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What type of report is submitted by the observer upon encountering enemy activly tohigher headquaters through the most secure means?
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of using industrialized building systems?
well i don't know for factory building but after building it the cons are: damages the environment by polluting the air,water.chemicals they use cause cancer and other health concerns very noisy, smells bad, produces a lot of waste and can cause the air and water and soil toxic ,dangerous work atmosphere.pros are: makes about everything you use such as -electrons -food-clothes-ex ,employs millions ,creates jobs available for almost everyone in the neighbour hood, makes good productive equipment and goods, raises the economy, neighbour hood get cheaper products.
Differentiate between standard costing budgetary control?
LESSON 6:BUDGETARY CONTROL AND STANDARD COSTINGLearning ObjectivesAfter studying this chapter you should be able to Understand· Budgetary control· Standard costingStandard CostingIntroductionFrom Management's point of view, "What a product shouldhave costed" is more important than."What it did cost".Managers are constantly comparing their product cost with"What it should have costed". Reasons for deviations arerigorously analyzed and responsibilities are promptly fixed.Thus, "what a product should have costed" is a question ofgreat concern to management for improvement of costperformance. A scientific answer to this problem, i.e.,an answerbased on reasons and consequences, is developed by use ofstandard costing. Standard Costing is a managerial device, todetermine efficiency and effectiveness of cost performance. Firstof all, we briefly discuss different terms to be used in thislesson.Standard. It' is a predetermined measurable quantity set indefined conditions.Standard cost:- Standard cost is a scientifically predeterminedcost, which is arrived at assuming a particular level of efficiencyin utilization of material, labour, and indirect services. CIMAdefines standard cost as "a standard expressed in money. It isbuilt up from an assessment of the value of cost elements. Itsmain uses are providing bases for performance measurement,control by exception reporting, valuing stock and establishingselling prices."Standard cost is like a model, which provides basis of comparisonfor actual cost. This comparison of actual cost withstandard cost reveals very useful information for cost vontrol.Standard cost has also been referred to as cost plan for a singleunit. Cost plan will give element-wise outline of what theproduct cost should be according to management's thinking.This thinking is not merely an estimate or guess work. It isbased on certain assumed conditions of efficiency, economicand other factors. Standard cost is primarily used for following:-· Establishing budgets· Controlling costs and motivating and measuring efficiencies.· Promoting possible cost reduction.· Simplifying cost procedures and expediting cost reports· Assigning cost to materials, work-in-process and finishedgoods inventories.· Forms basis for establishing bids and contracts and forsetting selling prices.Standard Costing. According to CIMA (London), "standardcosting is a control technique which compares standard costsand revenues with actual results to obtain variances which areused to stimulate improved Performance." Use of standardcosting is not confined to industries having repetitive processesand homogeneous products only. This technique has establishedthe advantages of its use in industries havingnon-repetitive processes like manufacture of automobile,turbines, boilers and heavy electrical equipment.Standarcd Costing and Estimated Cost:- following are thepoints of difference between standard cost and estimated cost.1. Scientific Determination:- standard cost is scientificallydetermined. It means considerable amount of time andenergy is spent to decide how a task should be accomplishedand what resources it should consume. Estimated cost is notscientifically determined. It is based on past data relating toproduct, which is adjusted according to anticipated changesin future.2. Representation of Management's View: standard costrepresents management vies of efficient operation andrelevant expenditure. For this reason, standard cost ensures aparticular efficiency in utilization of material, labour andindirect services. The idea of efficiency does not dominatedetermination of estimated cost.3. Different Aims: "What a product cost should be" and"What a product cost will be" point towards the twodifferent attitudes, that dictate determination of standardcost and estimated cost.4. Usage of Control:- Standard cost primarily helpsmanagement in controlling cost performance. For thisreason, precision efficiency and analysis become importantingredients of standard cost determination.Limitations of Historical Costing1. Data does not provide yardstick of comparison for actualcost.2. Data is made available too late to correct inefficiencies that arecausing costs to go out of limits.3. Data does not provide motivation to employees to strive foraccomplishment of there objectives.4. Data provides insufficiently for budgeting, planning,decision-making and price quotation.These limitations of historical costing are primarily responsiblefor advent and wide usage of standard costing.Standard Costing and Budgetary ControlBudgetary control and standard costing are two