With
a movement towards globalization approaching, the change brought on
by it can change how companies in the U.S. view their accountants.
First, there are two types of accountants, financial accountants and
managerial accountants. A definition of financial accounting, taken
from Merriam-Webster, is the systematic analysis of information about
the economic affairs of an organization for the use of persons
outside the organization. Merriam-Webster goes on to explain
management accounting as "the creation of reports for planning
and decision-making"... "It's aim is to provide managers
reliable information on the costs of operations and on standards with
which those costs can be compared, to assist them in budgeting".
The key difference to take away from these two definitions is that
financial accounting provides information to people outside of the
organization, and management accounting is aimed at helping managers
within an organization make decisions.
The U.S. becoming more
globalized will increase competition for firms within the country,
therefore making management accountants more valuable to firms. The
survey suggests that U.S. accountants "emphasize the use of
standards to control manufacturing costs after the fact", while
contrasting Japanese accountants use practices that look towards the
future. This difference here lies within the goals set by the
companies. While firms in the U.S. are looking at what they can do
now to lower costs, Japanese firms are looking into the future to
lower costs for products that might not exist yet. Management accountants look toward the future, they set up budgets, forecast,
and steer companies in the right progressive direction. It is more
common for businesses in the U.S. to demonstrate action for personal
gain than it is in Japan, and in an age of globalization and
increased competition companies cannot survive with that type of
mindset and framework.
The
current state of management accounting in the U.S. rewards managers
and puts the company as a whole in jeopardy, and with a rise in
competition approaching is it in firms' best interests to employ
management accountants that make decisions for the best interest of
the company.
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