Management accounting refers to the process of identifying costs within an organization with regard to processes that influence inventions, operations, savings, and decision-making. Management accounting plays a pivotal role in influencing the ability of an organization to develop effective budgets, identify sources of its various costs, and facilitate the effective allocation of funds towards various projects. Management accountants have numerous roles to play within an organization.
First, they are responsible for managing organizational assets by determining various compensation and benefits packages. This involves establishing the amount of revenue a company generates within a specific period, and determining the number of benefits to be paid out to employees, shareholders, and other organizational stakeholders. Second, management accountants are responsible for maintaining monetary records and ensuring effective communication of financial information. This involves ensuring that the activities of various departments in an organization are well coordinated in order to guarantee a constant flow of information. All organizational stakeholders should receive reports on the financial situation of an organization regularly from management accountants. Other notable roles of management accountants in an organization include handling taxes, aiding in strategic planning, and budgeting.
The most important role of management accountants in an organization is budgeting. Budgets act as a guide for organizations with regard to the way resources are allocated and spent. In addition, budgeting helps organizations in maximizing profits by fixing various forms of expenditure incurred in business operations. This means that management accountants should review the expenditure history of an organization during the budgeting process. This helps in improving the effectiveness of strategic plans developed with regard to minimizing costs and maximizing profits. The main difference between management accounting and financial accounting is that the former mainly deals with managing financial information for use within an organization, while the latter deals with information for use outside an organization. Another difference is that financial accounting is a legal requirement for every organization because it assesses the whole organization, while management accounting is optional because it focuses on specific elements or products within an organization.