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Management Accounting

Code: 101201
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Tourism OB 3

Contact lecturer

Name :
Maria Noguera Noguera
Email :
maria.noguera@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Marta-Patricia Aparicio Montesinos

Teaching staff (external to UAB)

MartaPatricia.Aparicio@uab.cat

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites

Objectives

 

  1. Provide basic understanding of the economic and financial context of cost accounting and management accounting, and to introduce students to its basic terminology and purposes.
  2. Help students discover and learn to use the relationship between costs, activity level and profit of a business.
  3. Describe the logic of cost accumulation for inventory valuation and profit measurement.
  4. Introduce students to the absorption and contribution approaches to income statement preparation.
  5. Make students aware of the conceptual intricacy of indirect costs and familiarize them with the main methods used in practice to allocate these costs to cost objects.
  6. Show how to elaborate standard costs
  7. Describe the difference between a static budget and a flexible budget
  8. Introduce students to variance analysis
  9. Introduce students to the concept of a master budget and help them understand its major benefits to an organization
  10. Describe major components of a master budget
  11. Show how to determine flexible-budget and sales-volume variances
  12. Show how to decompose flexible-budget variances into price and efficiency components
  13. Show how to decompose volume variances into market-size, market-share and sales-mix components
  14. Clarify how to differentiate relevant costs and revenues from irrelevant costs and revenues for decision making purposes
  15. Knowledge and reflection on gender inequalities and the different forms of sexism in companies

Learning outcomes

  1. Apply the concepts of financial, accounting and resources management with regard to the tourism product and business, in the different parts of the sector.
  2. Identify the information provided by the financial statements and determine the economic and financial situation of a business.
  3. Issue technical accounting reports on a company's financial situation, suggesting solutions to problems and ways to improve.
  4. Identify a business's financial options in the short and long term.
  5. Apply budget control techniques for costs management, variance analysis and efficiency management.
  6. Develop a capacity for independent learning.
  7. Use communication techniques at all levels.
  8. Take decisions in situations of uncertainty, taking into account potential consequences of these decisions in the short, medium and long term.
  9. Plan, organise and coordinate a work team, creating synergies and showing empathy.
  10. Work in a team.
  11. Plan and manage activities on the basis of quality and sustainability.
  12. Have a business vision, pinpoint the customer's needs and pre-empt possible changes in the environment.

Contents

TOPIC 1. Organizations, management and accounting


  1. Organizations, managers and accounting
  2. The role of accounting in organizations
  3. Differences between financial accounting and management accounting


TOPIC 2. Costs: Concept, Terminology and classification


  1. The concept of cost in accounting and economics
  2. Difference between costs and expenses
  3. Types of cost classification. Gender perspective
  4. Cost of the main factors in service industries
  5. Average costs vs individualized costs
  6. Break-even point and safety margin


TOPIC 3. Costing of Products and Services


  1. Cost accumulation; actual costs
  2. Indirect cost pools and cost allocation
  3. Common cost allocation
  4. Job costing systems
  5. Process costing systems
  6. Others costing systems (Activity based costing, hybrid costing systems, …)


TOPIC 4. Income effects of alternative costing methods


  1. Variable Costing (DC)
  2. Absorption Costing (FCI, FCT)
  3. Alternative denominator concepts. The costs of unused capacity (IR)
  4. Reconciliation of results obtained with variable and absorption costing
  5. Implications for the accounting information systems.


TOPIC 5. Standard Cost: Concept, components and calculation


  1. Concept and usefulness of cost standards
  2. Setting cost standards
  3. Standards for total costs and unit costs


TOPIC 6: Planning, Budgets and budgetary control


  1. Definition and role of budgets
  2. Flexible budget
  3. Steps in preparing an operating budget (sales budget, purchases budget, budgeting operating costs, cash budget…)


TOPIC 7. Budgetary Controland Variance Analysis


  1. Budgetary control as a management tool
  2. Variance analysis of sales budgets
  3. Decomposition of the flexible budget variance
  4. Cost-Volume-Profit analysis



Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Theoretical and practical classes 35 1.4 1, 2, 7, 8, 12
Tutorials 25 1 1, 2, 7
Practical exercises and case solutions 30 1.2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12
Practical exercises and case solutions 20 0.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11
Study (test ans exam preparation) 15 0.6 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12
Preparation of exercises 10 0.4 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11

1.Methodology of the theoretical part of the course: Lecture-type classroom-based classes with explanation regarding the different agenda items. Theoretical classes will be audio-visual (power point presentations, video viewing to support the theory, etc.)

