Changes in Business Affecting Management Accounting You are at the student union having lunch with a friend who is attending law school. In the course of your conversation, you tell your friend that, in contrast to financial accounting or tax accounting, management accounting has “competitive value” and is highly proprietary.

Further, management accounting is more important in business today than ever before, and only those organizations that best control costs and improve quality are competitive. Your friend asks you two questions:

1. What do you mean by “competitive value”?

2. Why is it more important for accountants to provide useful information to management today than it was before?