Hi class, I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to continue onto Unit 2! This week we have our first discussion topic which explores the idea of managerial accountants being likened to the Cowboys of the Wild West. As a management accounting professional, I had not thought of the comparison but relative to the financial reporting environment, the author may have a point! One part of the article reads: "A complicating matter in our Wild West of managerial accounting is there are few if any standards to follow. On the financial accounting side of external compliance accounting there are many rules, including the USA's standards established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) or the emerging International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). And tax authorities have thousands of rules. In contrast, managerial accountants are left to their own devices to define the managerial accounting practices to apply within their own organizations." Preparers of external financial reporting are held accountable in many ways as they need to adhere to relevant accounting standards and other regulatory requirements. The accountability for a management accountant is internal, however, companies have done well with integrating leaders in the business into their processes and best practices are continually being sought out from the leadership level down. Despite finance having ownership over a budget, forecast or long-term business plan, business leaders are being asked what constitutes good information to them (not finance telling them what they should see) and their financial input is being valued rather than solely relying on historical actuals to predict the future. While much of the work in the management accounting sphere comes down to professional judgement, we can agree that what goes out to the end users can certainly affect their decisions. Therefore, what can we do to ensure the highest quality of information goes out to the end user? I look forward to hearing what you all think! Jaylen 320 words Permalink | Show parent | Reply