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Contents v

Decision to Advertise 78 Write-off to Cost of Goods Sold Approach 131


Decision to Reduce the Selling Price 78 Choosing Among Approaches 132
Determining Target Prices 79 Variations from Normal Costing: A Service-Sector
Concepts in Action: Cost–Volume–Profit Analysis Makes Example 133
Subway’s $5 Foot-Long Sandwiches a Success But
Problem for Self-Study 135 | Decision Points 137 |
Innovation Challenges Loom
Sensitivity Analysis and Margin of Safety 80 Terms to Learn 138 | Assignment Material 138 |
Cost Planning and CVP 82 Questions 138 | Multiple-Choice Questions 139 |
Alternative Fixed-Cost/Variable-Cost Exercises 140 | Problems 146
Structures 82
Operating Leverage 83 5 Activity-Based Costing and
Effects of Sales Mix on Income 85 Activity-Based Management 152
CVP Analysis in Service and Not-for-Profit
General Motors and Activity-Based Costing
Organizations 87
Broad Averaging and Its Consequences 153
Contribution Margin Versus Gross Margin 88
Undercosting and Overcosting 153
Problem for Self-Study 89 | Decision Points 90 Product-Cost Cross-Subsidization 154
Simple Costing System at Plastim Corporation 154
APPendIx: decision Models and Uncertainty 91 Design, Manufacturing, and Distribution
Terms to Learn 94 | Assignment Material 95 | Processes 154
Questions 95 | Multiple-Choice Questions 95 | Simple Costing System Using a Single Indirect-Cost
Exercises 96 | Problems 100 Pool 155
Applying the Five-Step Decision-Making Process at
4 Job Costing 107 Plastim 157
Refining A Costing System 158
Job Costing and the World’s Tallest Building
Reasons for Refining a Costing System 159
Building-Block Concepts of Costing Systems 108 Guidelines for Refining a Costing System 159
Job-Costing and Process-Costing Systems 109 Activity-Based Costing Systems 160
Job Costing: Evaluation and Implementation 110 Plastim’s ABC System 160
Time Period Used to Compute Indirect-Cost Cost Hierarchies 162
Rates 111 Implementing Activity-Based Costing 164
Normal Costing 113 Implementing ABC at Plastim 164
General Approach to Job Costing Using Normal Comparing Alternative Costing Systems 169
Costing 113 Considerations In Implementing Activity-Based Costing
Concepts in Action: The Job-Costing “Game Plan” Systems 170
at AT&T Stadium Benefits and Costs of Activity-Based Costing
The Role of Technology 118 Systems 170
Actual Costing 118 Behavioral Issues in Implementing Activity-Based
A Normal Job-Costing System in Manufacturing 120 Costing Systems 171
General Ledger 121 Activity-Based Management 172
Explanations of Transactions 121 Pricing and Product-Mix Decisions 172
Subsidiary Ledgers 124 Cost Reduction and Process Improvement
Materials Records by Type of Material 124 Decisions 172
Labor Records by Employee 125 Design Decisions 173
Manufacturing Department Overhead Records by Planning and Managing Activities 174
Month 126 Activity-Based Costing and Department Costing
Work-in-Process Inventory Records by Jobs 126 Systems 174
Finished Goods Inventory Records by ABC in Service and Merchandising
Jobs 127 Companies 175
Other Subsidiary Records 127 Concepts in Action: Mayo Clinic Uses Time-driven
Nonmanufacturing Costs and Job Costing 127 Activity-Based Costing to Reduce Costs and
Budgeted Indirect Costs and End-of-Accounting-Year Improve Care
Adjustments 128
Underallocated and Overallocated Indirect Problem for Self-Study 176 | Decision Points 179 |
Costs 128 Terms to Learn 180 | Assignment Material 180 |
Adjusted Allocation-Rate Approach 129 Questions 180 | Multiple-Choice Questions 181 |
Proration Approach 129 Exercises 181 | Problems 188
vi Contents

6 Master Budget and Responsibility Price Variances and Efficiency Variances for Direct-Cost
Inputs 258
Accounting 197 Price Variances 259
“Scrimping” at the Ritz: Master Budgets Efficiency Variance 259
Budgets and The Budgeting Cycle 198 Journal Entries Using Standard Costs 262
Strategic Plans and Operating Plans 198 Implementing Standard Costing 264
Budgeting Cycle and Master Budget 199 Management’s Use of Variances 264
Advantages and Challenges of Implementing Multiple Causes of Variances 264
Budgets 200 Concepts in Action: Can Chipotle Wrap Up Its
Promoting Coordination and Communication 200 Materials-Cost Variance Increases?
Providing a Framework for Judging Performance When to Investigate Variances 265
and Facilitating Learning 200 Using Variances for Performance Measurement 266
Motivating Managers and Other Employees 201 Organization Learning 266
Challenges in Administering Budgets 201 Continuous Improvement 267
Developing an Operating Budget 202 Financial and Nonfinancial Performance
Time Coverage of Budgets 202 Measures 267
Steps in Preparing an Operating Budget 202 Benchmarking and Variance Analysis 267
Financial Planning Models and Sensitivity
Analysis 215 Problem for Self-Study 269 | Decision Points 270
Concepts in Action: 24 Hour Fitness and APPendIx: Mix and Yield Variances for Substitutable
Internet-Based Budgeting Inputs 271
Budgeting and Responsibility Accounting 217
Organization Structure and Responsibility 217 Terms to Learn 275 | Assignment Material 275 |
Feedback 218 Questions 275 | Multiple-Choice Questions 275 |
Responsibility and Controllability 219 Exercises 276 | Problems 280
Human Aspects of Budgeting 220
Budgetary Slack 220 8 Flexible Budgets, Overhead Cost
Stretch Targets 221 Variances, and Management
Kaizen Budgeting 222
Budgeting for Reducing Carbon
Control 288
Emissions 223 Tesla Motors Gigafactory
Budgeting in Multinational Companies 223 Planning of Variable and Fixed Overhead Costs 289
Planning Variable Overhead Costs 289
Problem for Self-Study 224 | Decision Points 225 Planning Fixed Overhead Costs 289
Standard Costing at Webb Company 290
APPendIx: The Cash Budget 226
Developing Budgeted Variable Overhead Rates 290
Terms to Learn 232 | Assignment Material 232 | Developing Budgeted Fixed Overhead Rates 291
Questions 232 | Multiple-Choice Questions 233 | Variable Overhead Cost Variances 292
Exercises 233 | Problems 238 Flexible-Budget Analysis 292
Variable Overhead Efficiency Variance 293
7 Flexible Budgets, Direct-Cost Variable Overhead Spending Variance 294
Journal Entries for Variable Overhead Costs and
Variances, and Management Variances 296
Control 249 Fixed Overhead Cost Variances 297
Dell Goes Green to Reduce Standard Costs for Production-Volume Variance 298
Packaging Interpreting the Production-Volume Variance 299
Static Budgets and Variances 250 Journal Entries for Fixed Overhead Costs and
The Use of Variances 250 Variances 300
Static Budgets and Static-Budget Variances 251 Concepts in Action: Variance Analysis and Standard
Flexible Budgets 253 Costing Help Sandoz Manage Its Overhead
Flexible-Budget Variances and Sales-Volume Costs
Variances 254 Integrated Analysis of Overhead Cost Variances 303
Sales-Volume Variances 254 4-Variance Analysis 303
Flexible-Budget Variances 255 Combined Variance Analysis 303
Standard Costs for Variance Analysis 256 Production-Volume Variance and Sales-Volume
Obtaining Budgeted Input Prices and Budgeted Input Variance 305
Quantities 257 Variance Analysis and Activity-Based Costing 307
Contents vii

