亨格瑞管理会计英文第15版练习答案01(18)

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

Accountants become the information experts in many companies. In a company such as Marmon, with its varied subsidiaries, the accounting system provides a link

between the various operating companies. The accountants provide information about the operations of an individual unit, and they also show how the units fit together as parts of the Marmon Group.

Management accountants should work together with managers to determine what information the managers would find useful. Then the accountants should help devise systems to produce that information, provided that its value is greater than its cost. As such, management accountants are information consultants to managers. Decisions are still the domain of managers, but the accountants provide advice to help managers make better decisions.

Accountants have sometimes been viewed as “corporate cops,” staff members who reported on the failings of managers. They were primarily scorekeepers, but when the score showed something awry, they became informants - carriers of bad news to corporate headquarters. Managers resented them. But today, good management

accountants are allies of managers. They provide information that helps managers make better decisions, which makes the managers look good. Everyone is better off when management accountants focus on providing the information that aids management decisions.

To be effective internal consultants, accountants must have a background in accounting and information systems. In addition, they must have knowledge of all the functions of business and all the areas of the value chain.