Management Accounting for Decision Makers

Management accounting is concerned with ensuring that managers have the information they need to plan and control the direction of their organisation. This book is directed primarily at those following an introductory course in management accounting. Many readers will be studying at a university or college, perhaps majoring in accounting or in another area such as business studies, IT, tourism or engineering. Other readers, however, may be studying independently, perhaps with no qualification in mind. The book is written in an ‘open learning’ style, which has been adopted because we believe that readers will find it to be more ‘user-friendly’ than the traditional approach. Whether they are using the book as part of a taught course or for personal study, we feel that the open learning approach makes it easier for readers to learn. In writing this book, we have been mindful of the fact that most readers will not have studied management accounting before. We have therefore tried to write in an accessible style, avoiding technical jargon. Where technical terminology is unavoidable, we have tried to give clear explanations. At the end of the book (in Appendix A) there is a glossary of technical terms, which readers can use to refresh their memory if they come across a term whose meaning is in doubt. We have tried to introduce topics gradually, explaining everything as we go. We have also included a number of questions and tasks of various types to try to help readers to understand the subject fully, in much the same way as a good lecturer would do in lectures and tutorials. More detail of the nature and use of these questions and tasks is given in the section ‘How to use this book’.