Current trends in management accounting seem to focus on the accountant as a strategic partner in the overall success of the business strategy. The continuous evolution of technological advancements surrounding the ability to access financial and operational data on an almost real time basis is a huge asset to the accountant in the strategic partner role.

In this highly competitive business environment, company executives must have access not only to historical data regarding operations but also to predictive data for the future of the businesss needs, such as inventory, raw materials, and costs of labor. Since accounting reports are generally geared toward the guidance of generally accepted accounting principles, which has a primary focus on historical costs and reporting historical events, extra work must be done to obtain and manipulate the information available and useful to the company in terms of future predictability.

In order to resolve this need for duplicative internal work and to make financial reporting more timely, do you believe that generally accepted accounting principles should move more to a fair value and real time type reporting principles needed in a managerial accounting environment rather than historical cost? Why or why not?