different terms.These techniques are complementary to each other. These areinterrelated techniques, but these techniques are not interdependent.Standard costing is introduced primarily to ascertainefficiency and effectiveness of cost performance. Budgetarycontrol is introduced to state in figures an approved plan of22 11.269© Copy Right: Rai UniversityADVANCED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTINGaction relating to a particular period both standard costing andbudgetary control have to following common features:1. Both have common object of improving managerial control.2. Both techniques are based on the presumption that cost iscontrollable.3. In both the techniques results of comparison are analyzedand reported to management.Despite these common features these are two different techniques.The points of difference are summarized as follows:-1. Denote Different Ideas. Standard costing denotes a unitidea. It outlines, what a unit should cost. Standard costprovides a cost plan for a unit whereas budget denotes a"total idea". The statement clearly explains the difference;"Budgeted cost of material is Rs. 1,000/-, if 10,000 units areproduced at a standard cost of Re.1/-each".2. Different aims- Budget seeks to lay down a monetary limitof expenses, which should not be normally exceeded. If thislimit is exceeded the actual profit will fall short of budgetedprofit. Standard costing seeks to procure efficient utilizationof material, labour and indirect services3. Different scope- Budgets are laid down for all functions ofan organisation like production, purchase, selling anddistribution and research and development. Standard costingrelates primarily to one function i.e., production. It mainlydeals with manufacturing cost only4 Treatment of Income and Expenditure:- budgetpreparation considers both income and expenditure, whereasuse of standard costing is mainly confined to expenditureonly.5. Difference in Treatment of Variance:- in practical life,budget are taken to be the monetary ceiling. Often efforts aredirected to see that budgets are not exceeded, because failureto be in budgetary limit will call for detailed explanation tohigher management. In standard costing, variances aresubjected to microscopic view with reference to causes andincidence. All distinct deviation are reported to highermanagement6. Different Function:- Budgetary control desrescribes amonetary limit which, if adhered to will keep the businessout of financial crisis. Standard costing emphasizes aparticular efficiency in utilization of input resources. It mayhighlight new areas forAdvantages of Standard Costing1. Use of standard costing leads to optimum utilization ofmen, material, and resource.2. Its use provides a yardstick for comparison of actual costperformance.3. Only distinct deviation is reported to management. Thus, ithelps application of the principle of "management byexception".4. It is very useful to management in discharging functions, likeplanning, control, and decision-making and price fixation.5. It creates an atmosphere of cost consciousness.6. It motivates workers to strive for accomplishment ofdefined targets. It precipitates an attitude that is conducive toefficiency.7. It highlights areas, where probe promise improvement.8. Its introduction leads to simplification of procedures andstandardization of products.9. Its introduction enables the management to reduce timerequired for preparation of reports for pricing, control orquotation.10.Its use enables to find out the cost of finished goodsimmediately after completion.11.If standard costing is used, stock ledgers can be kept interms of quantities only. This eliminates much clerical effortin pricing, balancing and posting on stores ledger cards.12.Its use may encourage action for cost reduction.Limitations of Standard Costing: -Standard costing is very good system, but it should be givingregard to following limitation:1. Establishment of standards may demand a lot of skill,imagination and experience. If all factors are not in harmony,desired result will not be forthcoming.2. Variance analysis is useful, whereas deviation are linked withresponsibilities. Sometimes, it is difficult to fix responsibility,because the result happens to be outcome of a number ofcontributory factors.3. Standards should correspond to current conditions for bestresults. Current conditions change very rapidly. Revision ofstandard is a costly exercise and leads to a lot of associatedproblems. For this reason revision of standards may getignored. This delay may be disastrous for effectiveness of thesystem.4. It is difficult to use standard costing, when workingconditions do not permit standardization of materialcontents, labor contents or the use of indirect servicesrelating to different jobs, processes and services.5. Lack of interest by appropriate level of management rendersthe use of standard costing ineffective.6. Isolating the Controllable and uncontrollable elements ofvariances is a very difficult exercise and this difficulty restrictsthe application of standard costing.7. Sometimes, use of standard costing creates adversepsychological effects, if standards are set at a high level.Preliminaries to Establishment ofStandardsBefore standard cost for different elements of cost is determined,management must take decisions about the following:1. Length of period of use. First of all decision is to bearrived at, relating to a period, for which standards will beused. According to this decision, management will decide touse current standard, basic standard or normal standard.This decision is the starting point for establishment orstandards.2. Types of standards to be used. It means that managementshould decide how tight or looses standards ought to be.