Relevance

Information is relevant

OBJECTIVE:  Help organisations plan for and source the information needed for creating strategy and tactics for execution.

This principle distills data to inform and deliver sustainable business strategy. In the age of data-driven business, it can be difficult to know which information – past, present and future – is relevant to making key decisions.

Having understood the decision-maker’s needs in the communication principle, this principle provides the information needed to fulfill them. How? By identifying, scrutinising and collating diverse data about the business.

To paint a holistic picture, management accounting looks at internal and external, financial and pre-financial information. By looking at past, present and future data, plus mistakes and successes, this principle facilitates the delivery of decision-relevant information only, to drive value.

Key benefits

• Separate good from bad: Bad information leads to bad decisions. By applying this principle, management accounting finds the right information for the decision, and decision-makers, involved.
• Quality meets accuracy: Prior to analysis, management accounting sorts and filters data, so only the most valuable, consistent and accurate information is presented to key decision-makers.
• Information agnostic: With so many factors in driving global business, management accounting recognises that good information, both qualitative and quantitative, can come from anywhere. This principle’s holistic approach means optimised relevance to drive optimised value.

Watch video with expert Naomi Smith, FCMA, CGMA as she navigates you through the ‘Relevance’ Global Management Accounting Principle and illustrates through case studies how to use this Principle in practice.

Analyse

Impact on value is analysed

OBJECTIVE:  Simulate different scenarios to demonstrate the cause-and-effect relationship between inputs and outcomes.

This principle optimises the link between management accounting and the business model. Without proper attention to this interaction, management accounting’s ability to have any lasting effect on value – and value generation – is severely compromised.

Having sourced and defined the right information for the task and decision at hand, this principle develops scenarios to test that information against. By understanding the business model and wider factors in more depth, management accounting can fully assess the breadth of opportunities, risks, costs, and the potential for generating long-term, robust value for the business.

Key benefits

• Better-informed decisions: By taking a holistic view of the decision-making situation, then rigorously testing diverse factors with scenario analysis, this Principle can assess the relevance and resilience of the business model.
• Prioritised action: Prior to analysis, management accounting sorts and filters data, so only the most valuable, consistent and accurate information is presented to key decision-makers.

Watch video with expert Naomi Smith, FCMA, CGMA as she navigates you through the ‘Analyse’ Global Management Accounting Principle and illustrates through case studies how to use this Principle in practice.

Trust

Stewardship builds trust

OBJECTIVE:  Actively manage relationships and resources so that the financial and non-financial assets, reputation and value of the organisation are protected.

This principle has empowerment, good values and best practice at its core. An organisation is only as good as its people: without integrity and objectivity in management accounting, the whole decision-making process is undermined, which has negative consequences for the business and its long-term value.

Management accounting professionals champion solid, open working relationships, and applying the principles to their practice areas with competence and clarity. It means they become trusted guardians of an organisation’s value – and values. It also means they’re always ethical, accountable and mindful of these values in every aspect of their practice.

Key benefits

• Accountability meets credibility: Being accountable for decisions minimises the risk of a poor decision, and its potential long-term effects. Creating and maintaining open, two-way communication means stakeholders’ needs are met with credibility, with a positive impact on processes.
• Sustainability: Management accounting makes the link between sustainability, strategy and the business model, taking economic, environmental and social risks into account to drive sustainable, long-term success.
• Integrity meets ethics: Management accounting adheres to its strict code of conduct with commitment, objectivity and integrity, so the decision-making process can be approached critically, and value can be maximised.

Watch video with expert Naomi Smith, FCMA, CGMA as she navigates you through the ‘Trust’ Global Management Accounting Principle and illustrates through case studies how to use this Principle in practice.