Flexible Budget and Variance Analysis for Direct Nonmanufacturing Costs 353
Materials-Handling Labor Costs 308 Activity-Based Costing 354
Flexible Budget and Variance Analysis for Fixed Setup
Problem for Self-Study 354 | Decision Points 356
Overhead Costs 310
Overhead Variances in Nonmanufacturing APPendIx: Breakeven Points in Variable Costing and
Settings 312 Absorption Costing 357
Financial and Nonfinancial Performance
Measures 313 Terms to Learn 359 | Assignment Material 359 |
Questions 359 | Multiple-Choice Questions 359 |
Problem for Self-Study 314 | Decision Points 316 | Exercises 361 | Problems 365
Terms to Learn 317 | Assignment Material 317 |
Questions 317 | Multiple-Choice Questions 317 |
Exercises 319 | Problems 323
10 Determining How Costs Behave 372
UPS Uses “Big Data” to Understand Its Costs While
Helping the Environment
9 Inventory Costing and Capacity Basic Assumptions and Examples of Cost
Analysis 329 Functions 373
Lean Manufacturing Helps Boeing Work Through Its Basic Assumptions 373
Backlog Linear Cost Functions 373
Variable and Absorption Costing 330 Review of Cost Classification 375
Variable Costing 330 Identifying Cost Drivers 376
Absorption Costing 330 The Cause-and-Effect Criterion 376
Comparing Variable and Absorption Costing 330 Cost Drivers and the Decision-Making Process 377
Variable vs. Absorption Costing: Operating Income and Cost Estimation Methods 377
Income Statements 332 Industrial Engineering Method 378
Comparing Income Statements for One Year 332 Conference Method 378
Comparing Income Statements for Multiple Years 334 Account Analysis Method 378
Variable Costing and the Effect of Sales and Production Quantitative Analysis Method 379
on Operating Income 337 Estimating a Cost Function Using Quantitative
Absorption Costing and Performance Analysis 380
Measurement 338 High-Low Method 382
Undesirable Buildup of Inventories 339 Regression Analysis Method 384
Proposals for Revising Performance Evaluation 340 Evaluating and Choosing Cost Drivers 385
Comparing Inventory Costing Methods 341 Cost Drivers and Activity-Based Costing 388
Throughput Costing 341 Nonlinear Cost Functions 389
A Comparison of Alternative Inventory-Costing Learning Curves 390
Methods 342 Cumulative Average-Time Learning Model 391
Denominator-Level Capacity Concepts and Fixed-Cost Incremental Unit-Time Learning Model 392
Capacity Analysis 343 Incorporating Learning-Curve Effects into Prices and
Absorption Costing and Alternative Denominator-Level Standards 393
Capacity Concepts 344 Concepts in Action: does Joint Strike Fighter Production
Effect on Budgeted Fixed Manufacturing Cost Have a Learning Curve?
Rate 345 Data Collection and Adjustment Issues 395
Choosing a Capacity Level 346 Problem for Self-Study 397 | Decision Points 399
Product Costing and Capacity Management 346
Pricing Decisions and the Downward Demand APPendIx: Regression Analysis 400
Spiral 347
Terms to Learn 409 | Assignment Material 409 |
Concepts in Action: Can eSPn Avoid the Questions 409 | Multiple-Choice Questions 410 |
Cord-Cutting “death Spiral”?
Exercises 410 | Problems 416
Performance Evaluation 349
Financial Reporting 349
Tax Requirements 352
11 Decision Making and Relevant
Planning and Control of Capacity Costs 352 Information 426
Difficulties in Forecasting Chosen Denominator-Level Relevant Costs and Broadway Shows
Concept 352 Information and the Decision Process 427
Difficulties in Forecasting Fixed Manufacturing The Concept of Relevance 427
Costs 353 Relevant Costs and Relevant Revenues 427
viii Contents

Qualitative and Quantitative Relevant Strategic Analysis of Operating Income 495


Information 429 Growth Component of Change in Operating
One-Time-Only Special Orders 430 Income 497
Potential Problems in Relevant-Cost Analysis 433 Price-Recovery Component of Change in Operating
Short-Run Pricing Decisions 433 Income 498
Insourcing-Versus-Outsourcing and Make-or-Buy Productivity Component of Change in Operating
Decisions 434 Income 499
Outsourcing and Idle Facilities 434 Further Analysis of Growth, Price-Recovery, and
Strategic and Qualitative Factors 436 Productivity Components 501
International Outsourcing 436 Concepts in Action: Operating Income Analysis
The Total Alternatives Approach 437 Reveals Strategic Challenges at Best Buy
Concepts in Action: Starbucks Brews Up domestic Applying the Five-Step Decision-Making Framework to
Production Strategy 504
The Opportunity-Cost Approach 438 Downsizing and the Management of Processing
Carrying Costs of Inventory 441 Capacity 504
Product-Mix Decisions with Capacity Engineered and Discretionary Costs 504
Constraints 442 Identifying Unused Capacity for Engineered and
Bottlenecks, Theory of Constraints, and Throughput- Discretionary Overhead Costs 505
Margin Analysis 444 Managing Unused Capacity 505
Customer Profitability and Relevant Costs 447
Problem for Self-Study 506 | Decision Points 510
Relevant-Revenue and Relevant-Cost Analysis of
Dropping a Customer 448 APPendIx: Productivity Measurement 511
Relevant-Revenue and Relevant-Cost Analysis of
Adding a Customer 450 Terms to Learn 514 | Assignment Material 514 |
Relevant-Revenue and Relevant-Cost Analysis of Questions 514 | Multiple-Choice Questions 514 |
Closing or Adding Branch Offices or Business Exercises 515 | Problems 517
Divisions 450
Irrelevance of Past Costs and Equipment-Replacement 13 Pricing Decisions and Cost
Decisions 451 Management 524
Decisions and Performance Evaluation 453
Extreme Pricing and Cost Management at IKEA
Problem for Self-Study 455 | Decision Points 457 Major Factors that Affect Pricing Decisions 525
Customers 525
APPendIx: Linear Programming 458 Competitors 525
Terms to Learn 461 | Assignment Material 461 | Costs 525
Questions 461 | Multiple-Choice Questions 462 |
Weighing Customers, Competitors, and Costs 525
Costing and Pricing for the Long Run 526
Exercises 463 | Problems 468
Calculating Product Costs for Long-Run Pricing
Decisions 527
12 Strategy, Balanced Scorecard, and Alternative Long-Run Pricing Approaches 528
Strategic Profitability Analysis 477 Market-Based Approach: Target Costing for Target
Barclays Turns to the Balanced Scorecard Pricing 530
What Is Strategy? 478 Understanding Customers’ Perceived Value 530
Building Internal Capabilities: Quality Improvement and Competitor Analysis 531
Reengineering at Chipset 480 Concepts in Action: H&M Uses Target Pricing to
Strategy Implementation and The Balanced Bring Fast Fashion to Stores Worldwide
Scorecard 481 Implementing Target Pricing and Target
The Balanced Scorecard 481 Costing 531
Strategy Maps and the Balanced Scorecard 482 Value Engineering, Cost Incurrence, and Locked-in
Implementing a Balanced Scorecard 488 Costs 533
Different Strategies Lead to Different Value-Chain Analysis and Cross-Functional
Scorecards 489 Teams 533
Environmental and Social Performance and the Balanced Achieving the Target Cost per Unit for
Scorecard 489 Provalue 534
Features of a Good Balanced Scorecard 493 Cost-Plus Pricing 537
Pitfalls in Implementing a Balanced Scorecard 494 Cost-Plus Target Rate of Return on Investment 537
Evaluating the Success of Strategy and Alternative Cost-Plus Methods 538
Implementation 494 Cost-Plus Pricing and Target Pricing 539
Contents ix

Life-Cycle Product Budgeting and Costing 540


Life-Cycle Budgeting and Pricing
15 Allocation of Support-Department
Decisions 540 Costs, Common Costs, and
Managing Environmental and Sustainability Revenues 601
Costs 542 Cost Allocation and “Smart Grid” Energy
Customer Life-Cycle Costing 542 Infrastructure
Non-Cost Factors in Pricing Decisions 543 Allocating Support Department Costs Using the
Price Discrimination 543 Single-Rate and Dual-Rate Methods 602
Peak-Load Pricing 543 Single-Rate and Dual-Rate Methods 602
International Pricing 543 Allocation Based on the Demand for (or Usage of)
Antitrust Laws and Pricing Decisions 544 Materials-Handling Services 603
The Supreme Court has not specified the “appropriate Allocation Based on the Supply of Capacity 604
measure of costs.” 544 Advantages and Disadvantages of Single-Rate
Problem for Self-Study 545 | Decision Points 547 | Method 606
Advantages and Disadvantages of Dual-Rate
Terms to Learn 548 | Assignment Material 549 |
Method 606
Questions 549 | Multiple-Choice Questions 549 |
Budgeted Versus Actual Costs and the Choice of
Exercises 549 | Problems 553 Allocation Base 607
Budgeted Versus Actual Rates 607
14 Cost Allocation, Customer- Budgeted Versus Actual Usage 608
Profitability Analysis, and Sales- Fixed-Cost Allocation Based on Budgeted Rates and
Variance Analysis 559 Budgeted Usage 608
Fixed-Cost Allocation Based on Budgeted Rates and
Delta Flies from Frequent Flyers to Big Spenders
Actual Usage 608
Customer-Profitability Analysis 560
Allocating Budgeted Fixed Costs Based on Actual
Customer-Revenue Analysis 560
Usage 609
Customer-Cost Analysis 561
Allocating Costs of Multiple Support
Customer-Level Costs 562
Departments 610
Customer-Profitability Profiles 565
Direct Method 613
Presenting Profitability Analysis 566
Step-Down Method 614
Concepts in Action: Amazon Prime and Customer Reciprocal Method 615
Profitability Overview of Methods 619
Using the Five-Step Decision-Making Process to Calculating the Cost of Job WPP 298 619
Manage Customer Profitability 568 Allocating Common Costs 621
Cost-Hierarchy-Based Operating Income Stand-Alone Cost-Allocation Method 621
Statement 569 Incremental Cost-Allocation Method 622
Criteria to Guide Cost Allocations 571 Cost Allocations and Contract Disputes 623
Fully Allocated Customer Profitability 573 Bundled Products and Revenue Allocation
Implementing Corporate and Division Cost Methods 624
Allocations 574 Bundling and Revenue Allocation 624
Issues in Allocating Corporate Costs to Divisions Concepts in Action: Contract disputes over
and Customers 577 Reimbursable Costs with the U.S.
Using Fully Allocated Costs for Decision Government
Making 578 Stand-Alone Revenue-Allocation Method 626
Sales Variances 579 Incremental Revenue-Allocation Method 627
Static-Budget Variance 580
Flexible-Budget Variance and Sales-Volume Problem for Self-Study 629 | Decision Points 632 |
Variance 580 Terms to Learn 633 | Assignment Material 633 |
Sales-Mix Variance 581 Questions 633 | Exercises 633 | Problems 637
Sales-Quantity Variance 582
Market-Share and Market-Size Variances 583
Market-Share Variance 583
16 Cost Allocation: Joint Products and
Market-Size Variance 583
Byproducts 643
Joint-Cost Allocation and the Wounded Warrior
Problem for Self-Study 585 | Decision Points 587 | Project
Terms to Learn 588 | Assignment Material 588 | Joint-Cost Basics 644
Questions 588 | Multiple-Choice Questions 589 | Allocating Joint Costs 645
Exercises 589 | Problems 594 Approaches to Allocating Joint Costs 646
x Contents

