Management accounting. Management accounting methodology Management accounting in an organization is regulated by
Organization management accounting is an internal affair of the organization itself. As there are no two identical people, so there are no two identical organizations, their differences are determined by the difference in forms of ownership, the scale of activity, various combinations of factors of the external and internal environment - all this necessitates the introduction of certain forms of accounting (both financial and management).
Management accounting, unlike financial accounting, is not mandatory for an organization. The management accounting system serves only the interests of effective management, therefore, the decision on the feasibility of its implementation in one form or another should be made on the basis of an assessment of the ratio of costs and benefits from its operation. In order to consider the system of management accounting in an organization effective, it is necessary that it makes it possible to facilitate the achievement of the goals of the organization with the lowest cost of organizing and operating the system itself.
The organizational structure of the management accounting system is built taking into account:
- the structure of the organization itself;
- information needs of management; -technical capabilities and features of the computer
information system used in the organization;
- qualifications and personal qualities of managers and accountants-analysts.
Large and medium-sized organizations have special divisions in their organizational structure, the tasks of which are to implement individual management accounting procedures (we discussed this in the previous section). Such services, operating at the level of the entire organization, can be called headquarters. In addition, in separate divisions and centers of responsibility, special employees are appointed to coordinate accounting and management work both within the division and with higher levels of management.
In management theory, it is known that currently the most common are three forms of organization:
1. Unitary (linear-functional) structure with an established hierarchy of relationships and responsibilities, existing indefinitely (Fig. 3.4). This is the classic shape organizational structure, it is characterized by strict subordination of employees of the lower management level to senior managers and the transfer of information and commands mainly vertically. Already at the dawn of the industrial era, production in many industries was organized according to this pattern.
The linear-functional form of organization has undoubted advantages, in particular:
- stimulates professional specialization;
- does not allow duplication of functions and responsibilities within the organization;
- improves vertical coordination in each of the functional branches.
Most of the manufacturing and trading companies of small and medium-sized businesses still have a linear-functional organization. However, the disadvantages of this form of organization are also significant: the absence of formal horizontal connections leads to the fact that information can reach lower levels on the "neighboring vertical" only by rising to the very top along 4 our "functional branch. This complicates coordination between individual functional branches, contributes to the manifestation of a conflict of interests and goals of individual functional branches, and thereby increases the costs (financial and time) for managing such a system. Therefore, companies operating in the most technologically advanced industries or manufacturing products for single orders (aerospace, consulting and audit, software production), not content with such a scheme, have at least the beginnings of a matrix form of organization. In a linear-functional form of organization, in addition to accountants-analysts working directly in the structure of the accounting and financial service (in the financial vertical), economists, rationers, administrators of workshops, departments, services (accounting and financial employees at the middle and lower levels of production, sales and other verticals).
2. A divisional (holding) structure is a group of relatively independent divisions, united by common financial management and (most often) property relations (Fig. 3.5). 
In terms of products, the holding can be a vertically integrated structure (in which the result of the activities of one division is transferred for further operations to another) or act as a fully diversified group of companies (if they produce unrelated products or are engaged in sales in different markets). From the point of view of the form of organization, this category includes large companies with noticeable territorial or product disunity, which require a high level of decentralization and delegation of authority. The head office of the holding company deals with strategic planning and the centralized distribution of resources, primarily financial, and also controls the achievement of the units of the goals set for them, also formulated mainly in terms of profit. Companies included in the holding (divisions, divisions, segments) are developing own plans to achieve these goals and are responsible for their implementation. Thus, by delegating the authority to make operational and tactical decisions to divisions, the holding's managers also transfer responsibility for achieving the set goals to the Levels of these divisions. The flip side of the coin is the inevitable duplication of functions by individual departments and the conflict of interests of their managers. With a divisional (holding) form of organization, even financial services are formed not only in management company, but also in each company of the holding separately, and, just like in the linear-functional system, in each company specialists can work both in the administration and in divisions.
3. A matrix structure in which divisions (subsidiaries, projects, etc.) have a certain degree of independence in the implementation of their tasks. At the same time, the owners of a certain profession perform their functions only on a temporary basis, for the duration of a separate project, and easily move between departments, forming a single labor market for functional groups. In organizations of a matrix form, the problem of the relationship between heads of functional units and projects is especially acute.
The principle of organizing the activities of matrix organizations at the operational level is illustrated in Fig. 3.6)