© Copy Right: Rai University11.269 23ADVANCED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTINGPolicy of management will help to take this decision. If costreduction is the aim, a tight standard will be choice ofmanagement. Similarly, if pricing decision and planning theexpenditure is the aim of management, standardscorresponding to the current conditions will be the choice ofmanagement.3. Review of existing procedures. The existing procedureshould be subjected to review, because some activities mayhave to be routinised and wastages, rejections and losses mayhave to be standardized. This review will call for a completestudy of technical and operational aspects of organization.4. Classification of accounts. The existing accounts manualin an organisation may not be sufficient to comply with therequirements of cost collection, cost analysis and variancereporting. For this reason, existing accounts manual mayhave to be suitably adapted to meet the requirements. Thismay call for a change in existing classification of heads ofaccounts.5. Review of existing coding system. The existing codingsystem is subjected to review to adapt it to introduction ofstandard costing. This change may demand orientation ofexisting coding system.Factors Interfering with the Successfuluse of Standard CostingSome of the factors, which tend to interfere with the successfuluse of standard costing, are summarized below:1. Some companies have well-developed standard cost plans forproduct costing. Still they make little use of standard costingfor managerial purposes. One valve manufacturing concernhad been collecting labour cost variance by departments forseveral years and yet they did not know what to do withthem. When a discussion of these variances took place withthe foreman of the department in which the variancesoccurred, the cost accountant could not believe that he hadignored these variances for control purposes2. Some standards are out-of-date or unreliable. They are not,therefore, taken seriously.3. Reports are not made in terms which managementunderstands. Using technical cost accounting terminologywill not help executives having a production or salesbackground.4. Changing conditions made it necessary to revise standardsmore often. Many firms do not do this.5. Sometimes it is difficult for management to make effectiveuse of standards, since it is difficu1t to determine the sourcesof variances. When these sources are eventually discovered somuch time has elapsed since they occurred that themanagerial effectiveness of control is lost.Special use of Standard CostingThe use of standard costing is fast growing as an effectivetechnique of cost accountancy. Its special uses are discussedunder following headings:1. Adds to managerial effectiveness and efficiency. It is notenough for a manager to be effective. He has to be efficient aswell. Performance of a manager should be both effectiveand efficient, i.e., desired objective should be accomplishedwith minimum input resources. The use of standard costingprovides media to specify these objectives of effectivenessand efficiency. It also provides framework to measure thedegree of attainment of effectiveness and efficiency.2. Aids inventory costing. Valuation of inventory at standardcost simplifies the pricing of inventory. It enables thecompany to follow a consistent practice. All operating gainsand losses are charged off to accounting period in which theyarise. This enables executives to analyse the variances by type,causes and locations. When standard costing is used, a unitstandard cost is available for inventory valuation and pricingof store issues. It avoids the need to compute a new averageunit price with each input entry, as is the case, when perpetualinventory records are kept at actual cost.3. Help in product pricing. The knowledge of standard costof product can be useful as one of many factors to be takeninto account for pricing. The standard cost of a product is auseful starting point in pricing. It provides a warning thatunless this amount and something more for profit isrecovered in the selling price, the product will not be reallyprofitable. The knowledge gained in setting standard costprovides the entire cost picture of the product ranging fromits out -of-pocket cost to full costs. With all thisinformation, it becomes possible to ascertain the extent towhich an available price will cover out-of-pocket costs andcontribute to recovery of fixed costs. The standard costprovides one of the many factors that should be consideredin pricing.3. Reduces clerical record keeping and aids cost reduction.Standard costs may result in reduction of clerical work. Forexample, under actual cost system, each item of each materialrequisition must be costed separately, when LIFO or FIFOmethod is used. In a large company, this is an enormoustask, since thousands of requisitions may be issued. Under astandard costing system, all the issues of a particular typehave to be multiplied once by the standard cost. Understandard costing, only quantities have to be maintained onstores records. This saving is, of course, partially offset bythe added cost of establishing and revising standards.Budgetary ControlIntroductionFor effective