Concepts in Action: U.S.-South Africa Trade dispute APPendIx: Standard-Costing Method of Process
Over Joint-Cost Allocation Costing 704
Sales Value at Splitoff Method 648
Terms to Learn 708 | Assignment Material 708 |
Physical-Measure Method 648
Questions 708 | Multiple-Choice Questions 708 |
Net Realizable Value Method 650
Constant Gross-Margin Percentage NRV Exercises 710 | Problems 713
Method 651
Choosing an Allocation Method 654 18 Spoilage, Rework, and Scrap 718
Not Allocating Joint Costs 655 Airbag Rework Sinks Honda’s Record Year
Why Joint Costs Are Irrelevant for Decision Defining Spoilage, Rework, and Scrap 719
Making 655 Two Types of Spoilage 719
Sell-or-Process-Further Decisions 655 Normal Spoilage 720
Decision Making and Performance Abnormal Spoilage 720
Evaluation 656 Spoilage in Process Costing Using Weighted-Average
Pricing Decisions 656 and FIFO 720
Accounting for Byproducts 657 Count All Spoilage 721
Production Method: Byproducts Recognized at Time Five-Step Procedure for Process Costing with
Production Is Completed 658 Spoilage 722
Sales Method: Byproducts Recognized at Time of Weighted-Average Method and Spoilage 723
Sale 659 FIFO Method and Spoilage 726
Problem for Self-Study 660 | Decision Points 663 | Journal Entries 727
Terms to Learn 663 | Assignment Material 663 | Inspection Points and Allocating Costs of Normal
Questions 663 | Multiple-Choice Questions 664 | Spoilage 727
Job Costing and Spoilage 730
Exercises 665 | Problems 670
Job Costing and Rework 731
Accounting for Scrap 733
17 Process Costing 675 Recognizing Scrap at the Time of Its Sale 733
Haynes Suffers as Nickel Prices Drop Recognizing Scrap at the Time of Its
Illustrating Process Costing 676 Production 734
Case 1: Process Costing with no Beginning or Ending Concepts in Action: nestlé’s Journey to Zero Waste for
Work-in-Process Inventory 677 disposal
Case 2: Process Costing with Zero Beginning and Some Problem for Self-Study 736 | Decision Points 736
Ending Work-in-Process Inventory 678
Summarizing the Physical Units and Equivalent Units APPendIx: Standard-Costing Method and
(Steps 1 and 2) 679 Spoilage 737
Calculating Product Costs (Steps 3, 4, and 5) 681 Terms to Learn 739 | Assignment Material 739 |
Journal Entries 682
Questions 739 | Multiple-Choice Questions 740 |
Case 3: Process Costing with Some Beginning and Some
Exercises 741 | Problems 744
Ending Work-in-Process Inventory 684
Weighted-Average Method 684
First-In, First-Out Method 687 19 Balanced Scorecard: Quality
Comparing the Weighted-Average and FIFO and Time 748
Methods 691
Toyota Plans Changes After Millions of Defective Cars
Transferred-In Costs in Process Costing 692
Are Recalled
Transferred-In Costs and the Weighted-Average
Quality as a Competitive Tool 749
Method 693
The Financial Perspective: The Costs of
Transferred-In Costs and the FIFO Method 695
Quality 750
Points to Remember About Transferred-In
Using Nonfinancial Measures to Evaluate and Improve
Costs 697
Quality 753
Hybrid Costing Systems 697
The Customer Perspective: Nonfinancial Measures of
Overview of Operation-Costing Systems 697
Customer Satisfaction 753
Concepts in Action: Hybrid Costing for Under Armour 3d
The Internal-Business-Process Perspective:
Printed Shoes
Analyzing Quality Problems and Improving
Illustrating an Operation-Costing System 699
Quality 754
Journal Entries 700
The Learning-and-Growth Perspective: Quality
Problem for Self-Study 701 | Decision Points 703 Improvements 757
Contents xi

Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Improving Special Considerations in Backflush Costing 802
Quality 757 Lean Accounting 804
Evaluating a Company’s Quality Performance 759
Problems for Self-Study 807 | Decision Points 808 |
Time as a Competitive Tool 760
Customer-Response Time and On-Time Terms to Learn 809 | Assignment Material 809 |
Performance 760 Questions 809 | Multiple-Choice Questions 810 |
Bottlenecks and Time Drivers 761 Exercises 810 | Problems 813
Concepts in Action: netflix Works to Overcome
Internet Bottlenecks 21 Capital Budgeting and Cost
Relevant Revenues and Costs of Delays 764 Analysis 818
Balanced Scorecard and Time-Based Measures 766 Changing NPV Calculations Shake Up Solar Financing
Problem for Self-Study 767 | Decision Points 768 | Stages of Capital Budgeting 819
Terms to Learn 769 | Assignment Material 769 | Concepts in Action: Capital Budgeting for
Questions 769 | Multiple-Choice Questions 769 | Sustainability at Johnson & Johnson
Discounted Cash Flow 822
Exercises 770 | Problems 773
Net Present Value Method 823
Internal Rate-of-Return Method 824
20 Inventory Management, Just-in-Time, Comparing the Net Present Value and Internal
and Simplified Costing Methods 778 Rate-of-Return Methods 826
Walmart Uses Big Data to Better Manage Its Sensitivity Analysis 826
Payback Method 827
Inventory
Uniform Cash Flows 827
Inventory Management in Retail Organizations 779
Nonuniform Cash Flows 828
Costs Associated with Goods for Sale 779
Accrual Accounting Rate-of-Return Method 830
The Economic-Order-Quantity Decision
Relevant Cash Flows in Discounted Cash Flow
Model 780
Analysis 831
When to Order, Assuming Certainty 782
Relevant After-Tax Flows 832
Safety Stock 783
Categories of Cash Flows 833
Estimating Inventory-Related Relevant Costs and
Project Management and Performance Evaluation 837
Their Effects 785
Post-Investment Audits 837
Cost of a Prediction Error 785
Performance Evaluation 838
Conflicts Between the EOQ Decision Model and
Strategic Considerations in Capital Budgeting 838
Managers’ Performance Evaluation 786
Investment in Research and Development 838
Just-in-Time Purchasing 787
Customer Value and Capital Budgeting 839
JIT Purchasing and EOQ Model Parameters 787
Relevant Costs of JIT Purchasing 787 Problem for Self-Study 839 | Decision Points 842
Supplier Evaluation and Relevant Costs of Quality
and Timely Deliveries 789 APPendIx: Capital Budgeting and Inflation 843
JIT Purchasing, Planning and Control, and Supply- Terms to Learn 845 | Assignment Material 846 |
Chain Analysis 791 Questions 846 | Multiple-Choice Questions 846 |
Inventory Management, MRP, and JIT
Exercises 847 | Problems 851 | Answers to Exercises in
Production 792
Compound Interest (Exercise 21-21) 855
Materials Requirements Planning 792
Just-in-Time (JIT) Production 792
Features of JIT Production Systems 792 22 Management Control Systems,
Costs and Benefits of JIT Production 793 Transfer Pricing, and Multinational
Concepts in Action: Just-in-Time Live-Concert Considerations 856
Recordings Google’s U.K. Tax Settlement
JIT in Service Industries 794 Management Control Systems 857
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Formal and Informal Systems 857
Systems 794 Effective Management Control 858
Performance Measures and Control in JIT Decentralization 858
Production 795 Benefits of Decentralization 859
Effect of JIT Systems on Product Costing 795 Costs of Decentralization 859
Backflush Costing 796 Comparing Benefits and Costs 860
Simplified Normal or Standard-Costing Decentralization in Multinational Companies 861
Systems 796 Choices About Responsibility Centers 861
xii Contents

