BA216 - Management Accounting for Planning and Control

Credit Points: 15 credit points

Workload: 36 hours

Prerequisite: BB104 Introductory Accounting

Co-requisite: N/A

Aims & Objectives

This is a second-year Core Unit in the Bachelor of Business, major in Accounting, and offered as an Elective Unit in the Bachelor of Business Marketing, and Bachelor of Business Management. For Course Learning Outcomes and further information relating to Bachelor of Business programs please visit our website:  http://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/bachelor-business.

This unit focuses on multi-faceted challenges facing by the function of management accounting in contemporary organisations. This unit aims to provide students with knowledge in terms of the processes and technologies that enable the effective and efficient use of organisational resources by management to enhance the value of the organisation to shareholders and other stakeholders. The unit develops student expertise in the accumulation and processing cost information. 

Emphasis is placed on costing systems, budgeting, standard costing and performance evaluation in decentralised organisational structures. Equip the student capable of applying management accounting information in decision making.
Unit topics include:

  • Function of management accounting 
  • Cost behaviour and cost estimation
  • Product and service costing 
  • Contemporary approach to costing: Activity Based Costing (ABC) 
  • Standard costing 
  • Cost volume profit analysis
  • Budgeting process and budgets 
  • Capital budgeting techniques
  • Decentralisation and performance evaluation

Learning Outcomes

The Course learning outcomes applicable to this unit are listed on the Melbourne Institute of Technology’s website: http://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/bachelor-business/accounting.
At the completion of this unit students should be able to:
a. Describe and discuss the function and role of management accounting in the contemporary business environment.
b. Demonstrate broad knowledge of management accounting and explain appropriate approaches to generate cost information.
c. Produce business reports which present analyses of financial solutions to management issues
d. Apply knowledge to generate adaptable and flexible approaches to problem solving and decision making.
e. Apply management accounting practices and theories to analyse and solve business and management problems.

Assessment

Assessment Task Due Date A B Unit Learning Outcomes
1. Formative Assessment Week 3 - 5% a
2. Contribution and Participation Weeks 1-12 - 5% a-e
3. Assignment [Individual] Week 5 - 20% a,b
4. Report [Group] Week 8 20% - c,d,e
5. Case Study Analysis [Individual] [3 hours] TBA - 50% a-e
TOTALS   20% 80%  

Task Type: Type A: unsupervised, Type B: supervised.

Contribution and Participation (5%)

This unit has class participation as an assessment. The assessment task and marking rubric will follow the Guidelines on Assessing Class Participation (https://www.mit.edu.au/about-us/governance/institute-rules-policies-and-plans/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Guidelines_on_Assessing_Class_Participation). Further details will be provided in the assessment specification on the type of assessment tasks and the marking rubrics.

Teaching Methods

NOTE: All School of Business units 3-hour workshops Flipped Classroom Mode. 

Textbook and Reference Materials

Note: Students are required to purchase the prescribed text book and have it available each week in class.

Prescribed Text Book

  • Mowen, M., Hansen, R., Heitger, L., (2018). Managerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Business Decision-Making, 7th edition. US: Cengage Learning.

Other recommended references

  • Warren, C., Reeve, M., Duchac, J., (2018). Managerial Accounting, 14th edition. US: Cengage Learning.
  • Langfield-Smith, K., Smith, D., Andon, P., Thorne, H., (2018). Management Accounting: Information for Creating and Managing Value, 8th edition. McGraw Hill Education (Australia).

Journal articles

  • Chychyla, R., Leone, A. J., & Minutti-Meza, M. (2019). Complexity of financial reporting standards and accounting expertise. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 67(1), 226-253.
  • Dai, N. T., Free, C., & Gendron, Y. (2019). Interview-based research in accounting 2000–2014: Informal norms, translation and vibrancy. Management Accounting Research, 42, 26-38.
  • Leone, A. J., Minutti-Meza, M., & Wasley, C. E. (2019). Influential observations and inference in accounting research. The Accounting Review, 94(6), 337-364.
  • Vetchagool, W., Augustyn, M. M., & Tayles, M. (2018). ISO 9000, activity based costing and organizational performance.Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 1-24.
  • Hiebl, M. R. (2018). Management accounting as a political resource for enabling embedded agency. Management Accounting Research, 38, 22-38.
  • Cooper, D. J., Ezzamel, M., & Qu, S. Q. (2017). Popularizing a management accounting idea: The case of the balanced scorecard. Contemporary Accounting Research, 34(2), 991-1025.

The Referencing style for this using is APA: See the MIT Library Referencing webpage:  https://library.mit.edu.au/referencing/APA and the Unit Moodle page for additional referencing support material and weblinks.

Graduate Attributes

MIT is committed to ensure the course is current, practical and relevant so that graduates are “work ready” and equipped for life-long learning. In order to accomplish this, the MIT Graduate Attributes identify the required knowledge, skills and attributes that prepare students for the industry.
The level to which Graduate Attributes covered in this unit are as follows:

Ability to communicate Independent and Lifelong Learning Ethics Analytical and Problem Solving Cultural and Global Awareness Team work Specialist knowledge of a field of study

Legend

Levels of attainment Extent covered
The attribute is covered by theory and practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students always play an active role, e.g. workshops, lab submissions, assignments, demonstrations, tests, examinations.
The attribute is covered by theory or practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students mostly play an active role, e.g. discussions, reading, intepreting documents, tests, examinations.
The attribute is discussed in theory or practice; it is addressed by assessed activities in which the students may play an active role, e.g. lectures and discussions, reading, interpretation, workshops, presentations.
The attribute is presented as a side issue in theory or practice; it is not specifically assessed, but it is addressed by activities such as lectures or tutorials.
The attribute is not considered, there is no theory or practice or activities associated with this attribute.