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Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Management Accounting for Decision Making
Module Code AC115 (ITS) / ACC1000 (Banner)
Faculty DCU Business School School DCU Business School
Module Co-ordinatorBarbara Flood
Module TeachersJohn Nolan
NFQ level 6 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
Repeat examination
Description

The aim of the module is to develop business students' understanding of the role of management accounting in organisations. More specifically it will develop students' competence to use management accounting information for planning, performance evaluation, decision making and costing activities within organisations.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain how management accounting supports the management team of an organisation in the activities of planning, performance evaluation, decision-making and costing.
2. Describe the budgeting process and prepare basic budgets.
3. Ascertain the role of accounting information in evaluating the performance of organisations and produce basic variance analysis.
4. Be able to use the simple technique of break even analysis and Cost Volume Profit Analysis (CVP) to assess how sensitive profit is to various factors.
5. Be able to explain the purpose and process of product costing and compute basic product costs.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture20Management Accounting for Decision Making
Seminars4Questions on lecture Material
Independent Study101Review of lecture material; practice questions using online tool; preparation for tutorials; preparation for exam
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Introduction to management accounting
Nature, purposes and origins of management accounting; management accounting principles; responding to the challenges of the business environment; relationship with financial accounting and with other disciplines and business functions; organisational role of the management accountant.

Cost terms and concepts
Nature of cost; cost objects; cost classifications for product costing, planning, control and decision making.

Cost Volume Profit (CVP) Analysis
The elements of profit; contribution margin; breakeven point; target profit; sensitivity analysis; multi-product scenarios; usefulness and limitations of the model.

Planning
Nature of budgets; budget period; budget setting process; preparation of functional budgets and cash budgets; flexing the budget.

Performance evaluation
The role of budgets and the budgetary process in performance evaluation; comparison of actual to flexible budget; basic analysis of variance; benefits and limitations of budgets; behavioural considerations; balanced scorecard.

Product costing
The need for product costs for external reporting purposes; the process of determining product costs with a focus on activity based costing systems.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment20% Examination Weight80%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Completion of online activityCompletion of two separate online assessments: one between week one and week seven, the other between week eight and week 12.20%Every Week
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List

  • McLaney and Atrill: 2016, Accounting and Finance: an Introduction, ebook, Pearson, 9781292088303
Other Resources

None

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