Choices & Change

United States and Texas Government II: Government in Action

Keys to Lifelong Learning

Texas Politics and You

For the Love of Wisdom

Nutrition Pathways

The BEST - Beginning Teacher Experience

Journey to Health: Mind, Body, Spirit

Vietnam: A Television History

The BEST Mentoring Experience

Shaping America: U.S. History to 1877

Becoming Physically Fit

Accounting in Action

Principles I 65⁄35 (Lessons 1-13)

Principles II 65⁄35 (Lessons 13-27)

Managerial (Lessons 1-14)

Financial (Lessons 1-14)

United States and Texas Government I: Political Dynamics

Transforming America

Workforce Development

A Writer's Exchange

It's Strictly Business

Managerial (Lessons 1-14)

AIA Courseware Topics
14 half-hour videos

Course Objectives

Identify and discuss the information needs of managers and how managerial accountants address them.
Identify, measure, and report the cost of raw materials, work in process, and finished goods inventories.
Compute equivalent unit costs, and prepare a cost summary of completed and not completed products.
Calculate and report break-even, and how changes in cost, volume, or price affect profit.
Discuss and illustrate how flexible budgets and standard costs are used to control and evaluate operations.
Apply a number of methods for determining selling prices.
Discuss the just-in-time operating environment and how it helps managers make decisions in competitive situations.
Identify and discuss the types of financial and non-financial information used to evaluate performance in a competitive environment.

Lesson Titles/Descriptions

Managerial Accounting and Today's Business Environment - The purposes and characteristics of managerial accounting are compared to those of financial accounting. The role of management accountants is illustrated. Just-in-Time inventories and Total Quality Management are discussed as is the Theory of Constraints. These management techniques are related to a consumer oriented, globally competitive environment. Ethical challenges faced by managerial accountants are reviewed.
Manufacturing Costs and Classifications - The balance sheet and income statement for a manufacturing firm are introduced and analyzed with emphasis on inventories, cost of goods sold, and the underlying cost of goods manufactured schedule. A variety of ways to define and use "cost" information are introduced.
Manufacturing and Job Order Cost Accounting - The characteristics and uses of manufacturing cost accounting systems are introduced. Connections between manufacturing activities and accounting for costs are established. A job cost accounting system is developed and applied in a manufacturing setting. Predetermined overhead rates are calculated and discussed.
Manufacturing and Process Order Cost Accounting - Process and job order systems are compared. Related journal entries are illustrated. Equivalent units of production and their costs are calculated and tracked through to a departmental production report. The management uses of production and cost information are discussed.
Cost Behavior and Variable Costing - Cost behavior is introduced. Analyzing mixed costs is illustrated. The contribution margin income statement is shown and compared to the traditional income statement. Variable versus absorption product costing information is discussed and evaluated. The impact of changes in production volume on net income under variable and absorption cost reporting is discussed.
Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis - Cost behavior is discussed and applied to a number of situations including break-even analyses, the impact on net income of changes in cost structure, and the implications of cost structure on profit risk and volatility. The underlying assumptions and limitations of C-V-P are reviewed. C-V-P graphs are illustrated.
Activity-Based Costing - Trends influencing the costing of products and services are examined. Activity-Based Costing is compared to more traditional costing. The goals, characteristics and limitations of activity-based costing are examined. Implementation of an activity-based cost system is developed. The connection of activity-based costing to activity-based management is discussed.
Master Budgets and Profit Planning - The advantages and procedures of developing a master budget are examined in some detail. The technical and "human factor" challenges of budget preparation are discussed. Proforma financial statements are prepared.
Standard Costs, Operating Performance and the Balanced Score Card - The advantages and challenges of establishing cost standards are discussed. Material, labor, and variable overhead variances are presented. Non-financial operating measures such as quality and on-time delivery are reviewed and related to the balanced score card. Delivery cycle time and manufacturing cycle efficiency are covered. Value added versus non-value added activities are identified.
Flexible Budgets and Overhead Analysis - Flexible and static budgets are compared. The variable overhead report is shown and discussed. Calculation and interpretation of overhead application rates in a standard cost system are discussed. The limitations of standard costing are reviewed.
Segment Reporting, Profitability and Decentralization - A discussion of centralized vs. decentralized operations and the challenges of assigning overhead costs to business segments are presented. A contribution margin segment income statement is illustrated and discussed. The uses and limitations of return on investment and residual income measures are examined. Additionally, transfer pricing between business segments is presented.
Relevant Costs for Decision Making - The characteristics of information relevant to short term operating decisions are introduced. Analyses are made of a series of short term management decisions such as those to keep or drop a product, accept a special order, and optimize scarce resources. Ways of alleviating bottleneck constraints are discussed as are the challenges of making sound short term decisions in contemporary business environments.
Capital Budgeting Decisions - The importance and risks of capital budgeting and investing in contemporary business environments is examined. A variety of analytical tools, including payback, net present value, and internal rate of return are presented and applied to capital budgeting proposals. The impact of taxes on investment decisions is treated briefly.
Pricing Products and Services - A review of using price elasticity of demand and variable cost to maximize profits is reviewed. The selling price and markup percentage are calculated using absorption costing. Target cost for a new product or service is introduced. Billing rates used in time and material pricing are computed.