Application of Management Accounting

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PREPARED BY: Benjamin Elisha Sawe D61/61708/2010 Lecturer: Mr. Karanja & Mr. Gichana Management Accounting – DAC 503 march 2011

Transcript of Application of Management Accounting

Page 1: Application of Management Accounting

PREPARED BY:

Benjamin Elisha Sawe

D61/61708/2010

Lecturer: Mr. Karanja & Mr. Gichana

Management Accounting – DAC 503

march 2011

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ContentsHistorical Background.............................................................................................................................2

Strategic Partners...................................................................................................................................4

Basic Management Accounting Concepts..............................................................................................4

Planning..............................................................................................................................................4

Directing and Motivating....................................................................................................................4

Controlling..........................................................................................................................................5

What is meant by Cost?......................................................................................................................5

Cost Objects.......................................................................................................................................5

Analysis of Costs, Volume and Pricing to Increase Profitability – C.V.P..................................................5

Cost drivers and cost-behavior...........................................................................................................5

Cost Management Systems....................................................................................................................6

Types of Management Accounting Systems.......................................................................................6

Activity Based Costing........................................................................................................................6

Relevant Information for Special Decisions............................................................................................6

Special Order Decisions......................................................................................................................5

Outsourcing Decisions........................................................................................................................7

Budgets and Preparing the Master Budget............................................................................................8

The Planning Process..........................................................................................................................8

Coordination.......................................................................................................................................8

Corrective Action................................................................................................................................8

Types of Budgets................................................................................................................................8

The Master Budget.............................................................................................................................9

Functions of Budget..........................................................................................................................10

Operating Budget.............................................................................................................................14

The Role of Budgets for Cost Control and Performance Evaluation.................................................16

Management Control Systems and Responsibility Accounting............................................................16

Managerial accountants role in managerial control.........................................................................16

Controlling and measurement of financial performance..................................................................16

Performance Evaluation.......................................................................................................................17

Evaluating Investment Center..........................................................................................................17

Strategic Performance Measurement: The balance Scorecard...........................................................17

Long term strategic performance.....................................................................................................17

Balanced Scorecard..........................................................................................................................18

References........................................................................................................................................19

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Historical Background

Managerial accounting is concerned with providing information to managers- that is, to those who are inside an organization and who direct and control its operations. Managerial accounting can be contrasted with financial accounting, which is concerned with providing information to stockholders, creditors and others who are outside an organization

Managerial accounting information includes:

A) Information on the costs of an organization’s products and services. For Example, managers can use product costs to guide the setting of selling prices. In addition, these product costs are used for inventory valuation and income determination

B) Budgets. A budget is a quantitative expression of a plan. C) Performance reports: These reports often consist of comparisons of budgets with

actual results. The deviations of actual results from budget are called variances D) Other information which assist managers in their planning and control activities.

Examples are information on revenues of an organization’s products and services, sales back logs, unit quantities and demands on capacity resource

In the present day management function, a manager should undertake several duties is an

organisation which includes: planning, controlling, decision making, communication,

coordination etc. Management accounting as a discipline should provide the manager with

tools that will facilitate their core functions.

Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Ltd is the world's largest custom market research

specialist. It has offices in more than 80 countries across Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific,

Europe and the Middle East.It is also a global leader in customer stakeholder management

research and the biggest provider of online market information in the world. The firm was

acquired by WPP Group, the world's largest advertising company.

TNS boasts a powerful global network. It separates its worldwide operations into four main divisions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and emerging markets.

On 7 January 2011, the largest custom research agency in West and Central Africa, Research

and Marketing Services Ltd (RMS) became part of TNS after TNS acquired a majority stake

in RMS. The acquisition of a majority stake in RMS follows an affiliation agreement signed

in March 2010 with RMS and an investment by WPP in RMS in August 2010. The

acquisition of RMS added Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Ghana to TNS’

existing African network covering South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Egypt and

Morocco

The merge led to formation of TNS RMS Ltd

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TNS is a world-leading market research firm that focuses and specializes in five market sectors:-

1. Automotive

TNS automotive specialist network comprises of researchers that spans over 50 countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. It addresses the complex market research needs of clients including major global automotive and tyre manufacturers, component suppliers, oil companies, repair specialists, parts distributors, dealerships and advertising agencies.