Transfer Pricing 862 Target Levels of Performance and Feedback 903


Criteria for Evaluating Transfer Prices 862 Choosing Target Levels of Performance 903
Calculating Transfer Prices 863 Choosing the Timing of Feedback 904
An Illustration of Transfer Pricing 863 Performance Measurement in Multinational
Market-Based Transfer Prices 866 Companies 904
Perfectly-Competitive-Market Case 866 Calculating a Foreign Division’s ROI in the Foreign
Distress Prices 866 Currency 905
Imperfect Competition 867 Calculating the Foreign Division’s ROI in U.S.
Cost-Based Transfer Prices 867 Dollars 906
Full-Cost Bases 867 Distinguishing the Performance of Managers from the
Variable-Cost Bases 869 Performance of Their Subunits 907
Hybrid Transfer Prices 870 The Basic Tradeoff: Creating Incentives Versus
Prorating the Difference Between Maximum and Imposing Risk 907
Minimum Transfer Prices 870 Intensity of Incentives and Financial and
Negotiated Pricing 871 Nonfinancial Measurements 908
Dual Pricing 871 Concepts in Action: Performance Measurement at
A General Guideline for Transfer-Pricing Unilever
Situations 872 Benchmarks and Relative Performance
How Multinationals Use Transfer Pricing to Minimize Evaluation 909
Their Taxes 874 Performance Measures at the Individual Activity
Concepts in Action: e.U. Accuses Starbucks and Level 909
netherlands of Unfair Tax deal Executive Performance Measures and
Transfer Prices Designed for Multiple Compensation 910
Objectives 877 Strategy and Levers of Control 911
Boundary Systems 912
Problem for Self-Study 878 | Decision Points 880 |
Belief Systems 913
Terms to Learn 881 | Assignment Material 881 |
Interactive Control Systems 913
Questions 881 | Exercises 881 | Problems 885
Problem for Self-Study 913 | Decision Points 915 |
23 Performance Measurement, Terms to Learn 916 | Assignment Material 916 |
Compensation, and Multinational Questions 916 | Multiple-Choice Questions 916 |
Considerations 891 Exercises 917 | Problems 921
Executive Compensation at Viacom
Appendix A: Notes on Compound Interest and Interest
Financial and Nonfinancial Performance
Tables 927
Measures 892
Accounting-Based Measures for Business Appendix B: Recommended Readings—available
Units 893 online www.pearsonhighered.com/
Return on Investment 894 horngren
Residual Income 895
Appendix C: Cost Accounting in Professional
Economic Value Added 897
Examination—available online
Return on Sales 898
www.pearsonhighered.com/horngren
Comparing Performance Measures 899
Choosing the Details of the Performance Glossary 935
Measures 899
Index 946
Alternative Time Horizons 899
Alternative Definitions of Investment 900
Alternative Asset Measurements 900
About the Authors
Srikant M. Datar is the Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professor of Business Administration at the
Harvard Business School, Faculty Chair of the Harvard University Innovation Labs, and Se-
nior Associate Dean for University Affairs. A graduate with distinction from the University of
Bombay, he received gold medals upon graduation from the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad, and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India. A chartered accoun-
tant, he holds two master’s degrees and a PhD from Stanford University.
Datar has published his research in leading accounting, marketing, and operations man-
agement journals, including The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research,
Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal
of Accounting Research, and Management Science. He has served as an associate editor and
on the editorial board of several journals and has presented his research to corporate execu-
tives and academic audiences in North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and
Europe. He is a coauthor of two other books: Managerial Accounting: Making Decisions and
Motivating Performance and Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads.
Cited by his students as a dedicated and innovative teacher, Datar received the George
Leland Bach Award for Excellence in the Classroom at Carnegie Mellon University and the
Distinguished Teaching Award at Stanford University.
Datar is a member of the board of directors of Novartis A.G., ICF International, T-Mobile
US, and Stryker Corporation and Senior Strategic Advisor to HCL Technologies. He has worked
with many organizations, including Apple Computer, Boeing, DuPont, Ford, General Motors,
Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Visa, and the World Bank. He is a member of the American Account-
ing Association and the Institute of Management Accountants.

Madhav V. Rajan is the Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting at Stanford University’s


Graduate School of Business. He is also Professor of Law (by courtesy) at Stanford Law School.
From 2010 to 2016, he was Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and head of the MBA
program at Stanford GSB. In 2017, he will receive the Davis Award for Lifetime Achievement
and Service to Stanford GSB.
Rajan received his undergraduate degree in commerce from the University of Madras, In-
dia, and his MS in accounting, MBA, and PhD degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. In
1990, his dissertation won the Alexander Henderson Award for Excellence in Economic Theory.
Rajan’s research focuses on the economics-based analysis of management accounting is-
sues, especially as they relate to internal control, capital budgeting, supply-chain, and perfor-
mance systems. He has published his research in a variety of leading journals, including The
Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research,
Management Science, and Review of Financial Studies. In 2004, he received the Notable Contri-
bution to Management Accounting Literature award. He is a coauthor of Managerial Account-
ing: Making Decisions and Motivating Performance.
Rajan has served as the Departmental Editor for Accounting at Management Science as
well as associate editor for both the accounting and operations areas. From 2002 to 2008, Rajan
served as an editor of The Accounting Review. Rajan has twice been a plenary speaker at the
AAA Management Accounting Conference.
Rajan has received several teaching honors at Wharton and Stanford, including the David W.
Hauck Award, the highest undergraduate teaching award at Wharton. He teaches in the flagship
Stanford Executive Program and is co-director of Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial
Executive. He has participated in custom programs for many companies, including Genentech,
Hewlett-Packard, and nVidia, and is faculty director for the Infosys Global Leadership Program.
Rajan is a director of Cavium, Inc. and iShares, Inc., a trustee of the iShares Trust, and a
member of the C.M. Capital Investment Advisory Board.

xiii
Preface
Studying cost accounting is one of the best business investments a student can make.
Why? Because success in any organization—from the smallest corner store to the largest mul-
tinational corporation—requires the use of cost accounting concepts and practices. Cost
accounting provides key data to managers for planning and controlling, as well as costing
products, services, and even customers. This book focuses on how cost accounting helps man-
agers make better decisions, as cost accountants are increasingly becoming integral members
of their company’s decision-making teams. In order to emphasize this prominence in decision
making, we use the “different costs for different purposes” theme throughout this book. By
focusing on basic concepts, analyses, uses, and procedures instead of procedures alone, we
recognize cost accounting as a managerial tool for business strategy and implementation.
We also prepare students for the rewards and challenges they face in the professional cost
accounting world of today and tomorrow. For example, we emphasize both the development of
analytical skills such as Excel to leverage available information technology and the values and
behaviors that make cost accountants effective in the workplace.

New to This Edition


Deeper Consideration of Global Issues
Businesses today have no choice but to integrate into an increasingly global ecosystem. Virtu-
ally all aspects, including supply chains, product markets, and the market for managerial talent,
have become more international in their outlook. To illustrate this, we incorporate global con-
siderations into many of the chapters. For example, Chapter 6 describes the special challenges
of budgeting in multinational companies while Chapter 23 discusses the challenges of evaluat-
ing the performance of divisions located in different countries. Chapter 22 examines the impor-
tance of transfer pricing in minimizing the tax burden faced by multinational companies. The
Concepts in Action for Chapter 16 explains the importance of joint-cost allocation in creating
a trade war between poultry farms in the United States and South Africa. Several new examples
of management accounting applications in companies are drawn from international settings.

Increased Focus on Merchandising and Service Sectors


In keeping with the shifts in the U.S. and world economy, this edition makes great use of mer-
chandising and service sector examples, with corresponding de-emphasis of traditional manu-
facturing settings. For example, Chapter 10 illustrates linear cost functions in the context of
payments for cloud computing services. Chapter 20 highlights inventory management in retail
organizations and uses an example based on a seller of sunglasses. Chapter 21 incorporates a
running example that looks at capital budgeting in the context of a transportation company.
Several Concepts in Action boxes focus on the merchandising and service sectors, including
achieving cost leadership at Trader Joe’s (Chapter 1), using activity-based costing to reduce
the costs of health care delivery at the Mayo Clinic (Chapter 5), reducing fixed costs at Twitter
(Chapter 2), and analyzing operating income performance at Best Buy (Chapter 12) and web-
based budgeting at 24 Hour Fitness (Chapter 6).

Greater Emphasis on Sustainability


This edition places significant emphasis on sustainability as one of the critical managerial
challenges of the coming decades. Many managers are promoting the development and im-
plementation of strategies to achieve long-term financial, social, and environmental perfor-
mance as key imperatives. We highlight this in Chapter 1 and return to the theme in several
xiv
PrefaCe xv

subsequent chapters. Chapter 12 discusses the benefits to companies from measuring social
and environmental performance and how such measures can be incorporated in a balanced
scorecard. Chapter 23 provides several examples of companies that mandate disclosures and
evaluate managers on environmental and social metrics. A variety of chapters, including
Chapters 2, 4, 6, 10, 13, 15, and 21, contain material that stress themes of recognizing and
accounting for environmental costs, energy independence and the smart grid, setting stretch
targets to motivate greater carbon reductions, using cost analysis, carbon tax, and cap-and-
trade auctions to reduce environmental footprints, and constructing “green” homes in a cost-
effective manner.

Focus on Innovation
We discuss the role of accounting concepts and systems in fostering and supporting innova-
tion and entrepreneurial activities in firms. In particular, we discuss the challenges posed by
recognizing R&D costs as period expenses even though the benefits of innovation accrue in
later periods. In Chapter 6, we describe how companies budget for innovation expenses and
develop measures to monitor success of the innovation efforts delinked from operational
performance in the current period. Chapter 11 presents the importance of nonfinancial mea-
sures when making decisions about innovation. Chapter 13 stresses that innovation starts
with understanding customer needs while Chapter 19 discusses process innovations for im-
proving quality.

New Cutting-Edge Topics


The pace of change in organizations continues to be rapid. The sixteenth edition of Cost Ac-
counting reflects changes occurring in the role of cost accounting in organizations.
• We have introduced sustainability strategies and the methods companies use to implement
sustainability and business goals.
• We describe ideas based on academic research regarding the weights to be placed on per-
formance measures in a balanced scorecard. We have also added a new section on meth-
ods to evaluate strategy maps such as the strength of links, differentiators, focal points,
and trigger points.
• We have provided details on the transfer pricing strategies used by multinational technol-
ogy firms such as Apple and Google to minimize income taxes.
• We discuss current trends in the regulation of executive compensation.
• We describe the evolution of enterprise resource planning systems and newer simplified
costing systems that practice lean accounting.
• We have added new material around recent trends in big data and data analytics in pre-
dicting costs and when making demand forecasts.

