Cost Accounting, Group C
Management Accounting - and especially Cost Accounting - is traditionally one of the core elements of business administration studies. Information on costs and sales are at the heart of business decisions. Accounting can be seen as an "economic language" which should be mastered by every business manager.
Course code
ACCT301
Course type
BSc Course
Weekly Hours
2,0
ECTS
3.0
Term
HS 2019
Language
Englisch
Lecturers
Juniorprof. Dr. Daniel Schaupp
Please note that exchange students obtain a higher number of credits in the BSc-program at WHU than listed here. For further information please contact directly the International Relations Office.
Course content
In the first two-and-a-half weeks of the course, students learn how the German cost accounting system can better help companies answer five important questions than financial accounting alone could:
- What are the costs of a product? In other words: How can we attribute costs to respective products?
- How do costs depend on production volumes? In other words: Why is it important to distinguish between fixed costs are variable costs?
- How can profitability of the production of goods and services be assured? How do cost control and operations control interact to do that?
- Who has to bear which costs? In other words: How can costs be appropriately attributed to their causes?
- How expensive is the utilization of production factors “really”? In other words: Why do we have to differentiate between costs and expenses?
In the remaining three-and-a-half weeks of the course, students learn how the German cost accounting system works in order to help answer these five initial questions. Topcis covered:
- How is cost accounting organized? What elements does this management accounting tool comprise?
- How does cost allocation in and between cost centers work? Why should and how can overhead costs be shifted between cost centers?
- How does product costing work using a full-costing approach?
- How does product costing work using a direct costing approach?
- How is cost accounting embedded in the overall management control system, and why is it almost indispensable for the management control system (from a German perspective)?
Class dates
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
| Thursday, 05.09.2019 | 11:30 - 15:15 |
| Monday, 23.09.2019 | 11:30 - 15:15 |
| Tuesday, 24.09.2019 | 08:00 - 11:15 |
| Monday, 30.09.2019 | 15:30 - 18:45 |
| Wednesday, 02.10.2019 | 15:30 - 18:45 |
| Thursday, 10.10.2019 | 11:30 - 15:15 |
| Tuesday, 03.12.2019 | 15:30 - 16:30 |
| Monday, 16.12.2019 | 13:00 - 16:00 |
Learning outcomes
Appreciation and application of fundamental cost accounting methods
Literature
Bhimani, A. / Horngren, Ch.T. / Foster, G. / Datar, S.M. / Rajan, M.V. / (2015): Management and Cost Accounting, 6th Ed., Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Horngren, Ch.T. / Foster, G. / Datar, S.M. / Rajan, M.V. / Ittner, Ch. (2015): Cost Accounting. A Managerial Emphasis, 15th Ed. (Global Edition), Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.Horngren, Ch.T. / Sundem, G.L. / Stratton, W.O. / Burgstahler, D. / Schatzberg, J. (2014): Introduction to Management Accounting, 16th Ed. (Global Edition), Boston, MA et al.: Pearson.
Learningmethods
lecture, in-class disicussions, in-class team assignments (case work), self-study
Exam
Exam (75%), In-class Cases (25%)