2. Consumer (FMCG)

TNS provides consultancy, advice and research solutions on key issues such as brand equity, purchasing behaviour, growth opportunities in the emerging markets and international expansion and help its clients identify future influential consumers to drive growth. Its customised research solutions deliver added value to clients in the development of new products, optimising advertising and media expenditure, defining new market segments or consolidating their position in the marketplace. TNS global consumer research solutions cover both qualitative and quantitative market information needs, including: ad hoc research; retail and shopper insights; brand and advertising tracking; customer commitment and satisfaction studies; market segmentation and positioning; new product development solutions.

3. Finance

TNS Finance has over 40 years of solving common Finance sector marketing problems to help retail and commercial banks, investment companies, payment organisations and insurers solve their marketing problems and build their brands. It offers its clients finance research and marketing insights in areas such as product development, brand positioning, pricing, forecasting, communications, segmentation and stakeholder management. It also offers a range of syndicated services across the globe. TNS Finance offers both breadth and depth of information and market research insight services through a network of professionals dedicated to the finance sector in over 40 countries. It has designed 45 well-respected, syndicated business research programmes across 15 countries. TNS Finance is present in 90% of the global finance market research sector.

4. Political and social

TNS is a world leader in customised political and social research. It is recognised as the research partner inspiring the world’s leading policy makers by providing action-oriented analysis and recommendations based on reliable and unique data. It covers elections and delivers insight to assist decision makers in a wide range of social policy areas: education, health, social services, environment, labour market, family policy, public transport, justice, immigration, community integration - to name a few. Its clients include public sector and government bodies, political parties, the media, non-government organisations and major international and national institutions. It has specialist expertise in the following key areas: behavioral change and social marketing; political and electoral research; strategic qualitative research; programme evaluation; and international research.

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5. Technology

In a relentlessly innovative industry, TNS Technology helps the world's leading IT, telecoms and consumer electronics companies, ISP and content providers maximise opportunities to gain a competitive advantage based on technology market research and technology industry analysis. It offers its clients a range of global market research services and market research analysis solutions.

Strategic Partners and Clients

TNS has a partnership with UNICEF, which for over 60 years has been the world’s leading children charity, working on the ground in 156 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence, among other partners include:-

Procter & Gamble Co, Safaricom, Airtel, MTN, Toyota, Unilever, BAT, Barclays, Samsung,

Microsoft, PSI, Coca cola, EABL, World Bank, TI among others

Introduction

Managerial Accounting provides information to Managers at TNS RMS Ltd who direct and

control all the operations. This information is used to prepare the variety of reports which are

used to evaluate how the business has performed and also gives frequent updates on orders

received, orders backlog and status, etc.

Management Accounting therefore provides the managers with data for internal use. This data

is emphasized depending on the relevance that is intended and mainly assists in focus on what

needs to be achieved in short or long term.

Basic Management Accounting Concepts

Planning

Before taking any action Managers at TNS RMS Ltd normally evaluate the alternatives

available and finally settles on one that will enable the company to maximize profits while

minimizing costs taking into consideration the scarcity of resources.

Directing and Motivating

Managers are expected to direct and motivate people. Management Accounting provides

managers with information contained in daily reports that indicate the tasks to be done and the

best alternative available with an aim of eliminating activities that do not give any value add

to the products and services offered by TNS RMS .

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Employees are rewarded for value-add decisions that they undertake and this has gone a long

way into motivating employees in becoming problem solvers.

Controlling

Control being the process of ensuring that the firm’s activities conform to its initial plan or

budget is very important in the overall organizational performance. This ensures that the plan

as laid down is being followed and any deviations are addressed appropriately and

Performance reports given so that corrective measures are put in place at the right time.

Without control, performance evaluation would be a major challenge.

What is meant by Cost?

At TNS RMS Ltd, cost refers to any expense incurred in operations and administrative functions.

Cost Objects

Cost Objects at TNS RMS Ltd refer to general revenue generation activities which are further classified into fixed and variable costs.

Analysis of Costs, Volume and Pricing to Increase Profitability – C.V.P

CVP helps the making tactical short-term decisions. This is the systematic method of examining the relationship between changes in volume and the respective costs associated with any decrease or increase in volume.

At TNS RMS Ltd, it’s important for managers to understand the nature of cost behavior and

how changes in volume impact profitability.  They must calculate break-even points and how

to manage to achieve target income levels.  They must think about business models and the

ability (or inability) to bring them to profitability via increases in scale.  Managers call upon

their internal accounting staff to pull together information and make appropriate

recommendations.

