NUS Business School

National University of Singapore

BMA5005_P1 – Management Accounting, AY2014/2015

Part-time MBA Group: 6PM-9PM

Course Outline

Instructor: Adjunct Assistant Professor Deon Chan

Office: BIZ2 #02-15

Email:

Consultation Hours: By 3 working days’ advance appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course is to equip students as managers on the use of accounting information internally in

managing an organisation. Students will gain an understanding of the information needed by

managers in planning, control and decision-making. The course will cover topics such as cost

concepts and cost behaviour, costing systems, budgeting, performance analysis, and relevant costs in decision-making.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The course will equip the students with the understanding of managerial accounting concepts, methods and uses. The primary objectives of the course are to:

-  Help students develop a good understanding of the accounting concepts and mechanisms underlying managerial accounting information so that they can utilize the information for planning, controlling and decision-making purposes in business.

-  Train students in managerial accounting tools and techniques so that they can analyse and evaluate company’s performance.

-  Provide students with a broad range of real corporate examples with realistic business and managerial accounting practices.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Main Textbook

Managerial Accounting for Managers, Noreen E, P Brewer and R Garrison, 3rd Edition, by McGraw Hill (Bundled with Connect Access Card).

Supplementary Readings will be handed out during classes or posted to IVLE.

Course materials (lecture notes, discussion problems, project materials, etc) will be posted periodically on IVLE.

MODULE WEBSITE:

The module BMA5005_P1 is set up in IVLE. You need to access the IVLE at least weekly before the lecture to download the lecture materials and look out for announcements.

CLASS SESSION

Class sessions will consist of lecture presentations combined with student presentations and discussion.

Punctuality, courtesy & absenteeism: Please arrive PUNCTUALLY. Students whom are absent without valid reasons will be taken note of and participation marks would be deducted. Please switch your mobile to silent mode during the class.

LECTURE

For lecture, major points of a topic are covered. Lecture notes will be uploaded to IVLE before the start of class each week. Students are advised to quick read the lecture notes and the chapters of the recommended textbook (refer to the lecture plan below) before class each week. Additional readings assigned as and when would also be uploaded to IVLE before each lecture.

CLASS PARTICIPATION (10%)
Please participate during the case discussions and lessons actively. Marks will be given for class participations. Please participate by asking questions, answering questions posed by lecturer and fellow students, offering opinions, relating material taught to your working experiences, commenting on presented solutions to assignments.

INDIVIDUAL TUTORIAL (20%)

The purpose of the tutorial assignment is to help you to practice the accounting concepts and mechanisms, and apply them to the questions. This is key part of the learning. All students are expected to complete the tutorial questions before the due date.

The tutorials will be administered using Connect Online platform using the Connect Access Card where you can access the tutorial questions and key in your solutions. There will be auto-marking by the system and the lecturer concurrently. Please complete the tutorial questions before the lecture timing. Late submission will not be considered for grading and zero mark will be granted.

You can discuss the tutorial questions in your group. However, all submission of the assignment is on an individual basis via Connect. Each student is required to submit the tutorial.

GROUP CASES (20%)

A group will be assigned to present the solutions of the group cases, while the other students are expected to contribute to the discussion of the answers. Due to time constraint, sometimes not all the questions can be discussed during the class, by which, the suggested solutions will be uploaded by the instructor for self-checking. The grading will be based on the solutions submitted and the presentation. The presentation slides should be uploaded to the student’s workbin before the lecture by 12noon. Please submit by the deadline stated. Grading will be based on clarity, conciseness and correctness of your analysis. Details on the cases will be provided later.


The rest of the class is expected to prepare the assignment and participate actively in the discussion of the cases. Participation marks would be given.

FINAL TEST (50%)

The final test is an open-book, open-notes test. All materials covered during the semester in lectures, presentations, assignments, assigned readings and group project are examinable. All University-approved calculators are permitted. Any other electronic and mobile devices e.g. laptop, smartphones and mobile phones are not allowed.

EVALUATION

Your final grade will be determined on the following basis:

Final Test 50%

Individual Tutorial 20%

Group Case Presentation 20%

Class participation 10%

100%

Lecture Plan
Lecture / Week / Date / Topic / Readings* / Tutorial
1 /
8 / 7 Oct / Cost Concepts / Noreen Ch 2
Cost-Volume-Profit Relationships / Noreen Ch 3 / 1
2 /
9 / 14 Oct / Overview of Job Order, Absorption and Variable Costing / Noreen Ch 4 & part of 5 (p162-166) /
1
3 / 10 / 21 Oct / Activity-Based Costing / Noreen Ch 6 / 1
Budgeting / Noreen Ch 9 / 2
4 / 11 / 28 Oct / Performance Analysis / Noreen Ch 10 / 2
Standard Costing / Noreen Ch 11 / 2
5 /
12 / 4 Nov / Decision Making & Course Wrap Up / Noreen Ch 7 /
2
Group Case Presentations
6 / 13 / 11 Nov / Group Case Presentations
14 / 21 Nov (Fri) / Final Test (6-8pm)

*- For supplementary readings for the lecture, please download from IVLE.

Advisory

Students who have limited work exposure to managerial accounting or business finance background are likely to find it challenging at the beginning. This is because this will be a new language with its own unique terminology, concepts and rules, hence time and efforts are needed to familiarize with them. Do not give up.

Work hard and hope you will have an enjoyable learning experience equipping you with the knowledge to the accounting world.

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