running of a business, management must know:i. Where it intends to go, i.e., organizational objectives.ii. How it intends to accomplish its objective.iii. Whether individual plans fits in the overall organizationalobjective.iv. Whether operations conform to the plan of operationsrelating to that period.Budget control is the device that a company uses for all thesepurposes.Budget: a budget is a quantitative expression of plan of actionrelating to the forthcoming budget period. It represents awritten operational plan of management for the budget period.It is always expressed in terms of money and quantity. It is the24 11.269© Copy Right: Rai UniversityADVANCED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTINGpolicy to be followed during the budget period for attainmentof specified objectives.The essential features of a budget are:.(a) financial and quantitativestatement of the action plan, (b) laid down prior to thebudget period during which it is followed (c) based onmanagement's policy (d)prepared for specified objective.In the ClMA terminology, budget is defined as follows:--"A plan expressed in money. It is prepared and approved priorto the budget period and may show income, expenditure, andthe capital to be employed. May be drawn up showing incrementaleffects on former budgeted or actual figures, or becompiled by zero-based budgeting."Budgetary Control and Budgeting. The terms budgetarycontrol and budgeting are often used interchangeably to refer toa system of managerial control. Budgetary control implies theuse of a comprehensive system of budgeting to aid managementin carrying out its functions like planning, coordinationand control. It is a system, which uses budgets for planning andcontrolling different activities of business. This systeminvolves:-i. Division of organization on functional basis into differentsections (each section is technically known as a budget center)ii. Preparation of separate budgets for each "budget center",iii. Consolidation of all functional budgets to present overallorganizational objectives during THC forthcoming budgetperiod,iv. Comparison of actual level of performance against budgets.Comparison process is stretched far enough to declare eitherattainment of objective or basis of revision of plan ofaction andv. Reporting the variances with proper analysis to provide basisfor future course of action.In the CIMA (London) Terminology"Budgetary control is the establishment of budgets relating toresponsibilities of executives to the requirement of a policy, andthe continuous comparison of actual with budgeted resultseither to secure by individual action the objective of that policyor to provide a basis for revision."Budgeting is a way of managing business and industry. Itemphasizes that management should anticipate problems anddifficulties. Advance decision should be taken for the course ofactivities during the forthcoming budget period. Budgetarycontrol denotes a formal system based on the concept ofbudgeting.Objectives of Budgetary Control1. Planning. Planning is an important managerial function. Ithelps to decide in advance what to do, how to do it, when todo it and who is to do it. Planning, thus, helps the managersto anticipate eventualities, prepare for contingencies forachieving the ultimate goa1s. Budget preparation drives themanagers to plan ahead. Managers express their operationalplans for anticipated business conditions. Without a formalprocedure of budgetary control, many operating managerswill not find the time to plan ahead. Thus, budgeting is animportant sub-units in the attainment of overallorganizational objectives.2. Communication. The employees of an organization shouldknow organizational aims, objectives of sub-units (budgetcentres) and the part that they have to play for theirattainment. Budgets effectively communicate thisinformation to employees.3. Coordination. To coordinate is to harmonize all theactivities of a company so as to facilitate its working and itssuccess. Coordination will lead to following results:a. each department will work in harmony with others,b. each department will know the specific role that it has toplay in the accomplishment of overall organisationalobjectives, and.c. the sequential arrangement of activities of differentdepartments is so governed that overlapping of activitiesand wastage of time and labour is avoided.A comprehensive system of budgeting helps to coordinatedifferent functional budgets. In other words, a budget willpreclude the production department from producing morethan the sales department can sell.4. Motivation. If employee have actively participated inbudget preparation and if they are convinced that theirpersonal interests are closely associated with the success oforganizational plan, budget provide motivation in the formof goals to be achieved. The budgets will motivate theworkers, depends purely on how the workers have beenmentally and physically involved with the process ofbudgeting.5. Control. Under the system of budgetary control, budgetforecast is thoroughly discussed and reviewed to be finallyapproved as functional budgets. Thereafter a lot of cuts andadjustments are made to make functional budgets fit in theorganizational objectives. Then budget formation isfollowed by a feedback system to pinpoint the extent ofvariation between actual level of performance and budgetedlevel of performance. Thus, the inbuilt mechanism of theroutine of budgetary control is bound to precipitate to anoperational control6. Approved Plan. A master budget provides an approvedsummary of results to be expected from proposed plan ofoperations. It concerns all functions of organization andserves as a guide to executives and departmental headsresponsible for various departmental objectives.Requirements of a Good Budgeting SystemFollowing are the requirements of a good budgeting system:i. Budgeting process should be backed and supported by thechief executive of an organization.ii. The organizational goal should be quantified and clearlystated These goals should be within the framework oforganizations' strategic and long-range plans.iii. The organizational goals must be divided in functionalgoals.