Cost drivers and cost-behavior

When sales vary, the amount of corresponding change in the net income is directly influenced

by the company’s cost structure.

Cost behavior study helps managers at TNS RMS Ltd to make strategic decisions and

operating decisions based on profitability and relevance.

TNS RMS Ltd managers in their decision making when determining production costs

normally decide on what should be treated as fixed costs. What falls under such category is

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annually reviewed to ensure that whatever variable costs or semi variable costs that may need

to be henceforth treated as fixed is properly managed.

Cost Management Systems

At TNS RMS Ltd, problems of allocating overheads over time are easily solved through cost management. The company has adopted the activity based accounting method for accuracy.

The ABC system allocates the costs in the activity cost pools to products using variety of cost drivers. Activities like sourcing; shipping and delivery of products to customers are costed accurately.

Types of Management Accounting Systems

Activity Based Costing

Activity based accounting traces costs to activities and then to products. At TNS RMS Ltd,

this is very important because in most instances, no order is a replica of another and every

activity is important part of the company’s knowledge management for future reference.

Through ABC, TNS RMS Ltd has managed to:

Improve product or service cost data.

Improved decisions about pricing, service mixes, and product strategies based on more

accurate cost information.

Cost reduction by eliminating the non-value added activities that are inefficient, wasteful thus

reducing input and improving on the cost of service delivery.

Relevant Information for Special Decisions

As TNS RMS is a research organisation its cost systems differ a lot from a manufacturing

concern and they are unique in some way, some of the characteristic features of the research

business which influence the cost structure of its costing systems. These characteristic

features can be summed up as follows

• Variable work load: the volume of operations fluctuates enormously from one moment to

the next, which obviates the problem of capacity management, given that at certain times

there are "peaks" whilst at other times there are "valleys" which means that these resources

are underused.

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• High fixed costs: resources are usually allocated to covering "peaks" of activity. However,

the cost of these resources does not vary with the volume of transactions, because they have a

large fixed component.

• Predictability of the activity: although the demand for services tends to be highly variable, it

is relatively easy to predict, because it follows a cyclic behaviour pattern, which offers the

possibility of turning part of fixed costs into variable ones by means of outsourcing.

• Mass services production activities: a comparison can be drawn between the high volume of

repetitive operations in research institutions and traditional industrial mass commodity

manufacturing, which facilitates the use of methodologies that originated in industry and the

setting up of a standard costing system.

• Joint production and an undefined product: the research product is physically indefinable

which makes it more complex to identify.

• Low cost traceability: given that we are dealing with joint production activities with elevated

fixed and indirect costs there are many resources that are shared by activities, customers,

products and centers of responsibility.

The most significant factors that influence the applicability of different cost systems in

a Research institution are on the one hand, the significant weight of indirect costs in relation

to cost objects, which makes it difficult to trace them in relation to cost objects. Similarly,

given that a large part of the operations carried out by Research institutions are of a repetitive

nature and susceptible to standardisation, this makes it feasible to consider calculating the

costs of these operations and allocating them to cost objects, and to introduce the use of

standard costs as a planning and control instrument.

Outsourcing Decisions

TNS RMS Ltd in some instances outsource its work to other research organizations for

processing of data and research services as long as the contracted party maintains the high

quality. However, to reach such decisions, the options are critically analyzed and options

weighed on capacity and the availability of recourses.

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Budgets and Preparing the Master Budget

At TNS RMS Ltd, budgets are used by the management for financial planning on how

finances will be raised and allocated to various functions of the organization. They provide

focus on the future, evaluating performance and control, employee motivation and also act as

a communication device from top-bottom and from supervisory level to top management.

A master budget containing several individual budgets that are linked to each other are also

sequentially prepared in line with the company’s strategic goals.

The Planning Process

The budgets serves as a communication tool and eliminates the problem of having the

planning function in the organization being taken as an informal function with no guidelines.

The budget formalizes and documents managerial plans, clearly communicating objectives to

both the management and sub ordinates.

Coordination

Budgeting process forces coordination among the departments to promote decisions in the best interest of the company.

Corrective Action

Budgeting provides advance notice of potential shortages, bottlenecks or other weaknesses in

operating plans e.g. cash budget alerts managers when the company can expect cash

shortages during the coming period.

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Types of Budgets

The Master Budget

PREPARING MASTER BUDGET

Budgeting at TNS RMS in general is the art of quantifying objectives in financial

terms that can assists managers in decision making process.