Opening Vignettes
Each chapter opens with a vignette on a real company situation. The vignettes engage the
reader in a business situation or dilemma, illustrating why and how the concepts in the chapter
are relevant in business. For example, Chapter 2 describes how surf wear company Quiksilver
was driven into bankruptcy by the relatively high proportion of fixed costs in its operations.
Chapter 5 explains the use of activity-based costing by General Motors to evaluate its sup-
pliers. Chapter 9 highlights the use of lean manufacturing by Boeing to work through its
backlog of orders and reduce its inventory costs. Chapter 14 shows how Delta made changes
to its frequent flyer program to reward its most profitable customers, who drive a dispropor-
tionate share of Delta’s revenues. Chapter 18 shows the impact on Honda of the rework costs
associated with recalling millions of cars with defective airbags. Chapter 23 describes the
misalignment between performance measurement and pay at Viacom, whose CEO has since
been forced to step down.
xvi PrefaCe

Concepts in Action Boxes


Found in every chapter, these boxes cover real-world cost accounting issues across a variety of
industries, including defense contracting, entertainment, manufacturing, retailing, and sports.
New examples include:
• Cost–Volume–Profit Analysis Makes Subway’s $5 Foot-Long Sandwiches a Success but
Innovation Challenges Loom (Chapter 3)
• Can Chipotle Wrap Up Its Materials-Cost Variance Increases? (Chapter 7)
• H&M Uses Target Pricing to Bring Fast Fashion to Stores Worldwide (Chapter 13)
• Amazon Prime and Customer Profitability (Chapter 14)
• Hybrid Costing for Under Armour 3D Printed Shoes (Chapter 17)
• Netflix Works to Overcome Internet Bottlenecks (Chapter 19)

Streamlined Presentation
We continue to try to simplify and streamline our presentation of various topics to make it as
easy as possible for students to learn the concepts, tools, and frameworks introduced in dif-
ferent chapters. We received positive feedback for the reorganization of Chapters 12 through
16 in the fifteenth edition and have maintained that order in the sixteenth edition. Chapter 13
is the first of four chapters on cost allocation. We introduce the purposes of cost allocation in
Chapter 13 and discuss cost allocation for long-run product costing and pricing. Continuing
the same example, Chapter 14 discusses cost allocation for customer costing. Chapter 15 builds
on the Chapter 4 example to discuss cost allocation for support departments. Chapter 16
discusses joint cost allocation.
Other examples of streamlined presentations can be found in:
• Chapter 2 on the discussion of fundamental cost concepts and the managerial framework
for decision making.
• Chapter 6, where the appendix ties the cash budget to the chapter example.
• Chapter 8, which has a comprehensive chart that lays out all of the variances described in
Chapters 7 and 8.
• Chapter 9, which uses a single two-period example to illustrate the impact of various
inventory-costing methods and denominator level choices.

Try It! Examples


Found throughout the chapter, Try It! interactive questions give students the opportunity to
apply the concept they just learned. Linking in the eText will allow students to practice in My-
AccountingLab© without interrupting their interaction with the eText.

Becker Multiple-Choice Questions


Sample problems, assignable in MyAccountingLab, provide an introduction to the CPA Exam
format and an opportunity for early practice with CPA exam style questions.

Selected Chapter-by-Chapter Content Changes


Thank you for your continued support of Cost Accounting. In every new edition, we strive to
update this text thoroughly. To ease your transition from the fifteenth edition, here are selected
highlights of chapter changes for the sixteenth edition.
Chapter 1 has been rewritten to include greater discussion of sustainability and innova-
tion and why these issues have become increasingly critical for managers. We discuss the chal-
lenges of planning and control for innovation and sustainability and how companies use these
systems to manage these activities. We continue to emphasize the importance of ethics, values,
and behaviors in improving the quality of financial reporting.
Chapter 2 has been updated and revised to make it easier for students to understand core
cost concepts and to provide a framework for how cost accounting and cost management help
PrefaCe xvii

managers make decisions. We have added more material on environmental costs to explain
how and why these costs may be missed in costing systems even though they are a part of
product costs. We discuss the challenges of accounting for R&D costs and the implications
for innovation.
Chapter 3 now includes greater managerial content, using examples from real companies
to illustrate the value of cost–volume–profit analysis in managerial decision making. We have
rewritten the section on CVP analysis in service and not-for-profit companies using the context
of a management consulting firm. Chapter 4 has been revised to discuss the creation of cost
pools, the level of fixed costs in a seasonal business, and the need to adjust normal costs to
actual costs using end-of-accounting-year adjustments. The chapter also develops the criteria
for allocating costs and relates them to real examples to highlight why managers need allocated
cost information to make decisions.
Chapter 5 adds more discussion of product undercosting and overcosting and refining a
costing system. The chapter example has been changed to add new material on time-driven
activity-based costing (TDABC) compared to driver-rate activity-based costing. We integrate
the discussion of behavioral considerations in implementing activity-based costing with the
technical material in the chapter.
Chapter 6 presents material on the mismatch between costs incurred for breakthrough
innovations in the annual budget and the revenues earned in that year. The chapter describes
ways to delink innovation from current year operational performance by developing measures
to monitor the success of innovation efforts. The chapter discusses how stretch targets motivate
greater carbon reductions. We also elaborate on tradeoffs managers must make when choosing
different organization structures.
In Chapter 7, the appendix on mix and yield variances, which used a one-off example, has
now been recast using the same running example that winds its way through both Chapters 7
and 8. Chapter 8 provides a revised comprehensive summary of the variances in both Chapters
7 and 8 via an innovative exhibit.
Chapter 9 retains the simplified two-period integrated example of capacity choice. There
is greater emphasis now on linking the impact of the choice of capacity concept to recent
changes in financial reporting and tax requirements.
Chapter 10 provides an expanded description of big data and the reasons behind the ex-
plosion in data availability and analytics today. It also incorporates several examples of how
companies are gathering and using large quantities of data to make better decisions.
Chapter 11 has been revised to emphasize nonfinancial factors in decisions, particularly
in environmental and innovation decisions. The chapter explicitly considers how relevant
cost analysis is distinct from the absorption costing method of preparing financial state-
ments under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The focus is on identifying
and understanding why relevant costs and relevant revenues are important when making
decisions.
Chapter 12 introduces a completely new section around evaluating strategy maps by iden-
tifying strong and weak links, differentiators, focal points, and trigger points. There is a new
exhibit to present these concepts. The chapter also ties the Chipset strategy decision to the
general discussion of strategy.
The new Chapter 13 makes significant revisions to the sections on target pricing and target
costing, cost-plus pricing, and life-cycle budgeting. The chapter presents new material on car-
bon tax, cap-and-trade auctions, and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
New examples have been added when discussing predatory pricing, dumping, and collusive
pricing.
Chapter 14 was completely rewritten in the fifteenth edition. The current revision makes
a number of changes to improve the clarity of the writing and to motivate different concepts.
The section on cost-hierarchy-based operating income has been rewritten and the section on
fully allocated customer profitability has been streamlined.
Chapter 15 was also heavily revised in the fifteenth edition. The current revision makes
several significant changes to clarify concepts and improve exposition. The sections on single-
rate and dual-rate methods, budgeted versus actual costs, and the choice of allocation bases
have all been substantially rewritten. The Concepts in Action box uses updated federal cases on
contract disputes centered around cost allocation.
xviii PrefaCe

Chapter 16 provides a discussion of the rationale for joint-cost allocation and the merits
and demerits of various joint-cost allocation methods. It includes a new opening vignette and a
new real-world example to highlight the controversies that can result from using inappropriate
methods of joint-cost allocation.
Chapters 17 and 18 provide a managerial lens on the estimation of equivalent units and the
choice between the FIFO and weighted-average costing methods, both in the chapter content
and in the new vignettes and real-world examples. The exhibits have been reformatted to make
clear how various components are added to get the total costs. Chapter 18 emphasizes, with
illustrative examples, the theme of striving for zero waste and a sustainable environment.
Chapter 19 focuses on quality and time. The sections on control charts, weighing the costs
and benefits of improving quality, and evaluating a company’s quality performance have been
rewritten. This revision also makes major changes to and reorganizes the section on bottlenecks
and time drivers.
Chapter 20 emphasizes the importance of choosing the correct products to sell, deeply
understanding customers, and pricing smartly as ways to manage inventory. It discusses the
role of big data and better demand forecasts in reducing demand uncertainty and safety stocks
and in implementing materials requirements planning (MRP) systems. The section on the cost
of a prediction error has been revised to link to Exhibit 20-1. The section on lean accounting
has been rewritten and simplified.
Chapter 21 focuses on the role of capital budgeting in supporting the choice of sustain-
able long-term projects. The new opening vignette looks at the financing of residential solar
panels, the integrated example deals with the purchase of a new hybrid-engine bus, and various
examples throughout the chapter and in the new Concepts in Action illustrate how companies
incorporate sustainability in their capital budgeting decisions.
Chapter 22 has been revised to reflect the most recent developments in the controversial use
of transfer prices for tax minimization by multinational corporations, with several real-world
examples. The revision also highlights the changing regulatory environment across the world
and provides updated information on the use of tools such as advance pricing agreements.
Chapter 23 describes the use of environmental, social, and ethical objectives by companies
as part of top management’s pay structures, with new examples of companies that embed
sustainability targets into compensation systems. It discusses the latest SEC regulations on
disclosure of executive compensation and the impact of Dodd-Frank “say on pay” rules.

