Accounting for Decision Making
Overview
In any given organisation, the information generated by accounting systems is of paramount importance to both internal and external stakeholders. Hence, a strong understanding of accounting information is vital to personnel in managerial positions for them to be able to effectively perform their role. Having a good understanding of accounting concepts enables managers to communicate effectively with the finance department, bankers, suppliers, tax authorities, and other stakeholders. It also helps them make wise and informed decisions.
The IIMBx MOOC on Accounting for Decision Making is designed for graduates, entry-level managers, and personnel already serving in managerial positions to provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in Accounting as their roles might demand.
In this IIMBx MOOC, you will familiarise yourself with the relevant terms and concepts, learn to read and understand financial statements as well as develop the capability to analyse business performance through financial statements. You will be able to observe how the performance of any organisation is impacted by four fundamental drivers of profitability: Asset Management, Cost Management, Leverage Management, and Tax Management.
The second part of the MOOC will cover main concepts related to managing costs such as product costing, budgeting, budgetary control, and cost analysis for decision making.
Successfully completing this course will transform you into a confident manager can ably discuss and handle accounting and financial matters in the workplace. For the ones already holding managerial positions, this course can help to move forward in their managerial career and take on senior roles.
Prof. M S Narasimhan
Course Instructor
Finance and Accounting
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)
Course Details
9 weeks
3 - 4 hrs per week
Course Syllabus
Week 1 - Mechanics of Financial Accounting
⦁ Fundamental Accounting Terms
⦁ Recording Accounting Transactions
⦁ Financial Statements
⦁ Financial Accounting Regulations
⦁ Annual Report
⦁ Uses of Financial Statements
Week 2 - Reading Financial Statements
⦁ Balance Sheet – Shareholders Fund
⦁ Balance Sheet –Liabilities
⦁ Balance Sheet – Assets
⦁ Income Statement – Revenue
⦁ Expenses and Profit
⦁ Cash Flow Statement
Week 3 - Financial Statement Analysis
⦁ Assessing Financial Health
⦁ Asset Management
⦁ Cost Management
⦁ Leverage Management
⦁ Risk Management
⦁ Benchmarking
Week 4 - Product Costing
⦁ Methods of Product Costing
⦁ Job Costing
⦁ Customer Costing
⦁ Process Costing
⦁ Indirect Cost and Allocation
⦁ Misallocation of Indirect Cost
⦁ Activity Based Costing
Week 5 - Cost Analysis for Decision Making
⦁ Absorption vs. Marginal Costing
⦁ Behavior of Costs
⦁ Break-even Analysis
⦁ BEP in Multiproduct Environment
⦁ Pricing Decision
⦁ Make or Buy decision
⦁ Discontinuing product or closing down divisions
⦁ Optimal Product Mix
⦁ Operating Leverage
Week 6 - Budgeting and Variance Analysis
⦁ Strategic Planning and Budgets
⦁ Budgeting Process
⦁ Preparation of Master Budget
⦁ Setting Standards
⦁ Variance Analysis: General Framework
⦁ Fixed & Variable Overhead Variance
⦁ Material Mix Variance
⦁ Sales and Sales Mix Variance
⦁ Investigating Variance
Week 7 - Financial Markets
⦁ Introduction
⦁ Financial System
⦁ Institutional Financing
⦁ Direct Capital Flow
⦁ Financial Instruments
⦁ Role of Finance Function
⦁ Key Issues in Finance Function
⦁ Organization Structure of Finance Function
⦁ Financial Goal and Agency Cost
Week 8 - Capital Budgeting
⦁ Time Value of Money
⦁ Capital Budgeting Techniques
⦁ Estimation of Project Cash Flows
⦁ Capital Structure and Cost of Capital
⦁ Case Study
⦁ Special Issues in Capital Budgeting
Week 9 - Working Capital Management
⦁ Short-term Financial Planning
⦁ Working Capital Cycle
⦁ Financing of Working Capital
⦁ Inventory Management
⦁ Receivables Management
⦁ Cash Management
⦁ Managing Payables
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Read and explain the contents of financial statements
- Analyse the financial statements
- Prepare operational and financial budgets
- Apply accounting information to plan and control your business and make decisions
Executives, Students pursuing post graduate and people who are aspiring to develop their skills in the field of managerial accounting.