It is the function of the management accountant to provide information needed in

budgeting process.

Budgeting performs the following functions in a company:

1. Quantification of plans

2. Help in financial planning

3. Monitoring and controlling scarce resources through performance measurement

These broad three functions of budgeting can be further subdivided into the following more

specific functions of budgeting to give a clearer understanding in a more vivid

and lucid manner.

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FUNCTIONS OF BUDGET

FORECASTING: this entails making a calculated attempt into knowing what the

future holds. Forecasting may not be perfect as evidence has shown but it is

better to have a forecast to work with than not having any as this will help the management to

get prepared. There are many statistical tools developed over the years to help

managers and accountants make better forecast.

Forecasting is a complex exercise that requires one to consider many variables

in the light of; the action of competitors, government actions, economic

outlook, relationship between price and demands, etc.

PLANNING: generally speaking, planning depends on forecast that has been made in

the past to make decision about the future. The estimated data generated by

forecasting are used to make plans. At TNS RMS, for example the management

use forecast from estimated earnings to make plans on further reinforcement of manpower

and increasing resources

They also use forecast figure to estimate the use of materials and make

plans to ensure that they are provided as and when due.

Financial models on computers makes the mixture of variables on an ‘what if’

scenario possible so that the best possible mix of variables are achieved.

Spreadsheet is one of the most popular financial models used for planning and

Forecasting at TNS RMS

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COMMUNICATION: budgeting at TNS RMS acts as a communication tool in the

following ways:

1. Gathering information: information about a company and the activities

of its competitors are gathered during the process of making all kinds of

budget. It is quite impossible for a single individual to gather all these

information that are needed to make a functional budget. Managers and other

non managerial staff are consulted and information obtained from

them. This information will then be analyzed, challenged and criticised in

order to come up with filtered information.

2. Disseminating information: budgets when not acted upon are useless, so, the budgetary

system has an inbuilt information dissemination ability that ensures that responsible

managers actually got the budget which they will work with. Budgeting committee

is usually formed to act as a forum where representatives from different parts

of the organisation will assemble to iron out issues that relates to resource

planning of the business.

MOTIVATION: motivation is the driving force that makes people to run towards

their goals rather than trudge towards it. Motivation is a relative and

subjective term, budgeting at TNS RMS is used as a motivation to staff.

Two factors needs to be considered here: how to make people follow a budget, and

setting the difficulty level of budgeting. There are two main approaches that

are used make the staff heed towards a budget, each having its

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advantages and disadvantages. They are Authoritarian method and participatory method, these

two approaches represent two extremes. The ideal method that is actually used at TNS RMS

is the one that strive to achieve a balance between the two extremes.

Again, budgets can either be made so difficult or so easy. For a budget to

motivate staff, its level of difficulty must be somewhere around the middle of

difficulty and easiness.

EVALUATION: evaluation means to judge something with a sort of standard. The

budget represents that target performance which will then be compared with

actual performance. And this will then lead to corrective action being taken.

Evaluation in real life is not as easy.

If not handled with, evaluation can encourage actions that will harm the

organization in the long run. Again, there are some non quantifiable aspects of

a business that is hard to measure. Examples are; customer services, staff

morale, innovation, environmental friendliness, etc.

There are non-financial factors that have effects on investment appraisal that

must be considered before judging a manager as to whether he or she properly

managed the investment under his or jurisdiction. Other business success factors

CONTROL/ CO-ORDINATION: this function of budgeting is very important for an

organization to grow. Co-ordination simply means ensuring that different parts

of the business work in congruence. For example, it will be useless employing

sales force that can sell 2,000,000 units of an item when all that your company

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has the capacity of producing is 1,200,000 units of that product. This is not to

say that plans cannot be made to get the remaining 800,000 units from an

alternative source, in fact, this is one of the functions of budgeting- to

expose weakness so that plans can be made to cover for it.

AUTHORIZATION: budgeting helps to minimize misappropriation and embezzlement

that would have characterize corporations if a system of authorization does not

exist. Through authorization, managers are made more accountable for their

spending. A manager that has been authorized to spend KS 155,000 in a way

will be looking for trouble if she or he spends KS 155,200 without further

authorization. In fact, budgeting helps to prevent fraud.

As a manager or an accountant responsible for preparing and ensuring that

budgets are implemented.

