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Management accounting practice areas

Jun 10, 2022 · 2 min read

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Each of the Principles underpins the 14 practice areas that the management accounting function needs to do well, in order to assure their stakeholders of sustainable financial performance.

The practice areas are as follows:

  • COST TRANSFORMATION AND MANAGEMENT
    It sounds simple, but cutting waste enhances value generation. By identifying and reducing waste generation, finances can be freed up and diverted to areas of the business that will drive value generation.
    Find out more about Cost transformation and management (Refer Download page no. 30).

  • EXTERNAL REPORTING
    This is defined by clarity of information. To predict future performance, management accounting provides a comprehensive view of financial and non-financial performance, business models, risks and strategy.
    Find out more about External reporting (Refer Download page no. 31).

  • FINANCIAL STRATEGY
    By closely scrutinising the organisation’s financial strategy, management accounting can identify opportunities for re-allocation of resources in the implementation of a robust, rewarding financial strategy that achieves agreed business objectives.
    Find out more about Financial strategy (Refer Download page no. 32).

  • INTERNAL CONTROL
    Through comprehensive documentation of an organisation’s policies, systems, processes and procedures for risk management, management accounting can maximise value generation within the established framework.
    Find out more about Internal control (Refer Download page no. 34).

  • INVESTMENT APPRAISAL
    This practice area takes into account strategy, prioritising options, affordability and acceptable returns in assessing potential investments.
    Find out more about Investment appraisal (Refer Download page no. 35).

  • MANAGEMENT AND BUDGETARY CONTROL
    From people and projects to sales volumes and revenues, management accounting controls performance against agreed targets, at all levels of the business.
    Find out more about Management and budgetary control (Refer Download page no. 37).

  • PRICE, DISCOUNT AND PRODUCT DECISIONS
    Management accounting works with the business in deciding the most business-beneficial products or services to provide, determining the selling price and potential discount structures.
    Find out more about Price, discount and product decisions (Refer Download page no. 38).

  • PROJECT MANAGEMENT
    Full integration of all aspects of a project means the project delivery team have everything they need, when they need it, to meet the project’s objectives on budget, on time – and to the required standard.
    Find out more about Project management (Refer Download page no. 40).

  • REGULATORY ADHERENCE AND COMPLIANCE
    Management accounting ensures that all statutory and regulatory obligations are met. This prevents penalties, naturally; but more than that, it’s simply the good practice management accountants pride themselves on.
    Find out more about Regulatory adherence and compliance (Refer Download page no. 41).

  • RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
    Organisational decision-making relies on proper, timely resource management. By aligning resources with strategic objectives, management accounting can help the business continually improve, efficiently and effectively.
    Find out more about Resource management (Refer Download page no. 42).

  • RISK MANAGEMENT
    This practice area takes internal and external factors into account, to identify, assess and respond to risks that arise from an organisation’s activities.
    Find out more about Risk management (Refer Download page no. 43).

  • STRATEGIC TAX MANAGEMENT
    By examining the role of tax in the financial analysis and decision-making processes, management accounting can proactively manage the organisation’s tax position, to meet legal and business requirements.
    Find out more about Strategic tax management (Refer Download page no. 45).

  • TREASURY AND CASH MANAGEMENT
    Management accounting aids the handling of all financial matters, whether that’s generating funds internally, managing currency and interest rate risk, or simple fund and cash management.
    Find out more about Treasury and cash management (Refer Download page no. 46).

  • INTERNAL AUDIT
    While not strictly part of the management accounting function, this is included as a practice area because management accounting makes such a significant contribution to the parts of the business examined by an internal audit.
    Find out more about Internal audit (Refer Download page no. 48).

Additional resources

View the (available in different languages).
Watch the video with expert Naomi Smith, FCMA, CGMA as she navigates you through the Performance & Practice Areas.

Download the global-management-accounting-principles.pdf

File name: global-management-accounting-principles-english.pdf

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