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Cost Accounting: Decision Making
  • Level Professional
  • Duration 8 hours
  • Course by Technical University of Munich (TUM)
  • Offered by

About

In the third course, you will learn how to use information from cost accounting to improve managerial decision-making. We discuss business decisions and suggest how cost information can support them best. For example, how will costs change if managers adjust cost drivers? How many units do companies need to sell in order to avoid losses or to achieve a targeted profit? How can managers improve pricing or product programs with information from cost accounting?

Modules

Welcome to Cost Accounting - Decision Making

    • 3 Readings
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3 Readings

  • Course Overview
  • Introduce yourself!
  • Lecture slides for this course

Identifying typical cost functions

    • 3 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 2 Plugin
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Identifying typical cost functions

3 Videos

  • Elementary cost functions
  • Combinations of elementary cost functions
  • Cost function, cost drivers, and the time horizon

1 Readings

  • Outlook: How to apply ‘sticky costs’ in advisory services

Determining cost functions

    • 3 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Determining cost functions

3 Videos

  • Simplifying cost functions and the relevant range
  • Analytical methods
  • Statistical methods

2 Readings

  • Practical example: Statistical cost determination in a hospital
  • Deriving and visualizing cost functions in Excel

Documenting cost forecasts

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Calculating planned cost-allocation rates

1 Videos

  • Documenting cost forecasts

Learning Assessment

    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Statistical methods for determining cost functions
  • Documenting cost forecasts for varying capacity levels

Introduction to cost-volume profit analysis

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Introduction to cost-volume profit analysis

1 Videos

  • Objectives of cost-volume profit analysis

Cost-volume profit analyses (CVPA)

    • 5 Videos
    • 4 Assignment
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4 Assignment

  • CVPA for a single product
  • CVPA and target profits
  • CVPA for multiple products
  • Cost-volume profit analysis

5 Videos

  • CVPA for a single product
  • Considering target profits in CVPA
  • Cost-volume profit analyses for multiple products
  • Cost-volume profit analyses with a constant sales mix
  • Assumptions of cost-volume profit analysis

Considering uncertainty in CVPA

    • 2 Videos
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • CVPA with uncertain input parameters
  • Case study: RFID labels

2 Videos

  • Sensitivity analysis
  • Margin of safety percentage

CVPA and cost-structure flexibility

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Plugin
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • CVPA and cost-structure flexibility

1 Videos

  • Insourcing versus outsourcing

1 Readings

  • Operating leverage

Learning Assessment

    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Repeat CVPA
  • CVPA in a company with two products

The decision making process for operative decisions

    • 4 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • The decision making process for operative decisions

4 Videos

  • The decision making process
  • Planning objects, horizon, objectives and constraints
  • Quantitative and qualitative information
  • Characteristics of decisions under uncertainty

Relevant costs of operative decisions

    • 3 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Opportunity and sunk costs

3 Videos

  • Requirements for information from accounting
  • Sunk costs, opportunity costs and operative decisions
  • The effects of using full-cost information

3 Readings

  • Deep dive: Opportunity costs in medical treatments
  • Absorption costing and make-or-buy decisions
  • More on outsourcing and offshoring

Product mix decisions

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Choosing the optimal product mix

1 Videos

  • Determining the optimal product mix

Pricing decisions

    • 3 Videos
    • 1 Plugin
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Basics of pricing decisions
  • Pricing decisions

3 Videos

  • Price setter vs. price taker
  • Lower price limits for negotiations and tenders
  • Long-term pricing decisions

Learning Assessment

    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Product-mix decision at Bryan's Bakery

Congratulations on completing one course of the Cost Accounting Specialization

    • 1 Readings
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1 Readings

  • What do I learn in the other courses of the Specialization?

Auto Summary

Enhance your managerial decision-making skills with the "Cost Accounting: Decision Making" course, designed for business professionals. Explore how cost information influences business decisions, such as adjusting cost drivers, determining break-even points, and optimizing pricing strategies. Offered by Coursera, this comprehensive 480-minute course is available through Starter and Professional subscription plans. Perfect for those in business management seeking to leverage cost accounting for better decision outcomes.

Gunther Friedl
Instructors

Gunther Friedl

Marcus Witter
Instructors

Marcus Witter

Peter Schaefer
Instructors

Peter Schaefer

Eline Schoonjans
Instructors

Eline Schoonjans