Hallmark Features of Cost Accounting


• Exceptionally strong emphasis on managerial uses of cost information
• Clarity and understandability of the text
• Excellent balance in integrating modern topics with traditional coverage
• Emphasis on human behavior aspects
• Extensive use of real-world examples
• Ability to teach chapters in different sequences
• Excellent quantity, quality, and range of assignment material
The first thirteen chapters provide the essence of a one-term (quarter or semester) course.
There is ample text and assignment material in the book’s twenty-three chapters for a two-term
course. This book can be used immediately after the student has had an introductory course in
financial accounting. Alternatively, this book can build on an introductory course in manage-
rial accounting.
Deciding on the sequence of chapters in a textbook is a challenge. Because every instructor
has a unique way of organizing his or her course, we utilize a modular, flexible organization
that permits a course to be custom tailored. This organization facilitates diverse approaches to
teaching and learning.
As an example of the book’s flexibility, consider our treatment of process costing. Pro-
cess costing is described in Chapters 17 and 18. Instructors interested in filling out a student’s
PrefaCe xix

perspective of costing systems can move directly from job-order costing described in Chapter 4
to Chapter 17 without interruption in the flow of material. Other instructors may want their
students to delve into activity-based costing and budgeting and more decision-oriented topics
early in the course. These instructors may prefer to postpone discussion of process costing.

Resources
In addition to this textbook and MyAccountingLab, a companion website is available for stu-
dents at www.pearsonhighered.com/horngren.
The following resources are available for instructors in MyAccountingLab and on the
Instructors Resource Center at www.pearsonhighered.com/horngren.
• Solutions Manual
• Test Bank in Word and TestGen, including algorithmic questions
• Instructors Manual
• PowerPoint Presentations
• Image Library

Acknowledgments
We are indebted to many people for their ideas and assistance. Our primary thanks go to the
many academics and practitioners who have advanced our knowledge of cost accounting. The
package of teaching materials we present is the work of skillful and valued team members de-
veloping some excellent end-of-chapter assignment material. Tommy Goodwin provided out-
standing research assistance on technical issues and current developments. We would also like
to thank the dedicated and hard-working supplement author team and Integra. The book is
much better because of the efforts of these colleagues.
In shaping this edition and past editions we would like to thank all the reviewers and col-
leagues who have worked closely with us and the editorial team.
We also would like to thank our colleagues who helped us greatly by accuracy checking
the text and supplements, including Molly Brown, Barbara Durham, Anna Jensen, and Sandra
Cereola.
We thank the people at Pearson for their hard work and dedication, including Donna
Battista, Ellen Geary, Christine Donovan, Elizabeth Geary, and Martha LaChance. We extend
special thanks to Claire Hunter, the development editor on this edition, who took charge of
this project and directed it across the finish line. This book would not have been possible with-
out their dedication and skill. Sue Nodine at Integra expertly managed the production aspects
of the manuscript’s preparation with superb skill and tremendous dedication. We are deeply
appreciative of their good spirits, loyalty, and ability to stay calm in the most hectic of times.
Appreciation also goes to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the In-
stitute of Management Accountants, the Society of Management Accountants of Canada, the
Certified General Accountants Association of Canada, the Financial Executive Institute of
America, and many other publishers and companies for their generous permission to quote
from their publications. Problems from the Uniform CPA examinations are designated (CPA);
problems from the Certified Management Accountant examination are designated (CMA);
problems from the Canadian examinations administered by the Society of Management Ac-
countants are designated (SMA); and problems from the Certified General Accountants As-
sociation are designated (CGA). Many of these problems are adapted to highlight particular
points. We are grateful to the professors who contributed assignment material for this edition.
Their names are indicated in parentheses at the start of their specific problems. Comments
from users are welcome.
Srikant M. Datar
Madhav V. Rajan
In memory of Charles T. Horngren 1926–2011
Chuck Horngren revolutionized cost and management accounting. He loved new ideas and introduced
many new concepts. He had the unique gift of explaining these concepts in simple and creative ways. He
epitomized excellence and never tired of details, whether it was finding exactly the right word or working
and reworking assignment materials.
He combined his great intellect with genuine humility and warmth and a human touch that inspired
others to do their best. He taught us many lessons about life through his amazing discipline, his ability to
make everyone feel welcome, and his love of family.
It was a great privilege, pleasure, and honor to have known Chuck Horngren. Few individuals will
have the enormous influence that Chuck had on the accounting profession. Fewer still will be able to do
it with the class and style that was his hallmark. He was unique, special, and amazing in many, many
ways and, at once, a role model, teacher, mentor, and friend. He will be deeply missed.
Srikant M. Datar
Harvard University
MaDhav v. rajan
Stanford University

To Our Families
Swati, Radhika, Gayatri, Sidharth (SD)
Gayathri, Sanjana, Anupama (MVR)
The Manager and
Management Accounting 1
All businesses are concerned about revenues and costs. Learning Objectives
Managers at companies small and large must understand how revenues and costs
behave or risk losing control of the performance of their firms. Managers use cost 1 Distinguish financial accounting from
management accounting
accounting information to make decisions about research and development, produc-
tion planning, budgeting, pricing, and the products or services to offer customers. 2 Understand how management
accountants help firms make
Sometimes these decisions involve tradeoffs. The following article shows how under- strategic decisions
standing costs and pricing helps companies like Coca-Cola increase profits even as
the quantity of products sold decreases. 3 Describe the set of business
functions in the value chain
and identify the dimensions of
performance that customers are
For CoCa-Cola, Smaller SizeS mean expecting of companies

Bigger ProFitS 4 Explain the five-step decision-


making process and its role in
Can selling less of something be more profitable than selling more of it? As consumers management accounting

become more health conscious, they are buying less soda. “Don’t want to drink too
5 Describe three guidelines
management accountants follow
much?” Get a smaller can. “Don’t want so many calories?” Buy a smaller can. “Don’t
in supporting managers
want so much sugar?” Just drink a smaller can. In 2015, while overall sales of soda in
the United States declined in terms of volume, industry revenue was higher. How, you 6 Understand how management
accounting fits into an
ask? Soda companies are charging more for less! organization’s structure
Coca-Cola has been the market leader in selling smaller sizes of soda to con-
sumers. Sales of smaller packages of Coca-Cola—including 8-packs of 12-ounce
7 Understand what professional
ethics mean to management
bottles and 7.5-ounce cans—rose 15% in 2015. Meanwhile, accountants

sales of larger bottles and cans fell. The price per ounce of Coke
sold in smaller cans is higher than the price per ounce of Coke
sold in bulk. The resulting higher profits from the sales of smaller
sizes of soda made up for the decrease in total volume of soda
sold. If these trends toward buying smaller cans continue, Coca-
Cola will be selling less soda, but making more money, for years
to come.
By studying cost accounting, you will learn how success-
ful managers and accountants run their businesses and prepare
yourself for leadership roles in the firms you work for. Many large
companies, including Nike and the Pittsburgh Steelers, have se-
nior executives with accounting backgrounds.

Sources: Mike Esterl, “Smaller Sizes Add Pop to Soda Sales,” The Wall Street
Journal, January 27, 2016 (http://www.wsj.com/articles/smaller-sizes-add-pop-to-
soda-sales-1453890601); Trefis, “How Coke Is Making the Most Out of Falling Soda
Volumes,” January 5, 2016 (http://www.trefis.com/stock/ko/articles/327882/how-coke-is-
making-the-most-out-of-falling-soda-volumes/2016-01-05). urbanbuzz/Alamy Stock Photo

