Monash University Handbook 2010 Postgraduate - Unit

Synopsis

This unit aims to develop a student's understanding of the concepts and techniques of management accounting, and his/her skills in the use of management accounting techniques to communicate decision-useful information to management. The unit content includes costing terminology, cost classification, cost accumulation and recording systems, job and process costing, activity-based costing, inventory costing, cost-volume-profit analysis, information for decision making, pricing and product mix decisions, budgets and budgetary control, standard costing and variance analysis, traditional measures of performance, contemporary approaches to measuring and managing performance, decentralisation and inter-divisional transfer pricing. Seminars, lectures and tutorials are used (as appropriate) to guide participants towards proficiency in management and cost accounting principles and techniques.

Objectives

Our graduates will:

• apply management accounting principles and techniques to service and manufacturing industry cases
• compare, contrast and demonstrate various costing models
• design budgets and explain the behavioural aspects of different budgeting styles
• examine cost-volume-profit analyses, divisional performance evaluation measures and the role of inter-divisional transfer pricing; and
• develop capabilities to work effectively in a group; and/or demonstrate effective individual research skills to solve management accounting problems and demonstrate in individual summative assessment tasks the acquisition of a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered by this unit.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 20%
Examination (3 hours): 80%

Chief examiner(s)

Anna Stamatelatos

Contact hours

3 hours per week

Prerequisites

AFX9500

Prohibitions

AFF9611, AFG9072, AFX5611