NCI Courses

• Understanding the role of management accounting in the context of the links between: operations and strategy; the different functions within an organisation; various stakeholder groups and the organisation’s environment • The importance of the contribution of management accounting to the formulation of policies, plans, and performance monitoring as part of management decision making • Consideration of the various roles of management accounting in profit and not-for-profit organisations • Business ethical issues and management accounting

• The role of budgets as part of strategic planning • Budgets as an integral part of a Business Plan for organisations of various sizes and at different stages of development • The interrelationships between the various functional budgets and the economic environment • Sources of information for preparing and updating budgets • Examining the qualitative aspects of the budgeting process including human subjectivity and the need for assumptions • Sensitivity analysis based on the applicability/non-applicability of various assumptions

• Using flexed budgets and variance analysis for identifying and diagnosing problems • Advanced variance analysis including mix and yield variances • Reconciling budgeted and actual performance using absorption and variable cost approaches • In-depth analysis of divergences from plans and the generation of possible solutions to deal with problems in various organisational settings • Divisional performance measurement including consideration of divisions within different organisations and issues such as transfer pricing and taxation

• Understanding the context of decisions for organisations with varying objectives, and for firms of different sizes and operating in various sectors • Applying marginal costing techniques in decision making to include multi-product analysis and consideration of the degree of operating gearing etc. • Application of relevant costing principles in decision making to include outsourcing, sub-contracting, continue to trade, pricing decisions etc. • Use of various techniques including graphical approaches and linear programming to deal with scarce resources and limiting factors • The value of perfect information in reducing uncertainty • Consideration of the distinction between risk and uncertainty • Applying various methods to estimate the amount of risk and to incorporate uncertainty in the decision making process including the use of probabilities / expected values, decision trees, the learning curve, high-low methods, ‘maximin’ and ‘maximax’ techniques etc.

• The history of management accounting • Criticisms of management accounting practice • Emerging issues in management accounting • Issues in management accounting research

This module will be delivered through a combination of class-based lectures and practical workshops. Case study material will be incorporated into lectures. The case studies and practical examples will be discussed and worked through during the practical workshops