Week 2
Recall the Week 1 Discussion, “Shared Practice: Financial vs. Managerial Accounting,” where you and your colleagues described the types of decisions that could be made using financial and managerial accounting. Read through your colleagues’ posts and by Day 3 of Week 2, and respond to two or more of your colleagues in one of the following ways:
By Tuesday Respond to Wk1DQ2
Post the following:
· Provide insights or contrasting observations regarding financial and managerial accounting that you gained from reading their posts.
· Offer other examples, based on your experience or research, of when such accounting data was effectively used or when decisions were made without it and explain the results.
· Describe trends you observe from the posts of your colleagues and why those are important.
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Discussion 2 – Week 2
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Shared Practice: Evaluating the Budgeting Process
Budgeting is an important part of an organization’s overall planning. Through budgeting, each part of an organization’s structure can be identified for decision making and control. For example, if the budget shows that one million units are to be sold in the next 3 months, the sales department knows that it must achieve that goal. At the end of the first month, the sales department can determine by looking at the budget if it is on track or not and what decisions it must make to meet the goal. A reasonable budget can allow an organization to allocate resources and provide a plan and direction for the organization. A budget can also help measure performance and ensure that managers are held accountable for their decisions.
To prepare for this Discussion, “Shared Practice: Evaluating the Budgeting Process,” take a moment to think about your organization or an organization you are familiar with. Consider the importance of the budgeting process, forecasting, and strategic planning for informing how the organization operates with regard to decision making.
Note: If you are not in the position where you are involved in budgeting processes, interview either someone in your organization or a professional outside of your organization who can provide you with this information. Be sure to identify the position held by this person in your post.
By Day 5
Post the following:
· Provide an evaluation of how forecasting, strategic planning, and budgeting processes impact your organization.
· Provide 2–3 examples from your professional experience in your current or former organization, or from your interview, to support your position. Be sure to include specific budgeting tools used by the organization.
· Identify the key stakeholders in the budgeting process at the organization and explain how they are involved in the processes.
· Explain how knowledge of forecasting, strategic planning, and budgeting processes might impact your decisions in the organization you currently work for or one that you will work for in the future.
By Day 7
Respond to two or more of your colleagues in one or more of the following ways:
· Comment on the use of budgeting tools and the budgeting process in your colleagues’ various organizations. Support your comments with the resources for the week and additional research.
· Validate an idea presented by a colleague based on your own experience, the resources for the week, and additional research.
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Assignment: Using Performance Reports to Inform Organizational Decisions
Very often, managers are called upon to make decisions “by the numbers.” In this Assignment, you will sort through a budget report from a fictitious organization in order to make decisions about productivity levels. The specific information regarding this organization can be found in the entry titled Week 2 Assignment located in the Doc Sharing link.
For this Assignment, review the Static Budget Report posted in the entry titled Week 2 Assignment located in the Doc Sharing link. Additionally, you may find valuable information in your course text, especially Exercise 6-3.
The Assignment:
· Part 1: Prepare a performance report using spreadsheet software, such as Excel. Hint: Read the Weekly Briefing and watch the Performance Report video on this topic.
· Part 2: For the next section of this Assignment, please utilize a word processing software (such as Word) to complete the following:
· Write a short memo to your supervisor explaining your findings and your recommendations.
· In your memo, as part of your recommendations, take a position on the following: Do all the variances in this example need to be examined? Why or why not?
·
By Day 7
Submit your Assignment (both your Excel and Word files).
Note: Submit your Excel spreadsheet to the Week 2 Assignment Part 1 submission link. Submit your Word document to the Week 2 Assignment Part 2 submission link.
General Guidance on Assignment Length:
The memo portion of this Assignment will typically be 2–3 paragraphs in length as a general expectation/estimate for each bullet point. Refer to the rubric for the Week 2 Assignment for grading elements and criteria for the performance report and the memo. Your Instructor will use the rubric to assess your work.