Managerial Accounting

DFW MBA

Managerial Accounting

Segment of ACC 381N

Syllabus

Spring 2010

Professor: Robert G. May

Office: CBA 4M.244

Phone: (512) 471-5155

FAX: (512) 471-3904

E-Mail: bob.may@mccombs.utexas.edu

Class Meeting Times: Per the Class Schedule below

Managerial Accounting Segment Syllabus 2

Course Information

Overview Any organization's long-term competitive success is critically dependent on

(1) its ability to appropriately organize and analyze high-quality information

about its products, services, processes, organizational units, suppliers, and

customers that fits its decision needs, (2) its ability to act [rationally] on that

information, and (3) its ability to control its performance consistent with that

information. The term managerial accounting refers to the set of

information concepts, models and systems that provide this information and

control for managers. This course will introduce you to the modern concepts

of managerial accounting. The main objectives are to:

* Understand how to analyze cost information to support decisions

that are essential for long-term success in a company's

competitive environment.

* Comprehend the conceptual bases for long-run and short-run

managerial decisions and determine what information is relevant

to those decisions.

* Consider the traditional tools and modern methods of

management control and the use and analysis of managerial

accounting information to support control.

Topics The following key topics will be emphasized:

* Budgeting and cash management.

* The limitations of traditional costing systems.

* Activity-based costing.

* Long-run and short-run decision structures.

* Relevant costs and relevant revenues in business decisions.

* Performance evaluation and incentives.

* Decentralization and transfer pricing.

* Management control and control systems.

Teaching

Materials

Teaching materials include a mix of case studies and a textbook.

The textbook is Managerial Accounting, by Ronald W. Hilton, Eighth

Edition, McGraw Hill, 2009.

The staff will distribute a course notebook with cases and slide sets.

Additional teaching materials, homework cases and solutions will be

distributed primarily via Blackboard prior to the relevant class session.

Class

Organization

In this class, we will follow a modified case-method style, which I have

found to be most effective for managers who must learn technical content

and apply it in a managerial context. The modified case method relies

heavily on class participation, but with more guidance through specific

questions than the pure case method.

Managerial Accounting Segment Syllabus 3

Students will be active participants in case discussions, providing summaries

of issues, analyses, and recommendations. To prepare for class, you must

read the assigned readings carefully and understand the techniques described

in them. You also need to carefully read cases assigned for class discussion.

To ensure that everyone is at least familiar with each case, you will submit

before class answers to one or more questions as indicated in the Course

Schedule and Assignments. However, you should also think about all of the

case questions in advance and consider how you would approach them so

that you will be prepared for class discussion and will "learn by doing."

Homework Two sets of cases will be assigned in the class:

1. The first set of cases will be assigned for reading prior to class.

They will be used as part of the teaching process on a particular

topic. In general, we will do such cases with class participation.

You will submit by Midnight Thursday (12:05 AM on Friday) of

each class weekend answers to questions assigned from these cases.

These homework assignments will be graded on a good-faith-effort

basis. Because we will cover them in class that weekend, the

assigned solutions will not be accepted late (barring extenuating

circumstances).

2. The second set of cases will be turned in after the topics are covered

in class. They will typically be due at midnight on Sunday before

each class weekend (12:05 AM Monday). These cases will be

graded on completeness and overall quality of answers. If you miss