Management Accounting Systems & Techniques

UnitNumberandTitle Unit 5 – Management Accounting L-4
ProjectTitle Management Accounting Systems & Techniques
SubmissionFormat:
Project Guidelines:
 The submission must be in the specific format(s) as specified in the project brief
instructions. This could be a variety of formats such as report, essay, presentation,
poster etc.
 The project must be submitted in a MS Word© format, or equivalent.
A PDF submission will be classed as a Non-Submission
 Use a standard report or essay structure (if specified), word-process the report and use
Learners Declaration: I certify that the work submitted for this unit is my own
and the research sources are fully acknowledged.
Learners Signature:
Date:
Plagiarism:
Any act of plagiarism will be seriously dealt with according to the colleges and
awarding bodies’ regulations. In this context the definition and scope of plagiarism are
presented below:
Plagiarism is presenting someone’s work as your own. It includes copying information
directly from the web or books without referencing the material; submitting joint
coursework as an individual effort; copying another student’s coursework; stealing
coursework form another student and submitting it as your own work. Suspected
plagiarism will be investigated and if found to have occurred will be dealt with
according to the college procedure. (For further details please refer to 5.j.i the
Academic Misconduct policy and procedure; 5.j.ii Academic Misconduct Student Guide;
5.n.v Plagiarism Student Handbook, all available on HELP.)

a normal script of font size 10 to 11. Line spacing 1.5. Pages should be numbered and
include a Table of Contents where appropriate.
 The overall word limit of 3,000 to 3,500 words is recommended, although you will not
be penalised for exceeding the word count.
 Complete the title page and sign the statement of authenticity (see above). These
details should be included in the front page of your project.
 All work should be comprehensively referenced and all sources must be fully
acknowledged, such as books and journals, websites (include the date of visit), etc.
 Include a References/Bibliography at the end of the project. Use the Harvard
referencing system.
 In order to Pass you need to address all pass criteria.
 In order to get a Merit you need to address all the merit criteria along with pass criteria.
 In order to get a Distinction you need to address all the distinction criteria along with
pass and merit criteria.
 Use a common structure in writing, for example:
 Introduction (analyse the question.)
 Underpinning Knowledge (write about the relevant theory/points)
 Applied knowledge (Application to a business scenario and supported by
applicable data)
 Conclusions and Recommendations (summarizing the whole scenario keeping in
view pass, merit, distinction criteria.)
Where you are required to select an organisation please ensure you use your selected
organisation(s) to provide context and application of knowledge wherever required. Information
about your organisation must be supported by actual evidence with in-text citations and
references for the sources of information. General statements that could apply to any
organisation should be avoided.
Resubmission
A resubmission opportunity Is available to any student that has a referral or did not submit in the
first submission period. When resubmitting changes made to the project should reflect feedback
received. The entire project should be uploaded and not just referred sections/tasks. If referred
on 2nd submission this may lead to retaking the project with full attendance and payment of
course fees.
UnitLearningOutcomes:
 LO1-Demonstrate an understanding of management accounting systems.
 LO2-Apply a range of management accounting techniques
 LO3-Explain the use of planning tools used in management accounting
 LO4-Compare ways in which organisations could use management accounting to respond
to financial problems
ProjectBriefandGuidance:
Learners need to have read carefully the instructions before attempting any of the questions.
The project is to be addressed with reference to the scenario addressing all learning
outcomes. The learners will be assessed through the written report submitted by them
addressing the Pass, Merit and Distinction criteria.Contribution: 100% of the module.
Scenario 1

Management accounting plays a key role in organizations today and therefore decision
makers in the organization must understand how to create and use good management
accounting information. In today’s business environment, business wants to track
performance information that goes beyond just the cost-based information of historic general
ledger systems provided by traditional financial accounting information. Good management
accounting involves responsibility to manage a wide variety of critical management
accounting information using management accounting system and management accounting
techniques such as cost-volume- profit (break- even) analysis, budgetary control, cash
budget, marginal costing and absorption costing to produce relevant management reports for
informed decision making.
You are applying to work as a TraineeManagement Accountant in a medium sized financial
consultancy organization that has a client base of 50 small and medium-sized business. The
consultancy firm has a new client – Capital Joinery Ltd., which makes a wide variety of joinery,
made-to-measure doors, windows etc. The owners of this medium-sized organization have
approached the consultancy firm to seek advice on how they could possibly use management
accounting systems to improve their financial performance.
As part of the hiring process for new employees, the consultancy firm wants all applicants to
produce a report demonstrating their knowledge and application of management accounting
tools and techniques. You are required to write a report for the new client that critically
evaluates how management accounting systems and management accounting reporting is
integrated within organisational processes and evaluates how planning tools for accounting
respond appropriately to solving financial problems to lead organisations to sustainable
success
Guidance
Your critical evaluation must include an explanation of management accounting and the
requirements of different types of management accounting systems along with an explanation
of the different methods used for management accounting reporting. Furthermore, your
report should evaluate the usefulness of using management accounting systems and its
application in an organization.
In evaluating planning tools, you must explain the advantages and disadvantages of different
planning tools and an analysis of how these tools can be used and applied for preparing
budgets and forecasts. You must also include a comparison of how organisations are
adapting management accounting systems to respond to financial problems along
with an analysis of how adapting these systems can help the organization to
achieve sustainable success.
Scenario 2
Based on your report in relation to scenario 1 the firm has now hired you as a Trainee
Management Accountant. Your line manager now wishes to assess your ability to produce
financial reports that accurately apply and interpret data for a range of business activities
Guidance
The report must demonstrate your ability to calculate costs using appropriate techniques of
cost analysis to prepare an income statement using marginal and absorption costing
techniques(See Appendix 1). After appropriately applying a range of management
accounting techniques, you should also include appropriate financial reporting documents and
interpret the data in the report for a range of business activities. In your report, you must
show a comparison of how organisations are adopting management accounting systems to
respond to financial problems. The report also requires you to analyse how management
accounting tools can be adopted by organisations to respond to financial problems(See
Appendix 1, Tables 1 and 2).
The module will be assessed and graded against the Pass, Merit and Distinction
criteria as specified in the assessment grid below issued by the awarding body,
Pearson Edexcel.