Analytical accounting and management control

Duration

40h Th, 20h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Didier Van Caillie

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The "Cost Accounting and Management Control" course presents the fundamentals of cost accounting, management accounting, and management control needed to understand how an organization measures, manages, and controls its costs, and how it translates this information into an effective control system, through 11 concrete theoretical questions divided into 4 topics.

In its first part, this course presents in detail the main techniques of internal accounting or management accounting and shows the value of using them in a decision-making perspective.

In its second part, it presents the characteristics of the management control systems used in organizations, and outlines the main techniques and means specific to results-based control, action-based control and personal control.

More specifically, after introducing the specific features of management accounting and defining the main terms and concepts involved, this course first looks at the accumulation of costs with a view to the relevant measurement of profits in the company, then presents various techniques for managing accounting information from a decision-making perspective (cost-volume-profit analyses, activity and process accounting, profitability analyses, pricing decisions and accounting decision-making under conditions of risk and uncertainty).

In its third part, this course presents the characteristics of an effective and efficient management control system, and focuses on the various techniques used within organizations to ensure that they are well managed on a day-to-day basis. Particular attention is paid to results-based control techniques (accounting, financial and organizational approaches), action-based control techniques (organizational and production management approaches) and individual control techniques (motivational mechanisms).

This course adopts a learning-by-doing pedagogy. From week to week, students progress in the acquisition of theoretical concepts via podcasts, slides and written supports. They apply this theory in practice to a small business chosen from their close environment, which they study in groups of no more than 5 students, and discover the reality of its cost and management accounting and control methods. The progress of each group is monitored on an ongoing basis.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

This course intends to meet the ILOs such as defined for this course in the program of "Bachelor in Business Engineering", i.e.

Strategy :
The course will allow students to establish a strategy in order to optimize the value chain of a company, an organization or a project.
- based on the analysis of its financial and economic context
- taking into account its scientific and technological context
- demonstrating  scientific precision and a critical mind
Implementation :
The course will allow students to take charge of the everyday management of a company, an organization or a project
- analyzing his managerial practice with a critical and ethical mind
Quality and Performance Control :
The course will allow students to plan and implement the performance and quality control in a company, an organization or a project
- using the appropriate analytical tools
Adaptability :
The course will allow students to adapt their managerial practice to the needs of a fast-evolving world
- showing curiosity and a scientific precision of academic level
- showing creativity, autonomy.

More specifically, it insists particularly on the following aspects :

• Ability to master the fundamentals of cost and management accounting.
• Ability to master the principles and the fundamentals of financial and organisational management control.
• Ability to apply the concepts and techniques considered during the course to a practical case and to design an action plan in order to optimize its cost structure and to maximize its security margin

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

General accounting.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Learning method: learning by doing

Theory :
- Business modeling: 9 h
- Cost and management accounting: 21 h
- Organizational and financial controlling: 10 h

Case study (in groups of no more than 4 students):
- From week to week, based on the analysis of a real case study of a small business (less than 10 FTE) chosen from their immediate environment, students provide precise, documented answers to a series of questions covering the 11 themes covered in the course: 20 h

- Personal work on the case study: 20 h.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Blended learning


Further information:

The theoretical course is mainly delivered via distance learning to allow the case study to be carried out progressively and with flexibility, while the 11 theoretical sessions are made available in the form of podcasts.

The case study is carried out at home for the "analysis" part and at the company for the "observation and information gathering" part.



 

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Van Caillie D. (2005) : Principes de comptabilité analytique et de comptabilité de gestion, Liège : Editions de l'Université de Liège - 2ème édition, 242 p. (it will be published in an electronic format on the Campus website section for this course)
Merchant K, Van der Stede W. (2011) : Management control systems - Performance measurement, evaluation and incentives, Prentice Hall, 2nd Edition, Chapters 1 to 10
+ additional supports available on the Lola platform : http://lola.hec.uliege.be/course/view.php?id=129

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )


Further information:

Evaluation

Written exam:

- Theory: 50% of final grade

- In-company case study: 50% of final grade

Written report presenting the case and group defense of this report: 35 points

Continuous assessment of individual involvement and individual responses to oral questions: 15 points.

The written exam is taken in class.



Report = Written report (25 pages of content, exluding cover page, summary, appendix) presenting the process implemented and the results (= answers to the questions asked) of the practical company study carried out in group.






 

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

All the supports that are necessary are available on your Lola platform.

Contacts

Professor Didier Van Caillie, d.vancaillie@uliege.be

Assistant : Mrs Louise Colling, louise.colling@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs

Items online