亨格瑞管理会计英文第15版练习答案01(14)

查尔斯亨格瑞 管理会计 英文版第15版 北京大学出版社 练习答案01

(10 min.)

When flat fees are being received for different products or services, it is essential for the hospital to have detailed knowledge of the cost of each product or service. Accurate cost information is crucial for decisions regarding which products and services should be

emphasized or de-emphasized. Hospitals will increasingly identify costs by product (type of case), not just by departments. In contrast, when all costs are reimbursed, it is less important to the hospital to know which products or services cause costs, because all costs are reimbursed by someone. Even though reimbursers are concerned about how costs are assigned to products and services, the hospital has less reason to be concerned about assigning costs accurately.

When somebody's money is at stake, accounting systems get more attention.

Accountability is important for many reasons, including justification of prices, cost control, and response to criticisms by stakeholders (whether they be investors, donors, taxpayers, or others). In a survey of 550 hospitals, hospital financial executives said that improved cost accounting systems "are crucial to responding to changes in hospital

payment mechanisms and that better cost information is essential for more profitable and efficient operations."

(10 min.)

Paperwork and systems often seem to become ends in themselves. However, the rationale that should underlie systems design is the cost-benefit philosophy that is implied in the quotation. The aim is for the improvement in revenue and/or reduction in costs due to better decisions to outweigh the costs of the accounting system.

Marks & Spencer should look at each of the management accounting reports it produces with an eye toward how it helps managers make better decisions. Does it provide needed scorekeeping? Does it direct attention to aspects of operations that might need altering? Does it provide information for specific management decisions? These types of questions will help identify the benefit of the information in the report.

Then the company must consider the cost – not just the cost of collecting the data and preparing the reports, but the cost of educating managers to use the information and the cost of the time to read, digest, and act on the information. Too much information may be costly because it makes it time-consuming (and thus costly) to sift through the reams of information to find the few items that are important. An additional cost may be the loss of important information because the total volume of information makes it too difficult to ferret out the important items.