be used to measure performance in group entities. Look at the
problem of using transfer prices. The whole unit is theory.

Reference materials to use on the portal: F5 Hand out 10

Note: Make use of many study Tools: acounting books and e-resources such ACCA opentuition
websites which have many examples you can download. Make use of other management accounting
text such CIMA text. Use YouTube from accounting experts on key subjects and pick information that
can explain areas in more detail by just typing the topic or issues.

The materials are both computation and theory and require analytical skills building as you study.
This course links with courses you have done already and some that you may undertake. For example
corporate finance knowledge is important, cost and management accounting knowledge is critical,
financial reporting and taxation as well as management theory and business environment not to
forget marketing. You do not expect questions that focus on definition or comprehension but more
on critical analysis that requires you to draw from other knowledge you have learnt and link issues.

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Additional tutorial links from selected topics

CHECK THE VIDEO LINKS ON SELECTED TOPICS BELOW: click to go to video online.

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Figure 1 TARGET COSTING

Figure 2 LIFE CYCLE COSTING

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Figure 3 THROUGHPUT ACCOUNTING

Figure 4 BALANCED SCORECARD

Figure 5 LIMITING FACTOR ANALYSIS

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Figure 6 NON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES

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