Management accountants at WebNews.co.uk can play three key roles in each of the five decisions described in Exercise 1.23: problem solving, scorekeeping and attention directing.
Required 1 Distinguish between the problem-solving, scorekeeping and attention-directing roles of a management accountant at WebNews.co.uk.
2 For each of the five decisions outlined in Exercise 1.23, describe a problem-solving, scorekeeping or attention-directing role. Where possible, provide your own example of an information item that a management accountant could provide for each decision.

Exercise 1.23

WebNews.co.uk is an Internet company. It offers subscribers multiple online services ranging from an annotated TV guide to local-area information on restaurants and cinemas. It has two main revenue sources:

The following decisions were made in the June to October 2023 period:
a June 2023. Decision to raise the monthly subscription fee from £19.95 per month in June 2023 to £24.95 per month in July 2023. The £19.95 fee first applied in December 2022.
b June 2023. Decision to inform existing subscribers that the July 2023 subscription fee would be £24.95.
c July 2023. Decision to upgrade the content of its online services and to offer better Internet mail services.
d October 2023. Demotion of manager of marketing after significant slowing of subscriber growth in accounts and revenues. Results include:

Budgeted amounts (set in June 2023) for the number of subscribers were 140 000 for July 2023, 150 000 for August 2023, and 160 000 for September 2023.
e October 2023. Decision to reduce the monthly subscription fee from £24.95 per month in September 2023 to £21.95 in October 2023.

Required 1 Distinguish between planning decisions and control decisions at WebNews.co.uk.
2 Classify each of the decisions a–e as a planning or a control decision.

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Month/Year Monthly fees from subscribers. Recent data are: Actual monthly fee per subscriber Actual number of subscribers June 2022 28 642 14.95 December 2022 54 813 19.95 June 2023 58 178 19.95 December 2023 86 437 19.95 June 2023 146 581 19.95 Banner advertising fees from companies advertising on WebNews.co.uk page sites. Recent data are: Month/Year June 2022 December 2022 June 2023 December 2023 June 2023 Advertising revenues 400 988 833 158 861 034 1 478 072 2 916 962