Availabilities:

Location Domestic International
Gold Coast Session 2 Session 2
New Zealand - MIT Session 2 Session 2
Online Session 2 Session 2
Sydney N/A Session 2

Unit Summary

Unit type

PG Coursework Unit

Credit points

12

AQF level

9

Level of learning

Intermediate

Unit aim

Introduces students to the various accounting systems that facilitate internal management planning, decision making and control. Specific attention will be given to such topics as various costing systems and their relevance to the particular firm and the particular industry; the analysis and presentation of data for the solving of specific problems created by such things as departments, branches and the devolution of control; transfer pricing and the particular type of industrial activity undertaken.

Unit content

Topic 1: The role of management accounting and cost terminology
Topic 2: Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis
Topic 3: Product costing - traditional and contemporary
Topic 4: Process costing
Topic 5: Cost allocation and joint product costing
Topic 6: Budgeting
Topic 7: Variance analysis
Topic 8: Strategy, balanced scorecard and quality
Topic 9: Inventory management
Topic 10: Management of decentralised organisations and transfer pricing

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

GA1: , GA2: , GA3: , GA4: , GA5: , GA6: , GA7:
On completion of this unit, students should be able to: GA1 GA2 GA3 GA4 GA5 GA6 GA7
1 discuss the accountant's role in the organisation including management functions and professional ethics and utilise cost-volume-profit relationships as an aid to decision making
2 calculate product/service costs in both job cost and process cost environments including activity-based costing (ABC)
3 discuss various methods of allocating indirect and support department costs and describe current trends occurring in organisations' cost allocation practices, apply alternative approaches to allocating joint costs in a joint-cost environment
4 explain the role of budgets and standards and prepare master budget and explain the concept of standard costing, prepare flexible budgets, and calculate detailed variances
5 recognise which strategies an organisation is using and describe a balanced scorecard approach to manage the implementation of those strategies
6 discuss inventory management, balance ordering costs with carrying costs using EOQ model and use a supply-chain approach to inventory and production management
7 explain responsibility accounting, use transfer pricing in a decentralised organisation, and evaluate different methods used to calculate transfer prices.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. discuss the accountant's role in the organisation including management functions and professional ethics and utilise cost-volume-profit relationships as an aid to decision making
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
    • GA6:
  2. calculate product/service costs in both job cost and process cost environments including activity-based costing (ABC)
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
    • GA6:
  3. discuss various methods of allocating indirect and support department costs and describe current trends occurring in organisations' cost allocation practices, apply alternative approaches to allocating joint costs in a joint-cost environment
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
    • GA6:
  4. explain the role of budgets and standards and prepare master budget and explain the concept of standard costing, prepare flexible budgets, and calculate detailed variances
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
    • GA6:
  5. recognise which strategies an organisation is using and describe a balanced scorecard approach to manage the implementation of those strategies
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
    • GA6:
  6. discuss inventory management, balance ordering costs with carrying costs using EOQ model and use a supply-chain approach to inventory and production management
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
    • GA6:
  7. explain responsibility accounting, use transfer pricing in a decentralised organisation, and evaluate different methods used to calculate transfer prices.
    • GA1:
    • GA2:
    • GA3:
    • GA6:

Prescribed texts

  • Horngren, CT, Datar, SM, Rajan, MV, Wynder, M, Maguire, W & Tan, R, 2014, Cost Accounting - A Managerial Emphasis, 2nd edn, Pearson Australia, Australia. ISBN: 9781442534803 (paperback) - e-text is also available.
Prescribed texts may change in future teaching periods.