2. Methodology of the practical part of the course: Preparation and class-based presentation of case studies related to theoretical explanations. This exercises and cases are based on analysis of activities of the companies

3. Methodology of the out class learning part of the course (Campus Virtual): The Campus Virtual platform will be used to share information and alternative media in the classroom between students and teacher. Campus Virtual will contain the profile of the course, additional theoretical material in digital from, cases and exercises, links to websites, etc.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Periodical Control 2 30% 2.5 0.1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Periodical Control 1 30% 2.5 0.1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Practical activities 40% 10 0.4 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

This subject will be evaluated as follows:

Continuous assessment:

1. Practical activities (40% of the final grade): Completion and presentation of class discussed exercises and cases,handed-in within the established deadline.

2. Periodical controls: 2 (two) or more exams based on the theoretical materials. This will represent 60% of the final grade.

The exercises and cases will be collected by the instructors during the course, typically during the practical class sessions.

The partial exams can be theoretically oriented (conceptual questions) or have a more practical nature (calculation problems). Some of the exam questions will provide multi-choice answers and others will be open ended.

To approve the subject it is necessary to obtain a score above 5 (five) in average (practical activities and periodical control).

If students do not obtain a minimum grade of 5 through the continuous evaluations shown above, theycan take a final exam.


Final assessment:

For those students who have failed continuous assessment will consist of an exam with two parts (theoretical and practical):

Theoretical part: Multiple-choice questions (20% of the grade)

Practical part: Various case studies to be developed (80% of the grade)

Students who obtain a grade equal to or higher than 3.5 and lower than 5 in the final assessment may sit the resit examination. The maximum final grade for this resit will not exceed 5.

The final exam takes place according to the calendar of the academic activities, which is reported in students’ guide or in the web of the school. The grade of the final exam will be the 100% of the final grade.


Single Assessment:

Students who have request single assessment within the periods established in the academic-administrative calendar, will take an exam (80% of the course grade) consisting of two parts (theoretical and practical):

Theoretical part: Multiple-choice questions (20% of the grade)

Practical part: Various case studies to be developed (80% of the grade)

Exercises to be completed (20% of the course grade), according to the professor’s guidelines.

Students with a grade between 3,5 and 4,9 in the single assessment will have the opportunity to resit the exam, according to the calendar of the academin activities, wich is reported in students' guide or in the web of the school. If these students pass the resit exam, their final grade will be 5.


The grade for the subject will be NOT EVALUABLE when the student attends less than half of the assessment activities and/or does not attend the final exam.


Uso de la Inteligencia Artificial: Uso prohibido

This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all its activities. Any submitted work that contains fragments, exercise solutions, or othercontent generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, withoutthe possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.


Irregularities (Plagiarism/Fraud)

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. If the course guide establishes that obtaining a minimum grade in this assessment activity is an essential requirement to pass the subject, or in the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.



Bibliography

Required textbook

Bhimani A, Horngren CT, Datar SM and Rajan M. (2023). Management and Cost Accounting, Edition 7th.; Pearson Editorial.ISBN: 9781292436029

Del Campo Moreno, Paloma; Parte Esteban, Laura (2019). Contabilidad de costes para la gestión de empresas turísticas, Editorial Sanz y Torres. ISBN:9788417765514

Schuster, Peter, Mareike Heinemann, and Peter Cleary (2021). Management Accounting / Peter Schuster, Mareike Heinemann, Peter Cleary.Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Additional readings

Asociación española de contabilidad y administración de empresas. La contabilidad de gestión. Serie de principios de contabilidad de gestión. AECA.

Anthony RN, Hawkins DF and Merchant KA. Accounting: Text and cases. McGraw-Hill.

Dobson, L.R & Hayes, D.K. Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry, Ed. Wiley. E-Book:

https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Managerial+Accounting+for+the+Hospitality+Industry,+2nd+Edition-p-9781119299271

Drury, C. Management and Cost Accounting. Thomson Learning.

Drury, C. Management Accounting for Business Decisions. Thomson Learning.

Hilton, RW. Managerial Accounting. McGraw Hill.

Horngren CT, Foster G, Datar S. (2020).Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis.Pearson Education. ISBN 9780136713845

World Tourism Organization (2019), Global Report on Women in Tourism – Second Edition, UNWTO, Madrid, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284420384.

Software

Specific software not required

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 English first semester morning-mixed