© Copy Right: Rai University11.269 25ADVANCED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTINGiv. The functional goals should not conflict with overallorganizational objectives.v. All in the organization should mentally accept the exercise ofbudget preparation.vi. The persons responsible for execution of budget shouldparticipate in budget preparation.'vii.The budget should be realistic. It should represent goals thatare reasonably attainable.viii.The budget, should cover all phases of the organizationix. The budgeting should be a continuous exercise.x. Periodic reports should be prepared promptly comparingbudget and actual results.xi. Clear-cut organizational lines should be established withappropriate delegation of responsibilities for effectiveimplementation.Advantages of Budgetary Control1. A budget programme forces the managers to plan ahead.2. It forces early consideration of basic policies.3. All members of top management participate in budgetcommittee. For this reason even planning at departmentallevel gets benefit of experience of seasoned executives.4. All functional heads are compelled to make plans inharmony with the plans of other departments.5. Management is forced to put down in cold figures, what itmeans by satisfactory results.6. It demands the most economical use of labour, materials,facilities and capital.7. It inculcates a habit of timely, careful, adequate considerationof all factors before reaching important decisions.8. The use of budgets removes clouds of uncertainties forlower levels of management regarding basic policies andobjectives.9. The use of budgets promotes understanding of theproblems of co-workers10.It facilitates periodic self-analysis of the organization.11.It aids in obtaining bank credit.12.Management is forced to give timely and adequate attentionto the effect of changing business conditions.Limitations of Budgetary Control1. Estimates are used as basis for budget plan and estimates arebased, mostly on available facts and best managerialjudgment. Since a lot of human element is involved inexercising managerial judgment, it is but natural to givesome allowance in interpretation and utilization ofestimated results. Budgeting based on inaccurate forecasts isuseless as a yardstick for measuring the actual performance.2. The circumstances are constantly changing and, therefore,budgets and budgetary techniques will not be useful, till theyare continually adapted.3. In order that a system may be successful, adequate budgeteducation should be imparted at least through the formativeperiod. Sufficient training programmes should be arrangedto make employees give positive response to budgetaryactivities.4. Execution of budgetary control will not automatically occur.A continuous budget consciousness throughout theorganization is needed for achievement of this objective.5. Budgetary control cannot reduce the manageria1 function toa formula. It is only a managerial tool which measureseffectiveness of managerial control.6. The use of budget may lead to restricted use of resources.Budgets are often taken as limits. Effort may, therefore, notbe made to exceed the performance beyond the budgetedtargets, even though it may be physically possible.7. Frequent changes may be called for in budgets due to fastchanging industrial climate. It may be difficult for a companyto keep pace with these fast changes, because revision ofbudget is an expensive exercise.The following Question-answer formatSummarizes the Chapters LearningObjectives1. Explain the major features and advantages of a budget.A budget expresses in quantitative terms, an organizationsobjective and possible steps for achieving them. Thus, abudget is tool that helps managers in both their planningand control functions. The two major parts of a budget arethe operating budget and the financial budget. Advantagesof budget include formalisation of planning, providing aframework for judging performance and aiding incoordinating their efforts.2. Anticipate possible human relations problem caused bybudgets.The success of a budget depends heavily on employeereaction to it. Negative attitude toward budget usuallyprevent realization of many of the benefits of budgeting.Such attitude are usually cused by managers who use budgetsto force behaviour or to punish employees. Budgetsgenerally are more useful when they are formulated with thewilling participation of all affected parties.3. Understand the importance of budgetingof budgetingtomangers.The budgetary process compels managers to think and toprepare for changing conditions. Budgets are aids inplanning, communicating, setting standards of prformance,motivating personnel towards goals, measuring results anddirecting attention to problem ares that need investigation.NotesSubmitted by ,╚►♥ѕαη∂єєρ♥◄╝