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THE OPERATING BUDGET

1. SALES BUDGET

Well, sales forecasting is a marketing function. Sales estimates are frequently generated by

the company's sales representatives who discuss future needs with customers (wholesalers and

retailers). Statistical forecasting techniques can also be used to make estimates of expected

future sales, considering the company's previous sales performance and various assumptions

about the future economic climate, and the actions of competitors and consumers. Pricing is

also a marketing function, but many prices are based on costs plus a markup (the supply

function) and consideration of what consumers are willing and able to pay for the product (the

demand function). Thus, the budgeted sales price is usually determined after the budgeted unit

cost has been calculated.

The information needed to develop an equation for collections is provided by the finance

department and is normally based on past experience. These calculations are somewhat more

involved than they appear to be in the equation above because of the effects of cash discounts

and the time lags between credit sales and collections. Cash discounts are frequently used to

speed up cash inflows. This puts the funds back to work sooner and reduces the need for short

term loans. However, even with a generous cash discount for prompt payment, collections for

credit sales are typically spread out over several months. The examples illustrated below

provide some of the possibilities.

2. OVERHEAD BUDGET

The overhead budget is based on a flexible budget calculation. More specifically, the

calculation is as follows:

a. Budgeted Overhead Costs

   = Budgeted Fixed Overhead

   + (Budgeted Variable Overhead Rate)(D.L. Hours needed for Production from 4a)

This is a cumulative equation that combines the equations for the company's various types of

indirect resources. The predetermined overhead rates and the budgeted overhead rates are

conceptually the same.

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The calculation for cash payments reflects one of the differences between cash flows and

accrual accounting. Since some costs, like depreciation, do not involve cash payments in the

current period, these costs must be subtracted from the total overhead costs to determine the

appropriate amount.

b. Cash Payments for Overhead

   = Budgeted Overhead Cost   - Depreciation and other costs that do not require cash

payments

Financial Budgets

Assumptions and predictions underlying the master budget

Zero-base budgeting

Zero-based budgeting is a technique of planning and decision-making which reverses the

working process of traditional budgeting. In traditional incremental budgeting, departmental

managers justify only increases over the previous year budget and what has been already

spent is automatically sanctioned. No reference is made to the previous level of expenditure.

By contrast, in zero-based budgeting, every department function is reviewed comprehensively

and all expenditures must be approved, rather than only increases. Zero-based budgeting

requires the budget request be justified in complete detail by each division manager starting

from the zero-base. The zero-base is indifferent to whether the total budget is increasing or

decreasing. At TNS RMS Ltd , Zero-base budgeting has led to:

1. Efficient allocation of resources, as it is based on needs and benefits.

2. Drives managers to find cost effective ways to improve operations.

3. Detects inflated budgets.

4. Useful for service departments where the output is difficult to identify.

5. Increases staff motivation by providing greater initiative and responsibility in

decision-making.

6. Increases communication and coordination within the organization.

7. Identifies and eliminates wasteful and obsolete operations.

8. Identifies opportunities for outsourcing.

9. Forces cost centers to identify their mission and their relationship to overall

goals.

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The Role of Budgets for Cost Control and Performance Evaluation

At TNS RMS Ltd a budget provides standard costs for cost control purposes. As management

constructs budgets, it lays out a road map to guide its efforts. It states a number of

assumptions about the relationships and interaction among the economy, market dynamics,

the abilities of its sales force, and its capacity to provide the proper quantity and quality of

products demanded. Incorporation of such assumptions in to the budget leads to more

accurate planning.

An examination of the details of the budget calculations and assumptions indicates that

management expects the sales force to spend only so much in pursuit of the sales forecast.

The details also reveal that management expects operations to produce the required amount of

units within a certain cost range. Management bases its expectations and projections on the

best historical and current information, as well as its best business judgement.

Management Control Systems and Responsibility Accounting

Managerial accountants role in managerial control

Management Accounting provides a tool that acts as a basis for directing and controlling operational activities.

Managers and employees at TNS RMS Ltd are given tasks that have been broken down to their areas of operations with the departmental procedures on how each of those tasks should be performed. Standards of operations are therefore set and line managers re given the responsibility of ensuring that those procedures and standards are followed at all times within the stipulated time limit.

Controlling and measurement of financial performance

At TNS RMS Ltd, each department has a pre-set target which is used in evaluating

performance at the end of every month and every quarter. The departmental targets are further

broken down into individual targets. Performance evaluations are carried out through gross

profit reports and these are discussed in detail with the respective departmental managers as

well as individuals.

