Handbook of Cost Accounting Theory and Techniques

Clearly organized and readable this work is a good introduction to cost accounting for someone with little prior course work or experience in the field. Most chapters include a list of suggested readings. Good index. Most appropriate for community college or public library collections. ChoiceIn response to the expanding roles of accountants in all types of organizations cost accounting is becoming increasingly multidimensional relying not only on traditional accounting principles but also on behavioral organizational decisional and other foundations. These conceptual foundations and their applications to cost accounting practices form the basis of this handbook which offers both accounting students and professionals a comprehensive review and interpretation of cost accounting techniques and theories. By treating both traditional and newer dimensions of the discipline the book defines a new scope and boundary that presents cost accounting in a multidimensional framework.Ahmed Belkaoui presents his material from three different perspectives. First he shows how the fields of cost accounting economics behavioral science operations research statistics and mathematics provide the tools as well as the concepts necessary for the classification accumulation and reporting of relevant data for internal decision making and for the interpretation and evaluation of resulting decisions. Second he demonstrates how standard cost accounting techniques can be complemented by other possible approaches to problems stressing not only the descriptive but also the normative solutions to cost accounting problems. Finally he examines how cost accounting techniques affect the planning and control of routine and nonroutine decisions inventory valuation and income determination. Among the major new developments addressed are variance analysis learning phenomena in cost estimation flexible manufacturing systems and behavioral considerations in cost allocation. This work will be especially valuable for professional accountants and graduate students preparing for an accounting career and an important resource for academic and public libraries.