M.

COM PART – II (SEM-IV)

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR

PROJECT WORK –ADVANCED COST ACCOUNTING & COST SYSTEM

Introduction
The project is a research work relating to an economic utility having well defined objectives and
having a specific beginning and end. It is a scientific and systematic study of real issue intended
to resolve. The essential requirement of a project is that it should have suitable collection,
analysis and interpretation of data which must lead to valid conclusion. Project work is an
important output. It is a method of obtaining and evaluating data for finding issues and solutions
thereto or for decision making.
The objective of project work is to experience the way in which organizations function in a given
environment with special reference to the topic of the study (i.e. topic of the student). This work shall
help student to understand the local economic scenario in which the selected organization operate.
Student will understand how each of the functional areas are designed and performed in an
organization, strategies and policies implemented by the organization etc. Project work will also help
the student to apply knowledge of research methodology to analyze the problems or issues faced by
organizations.
Generally it is found that, basically there are two issues in project work. The project work should be
completed within four months and final report has to be submitted within the time limit.
The project is a formal document whose sole purpose is to prove that you have made a contribution
to knowledge. Your project must have two things. (a) You have identified a problem from the
organization; and (b) You have tried to solve the problem i.e. proposed suggestions. Finally your
contribution is documented in your project work.
At the initial stage, please go through the industry or the sector in which the business organization
operates. For example if you are doing your research project on automobiles spare parts
organizations do touch upon automobile Industry. Write a brief write up on what happened in the
past three years. After this, please go through past balance sheets, organization’s website, press
reports and all other data pertaining to the organization. You may not get all information available,
but try to get as much as possible. This part will help you to understand your organization in the
context of the present business situation.

Dr. Kishor G. Nawale, Shri Shahu Mandir Mahavidyalaya, Parvati, Pune-09 Page 1
 GENERAL CHAPTER SCHEME OF THE PROJECT- COST & WORKS
ACCOUNTING
Following may be the chapter scheme of any projects prepared at the M.Com level.

Chapter Name of the Content

No. Chapter
1 Introduction This chapter may include introduction of the subject and the
topic chosen for the study. Thus, it may include meaning,
features, important concepts, objectives, types, methods,
merits, demerits, process etc. You are also expected provide
brief summary/information of sector in which the organization
operates etc.
2 Profile of the It may include overall profile of the industry or organization,
Industry process of production, functions, strategy, growth, profitability,
/Organization production turnover, aims and objectives of the organization,
costing procedure implemented by the industry, few photos
relating to the production or industry, growth of the
industry/organization, various departments, their functions,
analysis of the literature found etc. Please go through various
research papers related to your project title.
3 Research This chapter may include need and importance of the
Methodology study (i.e. what “Value added” you will be doing for the
organization), Objective of the study (as per the topic
selected for the study- Objective must be precise and
should reflect the research you are going to undertake)
Hypothesis of the project, sources of selection of Secondary
data for study, sources of Selection of Primary data for study,
Limitations of the study
4 Data analysis and A data analysis is the process of studying or examining
Interpretations collected data of an organization and learns more about it. It
might be someones opinion or costing data related to your

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 costing project title (for e.g. Contract Costing – various cost
data of the contract )
1. Student must collect costing data minutely i.e. in detail and
analyse it.
2. Then, as per the requirement of your project title, detailed
costing statements shall be prepared from the above
collected data.
3. Thereafter, student must interpret the above statements.
He/she must write point-wise interpretation. (Interpretation
is the opinion or explanation of the researcher on the data
collected / statement prepared.)
4. If student has prepared questionnaire then he/she must
analyze the said questionnaire in this chapter and write
point-wise interpretations.
5 Findings, Findings mean a piece of information that is discovered or
Suggestions and found out during the analysis of the data or statements. It is a
Recommendations judgment made by the researcher at the time of analysis and
interpretation of data. In short, findings are facts that are
discovered by the researcher.
In this chapter write point-wise findings you found / discovered
from the above analysis and interpretation chapter as well as
from review of literature.
Suggestions mean an idea, possible plan or action that is
suggested for other people to consider. (e.g. suggestion on how
to cut cost or control cost or reduce cost or reduce losses,
improve profitability, improve turnover of the business, etc. )
After writing findings, students are expected to write down
(provide) various suggestions based on their knowledge and
understanding of various literature reviews conducted.
Suggestions shall be positive i.e. for the further growth of the
organization i.e. it should help to improve the organization or

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Annexure
Note: Please note that there may be more than 5 chapters, the decision of which depends upon the opinion/discussion of the
Project Guide and the Research Student
correct loopholes of the organization, rectify the behaviour of
cost data etc.
Conclusion is the final part of the project work. It is the
opinion of the researcher after considering all the information
about the project. i.e. what research student say about the
results, deductions and most important findings from research.
A) Questionnaire
B) Bibliography (Use APA style while writing bibliography.)
C) Reports if any of the organization/industry (brief)
D) Other appendices (Appendix contains material which helps
your argument but may not justify the report. It is material
that provides details.)

Important Points While Drafting and Writing Project:

1. Generally the initial pages such as certificates, acknowledgements, list of tables, list
of Figures, bibliography and Appendices are numbered in lower case Roman letters
and the Page numbers of all Chapters are given in regular numbers. The total project
report ideally should not cross more than 70-80 pages, not including initial pages,
bibliography and appendix.

2. Student should keep sentences short. Keep paragraph short. They are easier to read
and understand. Project Report should be clear and concise with the information
presented logically in section-wise with headings and if necessary sub-headings.

3. Statistical Tools
Hypotheses and testing of hypotheses using statistical tools is a must. Generally it is
observed that no report will be accepted without statistical tools. For example please
use Altman Z score Model for predicting bankruptcy. Your guide will be able to
help you to identify appropriate model.
4. Bibliography:

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 The Bibliography refers to the reference material consulted by the student in
connection with the Project Work. Published studies conducted by different authors,
Text books dealing with the subject of study, Industry Reports, Business Magazines,
Government Reports and Websites generally constitute the reference material.
Students are expected to give the details of all sources referred for conducting the
present study. The presentation of such reference material often referred as
Bibliography. It should follow a logical arrangement in alphabetical order. Each
reference should give the details regarding the author(s), the title of paper / book,
details regarding its year of publication, place of publication, name of the publishers
/ name of the Journal in case of a research article, etc. The students are expected to
follow APA style formatting while documenting bibliography.

5. Appendices:
Appendices refer to the annexure enclosed to the report. These enclosures help the
reader of the report to refer in case of any clarity required on the type of instrument
used by student in eliciting the information from the respondents. Generally, the
appendices contain a copy of the questionnaire administered in the study, published
raw data collected and used in the study, etc. If some other

6. Page Dimensions and Margin:

Standard A4 size (297mm x 210mm) paper may be used for preparing the copies.
The final 2 copies of the project report (at the time of submission) should have
the following Page margins:
Top 1.5 cm.
Bottom 1.5 cm.
Left Side 1.5 cm.
Right Side 1.5 cm.
Line Spacing -1.5
General Text shall be typed in font style – Times New Roman and Font Size
12 (Heading font size 14)
These specifications relate to the margins-normal given in the MS word document.

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 7. Single spacing should be used for typing:
(i) Long Tables
(ii) Long quotations
(iii) Foot notes
(iv) Multilane captions
(v) References

Note: Please note that information written above is as per the knowledge and experience of the
author. Other faculty members may add their own suggestions to the students as per the topic
chosen.

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