1
2 Chapter 1 the Manager and ManageMent aCCounting

Financial Accounting, Management


Accounting, and Cost Accounting
Learning
1
As many of you have already learned in your financial accounting class, accounting systems
Objective are used to record economic events and transactions, such as sales and materials purchases,
and process the data into information helpful to managers, sales representatives, production
Distinguish financial
accounting
supervisors, and others. Processing any economic transaction means collecting, categorizing,
summarizing, and analyzing. For example, costs are collected by category, such as materials, la-
. . . reporting on past bor, and shipping. These costs are then summarized to determine a firm’s total costs by month,
performance to external
users
quarter, or year. Accountants analyze the results and together with managers evaluate, say, how
costs have changed relative to revenues from one period to the next. Accounting systems also
from management provide the information found in a firm’s income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash
accounting
flow, and performance reports, such as the cost of serving customers or running an advertising
. . . helping managers campaign. Managers use this information to make decisions about the activities, businesses,
make decisions or functional areas they oversee. For example, a report that shows an increase in sales of lap-
tops and iPads at an Apple store may prompt Apple to hire more salespeople at that location.
Understanding accounting information is essential for managers to do their jobs.
Individual managers often require the information in an accounting system to be pre-
sented or reported differently. Consider, for example, sales order information. A sales
manager at Porsche may be interested in the total dollar amount of sales to determine the
commissions paid to salespeople. A distribution manager at Porsche may be interested in the
sales order quantities by geographic region and by customer-requested delivery dates to en-
sure vehicles get delivered to customers on time. A manufacturing manager at Porsche may be
interested in the quantities of various products and their desired delivery dates so that he or
she can develop an effective production schedule.
To simultaneously serve the needs of all three managers, Porsche creates a database,
sometimes called a data warehouse or infobarn, consisting of small, detailed bits of informa-
tion that can be used for multiple purposes. For instance, the sales order database will contain
detailed information about a product, its selling price, quantity ordered, and delivery details
(place and date) for each sales order. The database stores information in a way that allows
different managers to access the information they need. Many companies are building their
own enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. An ERP system is a single database that col-
lects data and feeds them into applications that support a company’s business activities, such
as purchasing, production, distribution, and sales.
Financial accounting and management accounting have different goals. As you know,
financial accounting focuses on reporting financial information to external parties such as in-
vestors, government agencies, banks, and suppliers based on Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (GAAP). The most important way financial accounting information affects manag-
ers’ decisions and actions is through compensation, which is often, in part, based on numbers
in financial statements.
Management accounting is the process of measuring, analyzing, and reporting financial
and nonfinancial information that helps managers make decisions to fulfill the goals of an
organization. Managers use management accounting information to:
1. develop, communicate, and implement strategies,
2. coordinate product design, production, and marketing decisions and evaluate a company’s
performance.
Management accounting information and reports do not have to follow set principles or
rules. The key questions are always (1) how will this information help managers do their jobs
better, and (2) do the benefits of producing this information exceed the costs?
Exhibit 1-1 summarizes the major differences between management accounting and fi-
nancial accounting. Note, however, that reports such as balance sheets, income statements,
and statements of cash flows are common to both management accounting and financial
accounting.
Cost accounting provides information for both management accounting and financial
accounting professionals. Cost accounting is the process of measuring, analyzing, and
reporting financial and nonfinancial information related to the costs of acquiring or using
StrategiC deCiSionS and the ManageMent aCCountant 3

exhiBit 1-1 Major Differences Between Management and Financial Accounting

Management Accounting Financial Accounting


Purpose of information Help managers make decisions Communicate an organization’s financial
to fulfill an organization’s goals position to investors, banks, regulators,
and other outside parties

Primary users Managers of the organization External users such as investors, banks,
regulators, and suppliers

Focus and emphasis Future-oriented (budget for Past-oriented (reports on 2016


2017 prepared in 2016) performance prepared in 2017)

Rules of measurement Internal measures and reports Financial statements must be prepared
and reporting do not have to follow GAAP but in accordance with GAAP and be
are based on cost-benefit analyses certified by external, independent auditors

Time span and type of Varies from hourly information Annual and quarterly financial reports,
reports to 15 to 20 years, with financial primarily on the company as a whole
and nonfinancial reports on
products, departments, territories,
and strategies

Behavioral implications Designed to influence the behavior Primarily reports economic events
of managers and other employees but also influences behavior because
manager’s compensation is often based
on reported financial results

resources in an organization. For example, calculating the cost of a product is a cost account-
ing function that meets both the financial accountant’s inventory-valuation needs and the
management accountant’s decision-making needs (such as deciding how to price products
and choosing which products to promote). However, today most accounting professionals
take the perspective that cost information is part of the management accounting informa-
tion collected to make management decisions. Thus, the distinction between management
accounting and cost accounting is not so clear-cut, and we often use these terms interchange-
ably in the book.
Businesspeople frequently use the term cost management. Unfortunately, the term does
not have an exact definition. In this book we use cost management to describe the activities DecisiOn
managers undertake to use resources in a way that increases a product’s value to customers Point
and achieves an organization’s goals. In other words, cost management is not only about re- How is financial
ducing costs. Cost management also includes making decisions to incur additional costs—for accounting different from
example, to improve customer satisfaction and quality and to develop new products—with management accounting?
the goal of enhancing revenues and profits. Whether or not to enter new markets, implement
new organizational processes, and change product designs are also cost management deci-
sions. Information from accounting systems helps managers to manage costs, but the infor-
mation and the accounting systems themselves are not cost management.

Strategic Decisions and the Management


Learning
Objective 2
Understand how man-
Accountant agement accountants
help firms make strategic
A company’s strategy specifies how the organization matches its own capabilities with decisions
the opportunities in the marketplace. In other words, strategy describes how an orga- . . . they provide information
nization creates value for its customers while distinguishing itself from its competitors. about the sources of com-
Businesses follow one of two broad strategies. Some companies, such as Southwest petitive advantage
4 Chapter 1 the Manager and ManageMent aCCounting

Airlines and Vanguard (the mutual fund company), follow a cost leadership strategy.
They profit and grow by providing quality products or services at low prices and by ju-
diciously managing their costs. Other companies such as Apple and the pharmaceutical
giant Johnson & Johnson follow a product differentiation strategy. They generate profits
and growth by offering differentiated or unique products or services that appeal to their
customers and are often priced higher than the less-popular products or services of their
competitors.
Deciding between these strategies is a critical part of what managers do. Management
accountants work closely with managers in various departments to formulate strategies
by providing information about the sources of competitive advantage, such as (1) the
company’s cost, productivity, or efficiency advantage relative to competitors or (2) the
premium prices a company can charge over its costs from distinctive product or service
features. Strategic cost management describes cost management that specifically focuses
on strategic issues.
Management accounting information helps managers formulate strategy by answering
questions such as the following:
■ Who are our most important customers, and what critical capability do we have to
be competitive and deliver value to our customers? After Amazon.com’s success sell-
ing books online, management accountants at Barnes & Noble outlined the costs and
benefits of several alternative approaches for enhancing the company’s information
technology infrastructure and developing the capability to sell books online. A similar
cost–benefit analysis led Toyota to build flexible computer-integrated manufacturing
plants that enable it to use the same equipment efficiently to produce a variety of cars in
response to changing customer tastes.
■ What is the bargaining power of our customers? Kellogg Company, for example, uses the
reputation of its brand to reduce the bargaining power of its customers and charge higher
prices for its cereals.
■ What is the bargaining power of our suppliers? Management accountants at Dell
Computers consider the significant bargaining power of Intel, its supplier of micropro-
cessors, and Microsoft, its supplier of operating system software, when considering how
much it must pay to acquire these products.
■ What substitute products exist in the marketplace, and how do they differ from our prod-
uct in terms of features, price, cost, and quality? Hewlett-Packard, for example, designs,
costs, and prices new printers after comparing the functionality and quality of its printers
to other printers available in the marketplace.
DecisiOn ■ Will adequate cash be available to fund the strategy, or will additional funds need to be
Point raised? Procter & Gamble, for example, issued new debt and equity to fund its strategic
How do management acquisition of Gillette, a maker of shaving products.
accountants support
strategic decisions? The best-designed strategies and the best-developed capabilities are useless unless they are
effectively executed. In the next section, we describe how management accountants help man-
agers take actions that create value for their customers.
Learning
Objective 3
Describe the set of busi- Value-Chain and Supply-Chain Analysis
ness functions in the
value chain and identify
and Key Success Factors
the dimensions of perfor- Customers demand much more than just a fair price; they expect quality products (goods or
mance that customers are
expecting of companies
services) delivered in a timely way. The entire customer experience determines the value a cus-
tomer derives from a product. In this section, we explore how a company goes about creating
. . . R&D, design, produc- this value.
tion, marketing, distribu-
tion, and customer service
supported by administra- Value-Chain Analysis
tion to achieve cost and
efficiency, quality, time, The value chain is the sequence of business functions by which a product is made progres-
and innovation sively more useful to customers. Exhibit 1-2 shows six primary business functions: research
Value-Chain and Supply-Chain analySiS and Key SuCCeSS FaCtorS 5

exhiBit 1-2 Different Parts of the Value Chain

Administration

Research Design of
Customer
and Products and Production Marketing Distribution
Service
Development Processes

and development (R&D), design of products and processes, production, marketing, distribu-
tion, and customer service. We illustrate these business functions with Sony Corporation’s
television division.
1. Research and development (R&D)—generating and experimenting with ideas related to
new products, services, or processes. At Sony, this function includes research on alterna-
tive television signal transmission and on the picture quality of different shapes and thick-
nesses of television screens.
2. Design of products and processes—detailed planning, engineering, and testing of
products and processes. Design at Sony includes deciding on the component parts in a
television set and determining the effect alternative product designs will have on the set’s
quality and manufacturing costs. Some representations of the value chain collectively refer
to the first two steps as technology development.1
3. Production—procuring, transporting, and storing (“inbound logistics”) and coordinating
and assembling (“operations”) resources to produce a product or deliver a service. The
production of a Sony television set includes the procurement and assembly of the elec-
tronic parts, the screen and the packaging used for shipping.
4. Marketing (including sales)—promoting and selling products or services to customers or
prospective customers. Sony markets its televisions at tradeshows, via advertisements in
newspapers and magazines, on the Internet, and through its sales force.
5. Distribution—processing orders and shipping products or services to customers (“out-
bound logistics”). Distribution for Sony includes shipping to retail outlets, catalog ven-
dors, direct sales via the Internet, and other channels through which customers purchase
new televisions.
6. Customer service—providing after-sales service to customers. Sony provides customer ser-
vice on its televisions in the form of customer-help telephone lines, support on the Internet,
and warranty repair work.
In addition to the six primary business functions, Exhibit 1-2 shows an administra-
tion function, which includes accounting and finance, human resource management, and
information technology and supports the six primary business functions. When discuss-
ing the value chain in subsequent chapters of the book, we include the administration
function within the primary functions. For example, included in the marketing function
is the function of analyzing, reporting, and accounting for resources spent in differ-
ent marketing channels, whereas the production function includes the human resource
management function of training frontline workers. Each of these business functions is
essential to companies satisfying their customers and keeping them satisfied (and loyal)
over time.
To implement their corporate strategies, companies such as Sony and Procter & Gamble
use customer relationship management (CRM), a strategy that integrates people and tech-
nology in all business functions to deepen relationships with customers, partners, and dis-
tributors. CRM initiatives use technology to coordinate all customer-facing activities (such

