Improve your managerial accounting knowledge by taking a course.
Whether you want to sit for the CPA exam, start a business consulting career, or just delve into your employer's finances, knowing managerial accounting concepts may boost your success. This subject helps you understand current business performance and set a strategic vision for the future.
To achieve your goals, you can take an individual course or enroll as part of a full degree program. Find business schools with programs to meet your needs! Apply today!
Some confusion exists on financial accounting versus managerial accounting. The simplest explanation is that financial accounting delivers standardized facts to external shareholders and regulators, whereas managerial accounting provides details for confidential internal use.
Managerial accounting is also known as cost accounting because it measures how well a company is spending its money. Managerial accounting concepts apply to manufacturing, service businesses and consultant-based operations. Managerial accounting courses traditionally focus on:
- The difference between confidential internal data and publicly reported information.
- The strategic partnership between organization managers and the accounting department.
- How to carry out management accounting research.
- How to interpret and prepare forward-looking financial statements and operating budgets.
- How to conduct activity-based costing, cost control practices and cost volume profit analysis.
- How to assess the performance of the organization, including the time value of money and rates of return.
- How to identify, measure and manage certain risks to increase long-term competitiveness.
- How to make decisions based on general information instead of specific cases.
- How to evaluate areas such as operational efficiency, departmental bottlenecks, employee performance and customer satisfaction.
You have several options when choosing a continuing education course in managerial accounting:
- You can sign up for college-level credit, or you can audit a non-credit class. The price varies based on which option you choose and which school you attend. Keep in mind that, if you want to sit for the Certified Management Accounting or Certified Public Accountant exams, you must earn college credit to meet the managerial accounting education requirements.
- You can enroll in a full degree program or just take a single course. Be aware that many colleges require students to take a financial accounting course before letting them enroll in managerial accounting.
- You can register for a traditional or accelerated course. Traditional college courses last 12 to 15 weeks. Accelerated courses generally range from five to 10 weeks. The two formats have a comparable amount of homework, so you may want to save the condensed course for when you need a refresher, or when you have ample time to study.
- You can take on-campus or online courses. Classroom learning often benefits someone who struggles with the subject. On the other hand, distance learning can accommodate the busy work schedules of adult learners.
When you are ready to register for a managerial accounting course, Reply! can help you compare options. By understanding why you are taking the class and what outcomes you want to achieve, you can find the right school to meet your needs.
Photo credit: A printing calculator by Tracy O via Compfight CC could be used in managerial accounting.