- Why managerial accounting matters to you
- How managerial accounting affects different careers
- The role accounting majors play in managerial accounting


[SLIDE 1]

Many students ask the question, "Why does Managerial Accounting matter to my career?"

Managerial Accounting skills are useful in any career, organization, and industry. Companies and organizations need information provided by managerial accounting in order to plan for the future, control current goals to stay on course, and to make informed decisions regarding the directions an organization should take.

Managerial accounting skills make you adaptable for the uncertain future and open up new opportunities in your career.  In order to understand the "why", we will look at three majors in business and discuss how managerial accounting skills relate to each major.


[SLIDE 2]

First, let's look at the relevance of managerial accounting to marketing majors.

Marketing majors are involved in planning, controlling and decision-making activities of organizations.  

Their *planning* activities generally include the areas of sales and advertising.  Some questions would include:<ul>
<li>How many sales territories are we going to divide our business into?</li>
<li>How many salespeople are needed to service each territory?</li>
<li>What type of budget do we need to establish for advertising?</li>
<li>How are we going to market the company products?</li>
</ul>

Their *controlling* activities generally involve supplying information on current goals and monitoring the progress of those goals:<ul>
<li>Are the sales territories divided correctly?</li>
<li>Are the salespeople able to cover their territories appropriately?</li>
<li>Are we advertising through the correct channels?</li>
<li>Are customers being receptive to the current marketing strategies?</li>
</ul>

They also make decisions based on managerial accounting information related to the sales and advertising goals established:<ul>
<li>Should we revise the sales territories?</li>
<li>Do we need to add more salespeople?</li>
<li>Do we need to increase the advertising of products?</li>
<li>Are we selling to the correct customer or should we use a distributor?</li>
</ul>

[SLIDE 3]

Supply Chain Management majors are also involved in planning, controlling and decision-making activities of organizations.  

Their planning activities generally include the areas of product production, getting products to market, and other operations areas of the organization.  Some of the questions would include:<ul>
<li>How should we budget for operating expenses?</li>
<li>What should our production rate be for the next period?</li>
<li>Which products do we need to produce for the next period?</li>
</ul>
Their controlling activities generally involve supplying information on current goals and monitoring the progress of those goals:<ul>
<li>Are we spending too much on repairs and maintenance?</li>
<li>Are we reaching our production goal?</li>
<li>Are we producing the correct products?</li>
</ul>
They also make decisions based on managerial accounting information related to the production and operations goals established:<ul>
<li>Do we need to upgrade equipment?</li>
<li>Should we redesign the production line to be more efficient?</li>
<li>Should we adjust our production schedule to meet consumer demand?</li>
</ul>

[SLIDE 4]

Human Resource Management majors are focused on employee-related activities in an organization.

Some of their questions related to planning would include:<ul>
<li>How should we budget for employee recruitment advertising?</li>
<li>How should we incorporate more safety training?</li>
<li>How should we bring our benefits more in line with other companies?</li>
</ul>
Their controlling activities generally involve supplying information on current goals and monitoring the progress of those goals:<ul>
<li>Are we retaining employees or is turnover high?</li>
<li>Are performance appraisals being done timely?</li>
<li>Are our benefits meeting the needs of our employees?</li>
</ul>
Decision-making questions might include:<ul>
<li>Should we hire temporary or full time employees?</li>
<li>Should we incorporate incentives for employee safety programs?</li>
<li>Should we consider other benefits not offered presently to our employees?</li>
</ul>
We have looked specifically at the marketing, supply chain management, and human resource management areas of organizations, but remember, managerial accounting information can be useful for many other departments as well.


[SLIDE 5]

What about for accounting majors? Well, based on estimates by the Institute of Managerial Accountants (IMA), more than 80% of professional accountants work in *non-public* accounting positions.  Employers in the non-public arena expect accountants to have strong financial accounting skills but they also expect them to be involved in the planning, controlling, and decision making process to help improve the organization's performance. These skills are the basis of managerial accounting.  


[SLIDE 6]

Accounting majors who seek certification increase their credibility, upward mobility, and compensation in the workforce.   They must pass a rigorous professional exam to become certified and earn the right to be know as a "Certified Management Accountant" (CMA).  

The CMA exam is a two-part test that covers all areas of managerial accounting.  The exam content is broken down as follows:

Part 1 consists of Financial Planning, Performance and Control

This includes topics such as:<ul>
<li>Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting</li>
<li>Performance management</li>
<li>Cost management</li>
<li>Internal controls</li>
<li>Professional ethics</li>
</ul>
Part 2 consists of Financial Decision Making

Key topics for Part 2 would include:<ul>
<li>Financial statement analysis</li>
<li>Corporate finance</li>
<li>Decision analysis and risk management</li>
<li>Investment decisions</li>
<li>Professional ethics</li>
</ul>
For more information about becoming a CMA, you can visit the website for the Institute of Managerial Accounting.