In a globally competitive organization, everyone understands that long-term profitability is achieved by improving customer satisfaction, not by trying to sell the largest possible quantities of what the accounting system says are the highest-margin products. They understand both the quality imperatives of TQM and the operational imperatives of JIT. Information about customer satisfaction and about variation in processes can move companies continuously closer to achieving the imperatives of competitive excellence. Defining that information and those imperatives is the task that awaits us. How far has management accounting changed to face these challenges?