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The different departments in the organization are classified into cost centers, revenue centers,

profit centres and investment centers which enable the management to equally evaluate their

contribution in terms of operating income and profitability.

Performance Evaluation

This is a critical function at TNS RMS Ltd and through the aspects of decentralization and responsibility accounting, the managers are empowered to make decisions and be accountable for whatever authority they exercise in doing so. Owing to the nature of its dynamic business, the company has to continually evaluate performance to ensure that:

Managers are responsible for certain aspects of the organizational performance.

They are accountable and should provide regular performance reports relating to all matters for which they are responsible.

Managers are motivated to achieve better performance by setting targets for performance, comparing the achievements against these targets, and rewarding good performance.

Managers get control over information to enable them makes decisions that will improve their performance.

Evaluating Investment Center

TNS RMS Ltd ’s main decision center is the investment center which is headed by a manager having a direct responsibility for its performance. The manager uses ratios and absolute measures for performance measurement.

Return on Investment (ROI)

This enables the company to measure how much income each shilling of investment generates and resources or assets used to generate the income. This is used for the organizational performance as well as units and subunits. This is done by using the after tax income and the net book value of assets.

This ensures that all ingredients of profitability are blend together into a single percentage.

Also enables the company to compare its performance against those in the same industry or in different business all together.

This evaluation also assists the management in highlighting the benefits that managers can obtain by reducing invests in both current and fixed assets.

Strategic Performance Measurement: The balance Scorecard

In Kenya today, there are many players in the Research business. Among the key

competitors of TNS RMS Ltd include Synovate Ltd, Research Solutions, AC Nielsen,

Infotrack, Millward Brown and Research Path amongst other players. TNS RMS Ltd uses

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management accounting information to assess its competitiveness at the face on competition.

Speedy solutions and delivery of goods can be used to compare TNS RMS Ltd’s performance

and also can be a key indicator of the organization’s competitive advantage. The market

share information including customer segmentation and competitor substitutes is obtained

through managerial accounting to assess the organizations competitiveness in the industry.

This has enabled TNS RMS Ltd to cut a niche in the Research market segment.

Long term strategic performance

For future opportunities and market forecasting, TNS RMS Ltd has to have a long term

strategic performance objectives that will translate into sustainable business without which the

survival of the organization is not guaranteed. TNS RMS Ltd has achieved tremendous

growth through long term strategic performance targets and consequent performance

evaluations.

Balanced Scorecard

TNS RMS Ltd managers use balanced scorecard as it consists of variety of indicators both

financial and non-financial. It provides them with a comprehensive performance tool which

reflects all the measures critical for the success of the firm’s strategy. The balanced score

card enables TNS RMS Ltd to focus on:

Customer – what the customers value from the organization like quality products

delivered in good time. This assures TNS RMS Ltd client retention and customer

satisfaction which thus translates to the market share held and its growth.

Internal processes at TNS RMS Ltd have continued to improve and this has

contributed to the efficiency observed in product manufacturing, order processing and

inventory level controls.

TNS RMS Ltd business has also continued to grow through learning and innovation

thus creating a future value. This focus considers the business capacity to maintain its

competitive position via skills and development of better products and services.

Financial perspective – this measures the profitability, shareholder value measures like

revenue growth rate, gross revenue growth, operating rations, selling expense ratios,

growth in stock prices, return on sales or investments.

TNS RMS Ltd uses the balanced scorecard as a means of implementing strategy by drawing

managers’ attention to the critical success factors and rewarding them for the achievements.

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It is also used as a framework for achieving desired organizational change in strategy drawing

attention and rewarding achievement of factors that are part of the strategy.

The balanced scorecard has also made the direction and nature of change at TNS RMS Ltd

clear to all the stakeholders. It is also used for determining each managers compensation and

advancement as well as coordination of efforts within the firm towards achieving the critical

factors.

References

1. http://bizcovering.com/category/management captured on 23rd March 2011

2. http://wikipedia.org/budgeting captured on 16th April 2011

3. http://managerialaccounting.com captured on 10th April 2011

4. http://www.tnsglobal.com captured on 20th March 2011-04-19

5. http://www.cimaglobal.com captured on 18th March 19, 2011

6. Management Accounting for Decision Makers by Dr Peter Atrill and Eddie McLaney (1st Sep 2009)

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