Accounting management, which is also known as managerial accounting, is an accounting specialty in which an individual analyzes an organization’s financial documents to provide the organization’s managers with the information that they need to make financial decisions.
- Managerial accountants typically use a number of different accounting analysis techniques, such as cost-benefit analyses, live-cycle cost analyses, price modeling, and variance analyses, to evaluate financial records.
- Other duties of managerial accountants include determining the level of risk associated with each of the investments that an organization is considering; drafting internal financial reports; drafting performance reports; identifying methods that an organization can use to lower costs; identifying methods that an organization can use to minimize the risk of each investment that it may pursue; issuing financial projections; and other similar tasks .
- Individuals in managerial accounting may work under any of a number of different job titles, but some of the most common job titles in managerial accounting include accounting manager, accounting officer, business analyst, internal auditor (it is important to note that a managerial accountant can be an internal auditor, but is almost never an external auditor because a managerial accountant deals only with an organization’s internal affairs), managerial accountant, and management accountant.
In most cases, an individual will be able to obtain a position in the subfield of accounting management with an accounting school, a bachelor’s degree in business with a focus in accounting or an accounting certificate, or another similar degree from an accredited accounting school.
It is important to note, however, that some employers may require an individual to have a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) certificate, a Certified Business Manager (CBM) certificate, and/or another similar certificate related to accounting management in addition to a bachelor’s degree in order for the individual to obtain a position. It is also important to note that an individual may be required to have a master’s degree in accounting, a master’s degree in managerial accounting, or a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) for some positions.