NUS Business School
National University of Singapore
BMA5005_P1 – Management Accounting, AY2014/2015
Part-time MBA Group: 6PM-9PM
Course Outline
Instructor: Adjunct Assistant Professor Deon Chan
Office: BIZ2 #02-15
Email:bizcsfd@nus.edu.sg
Consultation Hours: By 3 working days’ advance appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course is to equip students as managers on the use of accounting information internally in
managing an organisation. Students will gain an understanding of the information needed by
managers in planning, control and decision-making. The course will cover topics such as cost
concepts and cost behaviour, costing systems, budgeting, performance analysis, and relevant costs in
decision-making.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The course will equip the students with the understanding of managerial accounting concepts, methods and
uses. The primary objectives of the course are to:
- Help students develop a good understanding of the accounting concepts and mechanisms underlying
managerial accounting information so that they can utilize the information for planning, controlling
and decision-making purposes in business.
- Train students in managerial accounting tools and techniques so that they can analyse and evaluate
company’s performance.
- Provide students with a broad range of real corporate examples with realistic business and managerial
accounting practices.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
Main Textbook
Managerial Accounting for Managers, Noreen E, P Brewer and R Garrison, 3rd Edition, by McGraw Hill
(Bundled with Connect Access Card).
Supplementary Readings will be handed out during classes or posted to IVLE.
Course materials (lecture notes, discussion problems, project materials, etc) will be posted periodically on
IVLE.
MODULE WEBSITE:
The module BMA5005_P1 is set up in IVLE. You need to access the IVLE at least weekly before the lecture
to download the lecture materials and look out for announcements.
CLASS SESSION
Class sessions will consist of lecture presentations combined with student presentations and discussion.
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Punctuality, courtesy & absenteeism: Please arrive PUNCTUALLY. Students whom are absent without
valid reasons will be taken note of and participation marks would be deducted. Please switch your mobile to
silent mode during the class.
LECTURE
For lecture, major points of a topic are covered. Lecture notes will be uploaded to IVLE before the start of
class each week. Students are advised to quick read the lecture notes and the chapters of the recommended
textbook (refer to the lecture plan below) before class each week. Additional readings assigned as and when
would also be uploaded to IVLE before each lecture.
CLASS PARTICIPATION (10%)
Please participate during the case discussions and lessons actively. Marks will be given for class
participations. Please participate by asking questions, answering questions posed by lecturer and fellow
students, offering opinions, relating material taught to your working experiences, commenting on presented
solutions to assignments.
INDIVIDUAL TUTORIAL (20%)
The purpose of the tutorial assignment is to help you to practice the accounting concepts and mechanisms,
and apply them to the questions. This is key part of the learning. All students are expected to complete the
tutorial questions before the due date.
The tutorials will be administered using Connect Online platform using the Connect Access Card where
you can access the tutorial questions and key in your solutions. There will be auto-marking by the system
and the lecturer concurrently. Please complete the tutorial questions before the lecture timing. Late
submission will not be considered for grading and zero mark will be granted.
You can discuss the tutorial questions in your group. However, all submission of the assignment is on an
individual basis via Connect. Each student is required to submit the tutorial.
GROUP CASES (20%)
A group will be assigned to present the solutions of the group cases, while the other students are expected to
contribute to the discussion of the answers. Due to time constraint, sometimes not all the questions can be
discussed during the class, by which, the suggested solutions will be uploaded by the instructor for selfchecking. The grading will be based on the solutions submitted and the presentation. The presentation slides
should be uploaded to the student’s workbin before the lecture by 12noon. Please submit by the deadline
stated. Grading will be based on clarity, conciseness and correctness of your analysis. Details on the cases
will be provided later.
The rest of the class is expected to prepare the assignment and participate actively in the discussion of the
cases. Participation marks would be given.
FINAL TEST (50%)
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The final test is an open-book, open-notes test. All materials covered during the semester in lectures,
presentations, assignments, assigned readings and group project are examinable. All University-approved
calculators are permitted. Any other electronic and mobile devices e.g. laptop, smartphones and mobile
phones are not allowed.
EVALUATION
Your final grade will be determined on the following basis:
Final Test
Individual Tutorial
Group Case Presentation
Class participation
50%
20%
20%
10%
100%
Lecture Plan
Week
Lecture
1
8
Date
Readings*
Tutorial
Noreen Ch 2
Noreen Ch 3
1
Overview of Job Order, Absorption and
14 Oct Variable Costing
Noreen Ch 4 & part of
5 (p162-166)
1
Topic
7 Oct Cost Concepts
Cost-Volume-Profit Relationships
2
9
3
10
21 Oct Activity-Based Costing
Budgeting
Noreen Ch 6
Noreen Ch 9
1
2
4
11
28 Oct Performance Analysis
Standard Costing
Noreen Ch 10
Noreen Ch 11
2
2
5
12
Noreen Ch 7
2
6
13
14
4 Nov Decision Making & Course Wrap Up
Group Case Presentations
11 Nov Group Case Presentations
21 Nov (Fri) Final Test (6-8pm)
*- For supplementary readings for the lecture, please download from IVLE.
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Advisory
Students who have limited work exposure to managerial accounting or business finance background are
likely to find it challenging at the beginning. This is because this will be a new language with its own
unique terminology, concepts and rules, hence time and efforts are needed to familiarize with them. Do
not give up.
Work hard and hope you will have an enjoyable learning experience equipping you with the knowledge to
the accounting world.
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