II. Read the text to find out what sort of information management accountants need to do their work properly.

1. An accountant employed by a business for internal reporting to the management is said to be a management accountant. A small business may have only one or a few people doing this work, though a medium-size or large company may have hundreds of accountants working under the supervision of a controller, treasurer or financial vice-president. Other positions that may be held by accountants dealing with internal reporting at lower managerial levels are assistant controller, internal auditor, plan accountant, system analyst, financial accountant, cost accountant and management accountant.

2. Because of their broad and intimate view of all aspects of company’s operations, management accountants often have an important effect on management decision-making. According to the most recent surveys more top-level business executives have backgrounds in accounting and finance than in any other fields. Just a few of the well-known companies in the USA whose presidents or chairmen of the board are (or have been) accountants are General Motors, Ford, International Business Machines etc.

3. Management accounting is concerned with the provision of economic information as an aid to managerial decision-making and control. Thus a major task of managers is to set plans for the business and to ensure that those plans are achieved. In order to help in the setting of plans managers require forecast information. For example, they may wish to assess the likely future outcomes of possible strategies. By providing information on likely benefits and costs associated with each strategy, the accounting system ensures that managers will be better placed to select the most appropriate strategies for incorporation into their plans.

4. Having set plans for the business, managers must monitor progress and take any necessary corrective action to ensure that they are achieved. They do this by comparing the actual results (provided by the accounting system) with the planned results. Where there is a significant deviation between actual and planned performances, management accountant can study the accounts to inform the management about the difference so that they would be able to take the appropriate remedial steps.

5. As managers are “inside” the business and control its activities they are in a position to dictate the volume, frequency and format of the accounting information they receive. As a result, wide variations in management accounting practices may arise even between similar types of businesses.

6. Despite these variations all the managers of different businesses need mostly three kinds of accounting information. These are product costing for pricing and inventory valuation, cost analyses for operational planning and control and special analyses to support management decision-making.

7. Top management often depends on the management accountant for information necessary for making decisions. To evaluate decision alternatives, the accountant uses special analysis and reporting techniques. Decisions about long-term capital expenditures are the most complex. However, day-to-day operating decisions call for accurate evaluation too. To do their work properly management accountants should be highly qualified. And they need to keep up with latest developments in the uses of computers and in computer systems design.

III. Which of the following statements are correct?

1. Accountants can hold only positions at lower managerial levels such as assistant controller, internal auditor, systems analyst and the like.

2. There are few companies in the world whose top-level business executives have backgrounds in accounting and finance.

3. To set appropriate plans for the business the management needs forecast information as well as information required for working out business strategy and its likely benefits and costs.

4. Having set plans for the business, managers must monitor progress and take corrective measures if necessary.

5. When managers see that there is a difference between actual and planned performances they immediately take the appropriate remedial steps.

6. There may be wide variations in management accounting practices because the volume, frequency and format of the accounting information managers receive sometimes differ even between similar types of business.

7. Because of variations in management accounting practices managers of different businesses need different kinds of information.

8. Accountants use special analyses and reporting techniques to provide the management with reliable information for decision-making.

9. Both decisions about long-term capital expenditure and operating decisions call for accurate evaluations.

IV. Reread the text to find out which of its paragraphs deals with:

1) three kinds of accounting information needed by management accountants;

2) well-known companies whose top-level executives have a background in accounting and finance;

3) positions of managerial level that accountants may hold in a small business or a large company;

4) professional tasks of management accountants;

5) management accountant’s qualification.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-13