30364 - ACCOUNTING (MODULE II) - MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING

To feel comfortable in this course it would be preferable to be familiar with financial accounting and financial statements analysis. Anyway, there are no obligatory prerequisites.

The most successful managers need clear details on the economic and financial performances, acquired through their activity, to run winning companies. They use a deep understanding of where (in which business segment, product, distribution channel, geographical area, etc.) they are able the produce the bests results and how (pricing strategy, cost efficiency, profitable investment, service, quality, care, etc.). Managerial Accounting is the subject providing the set of knowledge to drive performances in the right direction implementing successful strategies. Cost measurement, cost management, pricing decisions, costs and decision making, product costing, budgeting and reporting, capital budgeting, and return on investments, performance management, and decentralization are essential tools and techniques to grant effective performance management. The mission of this course is to explore the role of Managerial Accounting and its tools in supporting the strategy implementation, in directing the managerial decisions and in appraising the performances to run successful companies.

The most important topics we consider during this course are the following:

• Cost definition and cost classification.
• Cost behaviour and Break Event Point analysis.
• Costs and decision making in actual contexts.
• Pricing decisions.
• Traditional and Activity Based Cost accounting systems.
• Job costing and process costing systems.
• Budgets, standard costing systems and variance analysis.
• Reporting systems.
• Responsibility accounting.
• Decentralization and performance measurement.
• Transfer pricing.

• Appreciate the role of quantitative accounting techniques to support decision-making.
• Understand the relationships between costs, revenues and profit at various activity levels.
• Comprehend management accounting as models to analyze business decisions and advise on the most appropriate course of action.
• Appreciate the role of the planning and control mechanisms in formulating standards and budgets and in assigning responsibility to managers.
• Understand the principles of cost allocations for pricing, stock valuation, and decision making in marketing, sales and operations. 

• Evaluate the best option in decision making to maximize the company’s result.
• Set profitable prices compared to the costs incurred by the company.
• Define goals and target to meet the expectations of stakeholders.
• Motivate managers to accomplish the expected performances.
• Delegate targets’ acquisition to the team of collaborators.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)

During the lessons, a selected number of exercises are solved in class.