1
M. Porter, Competitive Advantage (New York: Free Press, 1998).
6 Chapter 1 the Manager and ManageMent aCCounting

as marketing, sales calls, distribution, and after-sales support) and the design and production
activities necessary to get products to customers.
Different companies create value in different ways. Lowe’s (the home-improvement re-
tailer) does so by focusing on cost and efficiency. Toyota Motor Company does so by focus-
ing on quality. Fast response times at eBay create quality experiences for the online auction
giant’s customers, whereas innovation is primarily what creates value for the customers of the
biotech company Roche. The Italian apparel company Gucci creates value for its customers
through the prestige of its brand. As a result, at different times and in different industries, one
or more of the value-chain functions are more critical than others. For example, a company
such as Roche emphasizes R&D and the design of products and processes. In contrast, a
company such as Gucci focuses on marketing, distribution, and customer service to build its
brand.
Exhibit 1-2 depicts the usual order in which different business-function activities
physically occur. Do not, however, interpret Exhibit 1-2 to mean that managers should
proceed sequentially through the value chain when planning and managing their activi-
ties. Companies gain (in terms of cost, quality, and the speed with which new products
are developed) if two or more of the individual business functions of the value chain work
concurrently as a team. For example, a company’s production, marketing, distribution,
and customer service personnel can often reduce a company’s total costs by providing
input for design decisions.
Managers track costs incurred in each value-chain category. Their goal is to reduce
costs to improve efficiency or to spend more money to generate even greater revenues.
Management accounting information helps managers make cost–benefit tradeoffs. For ex-
ample, is it cheaper to buy products from a vendor or produce them in-house? How does
investing resources in design and manufacturing increase revenues or reduce costs of market-
ing and customer service?

Supply-Chain Analysis
The parts of the value chain associated with producing and delivering a product or service—
production and distribution—are referred to as the supply chain. The supply chain de-
scribes the flow of goods, services, and information from the initial sources of materials and
services to the delivery of products to consumers, regardless of whether those activities oc-
cur in one organization or in multiple organizations. Consider Coke and Pepsi: Many com-
panies play a role in bringing these products to consumers as the supply chain in Exhibit 1-3
shows. Part of cost management emphasizes integrating and coordinating activities across
all companies in the supply chain to improve performance and reduce costs. For example, to
reduce materials-handling costs, both the Coca-Cola Company and Pepsi Bottling Group
require their suppliers (such as plastic and aluminum companies and sugar refiners) to fre-
quently deliver small quantities of materials directly to their production floors. Similarly,
to reduce inventory levels in the supply chain, Walmart requires its suppliers, such as Coca-
Cola, to directly manage its inventory of products to ensure the right amount of them are in
its stores at all times.

exhiBit 1-3 Supply Chain for a Cola Bottling Company

Suppliers of
Manufacturer Bottling Distribution Retail Final
Cola-Concentrate
of Concentrate Company Company Company Consumer
Ingredients

Suppliers of
Non-Concentrate
Materials/Services
Value-Chain and Supply-Chain analySiS and Key SuCCeSS FaCtorS 7

Key Success Factors


Customers want companies to use the value chain and supply chain to deliver ever-improving
levels of performance when it comes to several (or even all) of the following:

■ Cost and efficiency—Companies face continuous pressure to reduce the cost of the
products they sell. To calculate and manage the cost of products, managers must first
understand the activities (such as setting up machines or distributing products) that
cause costs to arise as well as monitor the marketplace to determine the prices custom-
ers are willing to pay for the products. Management accounting information helps
managers calculate a target cost for a product by subtracting from the “target price”
the operating income per unit of product that the company wants to earn. To achieve
the target cost, managers eliminate some activities (such as rework) and reduce the
costs of performing other activities in all value-chain functions—from initial R&D to
customer service (see Concepts in Action: Trader Joe’s Recipe for Cost Leadership).
Many U.S. companies have cut costs by outsourcing some of their business functions.
Nike, for example, has moved its manufacturing operations to China and Mexico,
and Microsoft and IBM are increasingly doing their software development in Spain,
Eastern Europe, and India.
■ Quality—Customers expect high levels of quality. Total quality management (TQM) is
an integrative philosophy of management for continuously improving the quality of prod-
ucts and processes. Managers who implement TQM believe that every person in the value
chain is responsible for delivering products and services that exceed customers’ expecta-
tions. Using TQM, companies design products or services to meet customer needs and
wants, to make these products with zero (or very few) defects and waste, and to minimize
inventories. Managers use management accounting information to evaluate the costs and
revenue benefits of TQM initiatives.
■ Time—Time has many dimensions. Two of the most important dimensions are new-
product development time and customer-response time. New-product development time
is the time it takes for companies to create new products and bring them to market. The
increasing pace of technological innovation has led to shorter product life cycles and more
rapid introduction of new products. To make new-product development decisions, man-
agers need to understand the costs and benefits of a product over its life cycle, including
the time and cost of developing new products.
Customer-response time describes the speed at which an organization responds to
customer requests. To increase the satisfaction of their customers, organizations need
to meet their promised delivery dates as well as reduce their delivery times. Bottlenecks
are the primary cause of delays. For example, a bottleneck can occur when the work
to be performed on a machine exceeds its available capacity. To deliver the product on
time, managers need to increase the capacity of the machine to produce more output.
Management accounting information can help managers quantify the costs and ben-
efits of doing so.
■ Innovation—A constant flow of innovative products or services is the basis for the ongo-
ing success of a company. Many companies innovate in their strategies, business models,
the services they provide, and the way they market, sell, and distribute their products.
Managers rely on management accounting information to evaluate alternative R&D and
investment decisions and the costs and benefits of implementing innovative business mod-
els, services, and marketing plans.
■ Sustainability—Companies are increasingly applying the key success factors of cost and
efficiency, quality, time, and innovation to promote sustainability—the development and
implementation of strategies to achieve long-term financial, social, and environmental
goals. The sustainability efforts of the Japanese copier company Ricoh include energy
conservation, resource conservation, product recycling, and pollution prevention. By de-
signing products that can be easily recycled, Ricoh simultaneously improves sustainability
and the cost and quality of its products.
8 Chapter 1 the Manager and ManageMent aCCounting

cOncepts Trader Joe’s Recipe


in actiOn for Cost Leadership

Trader Joe’s has a special recipe for cost leadership: delivering unique
products at reasonable prices. The grocery store chain stocks its shelves
with low-cost, high-end staples (cage-free eggs and sustainably harvested
seafood) and affordable luxuries (Speculoos cookie butter and Sriracha
and roasted garlic BBQ sauce) that are distinct from what traditional su-
permarkets offer. Trader Joe’s can offer these items at everyday low prices
by judiciously managing its costs.
At Trader Joe’s, customers swap selection for value. The company
has relatively small stores with a carefully selected, constantly changing
mix of items. While typical grocery stores carry 50,000 items, Trader Joe’s
BirchTree/Alamy Stock Photo sells only about 4,000 items. In recent years, it removed nonsustainable
items from its shelves, including genetically modified items. About 80% of
the stock bears the Trader Joe’s brand, and management seeks to minimize costs of these items. The company purchases
directly from manufacturers, which ship their items straight to Trader Joe’s warehouses to avoid third-party distribution
costs. With small stores and limited storage space, Trader Joe’s trucks leave the warehouse centers daily. This encourages
precise, just-in-time ordering and a relentless focus on frequent merchandise turnover.
This winning combination of quality products and low prices has turned Trader Joe’s into one of the hottest retail-
ers in the United States. Its stores sell an estimated $13 billion annually, or $1,734 in merchandise per square foot, which is
nearly double Whole Foods, its top competitor.

Sources: Beth Kowitt, “Inside the Secret World of Trader Joe’s,” Fortune, August 23, 2010 (http://archive.fortune.com/2010/08/20/news/companies/
inside_trader_joes_full_version.fortune/index.htm); Christopher Palmeri, “Trader Joe’s Recipe for Success,” Bloomberg Businessweek, February
21, 2008 (http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2008-02-20/trader-joes-recipe-for-success); Allessandra Ran, “Teach Us, Trader Joe: Demanding
Socially Responsible Food,” The Atlantic, August 7, 2012 (http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/08/teach-us-trader-joe-demanding-socially-
responsible-food/260786/); Aaron Ahlburn and Keisha McDonnough, “Retail ShopTopic,” Retail Research, September 2014, Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.
(http://www.us.jll.com/united-states/en-us/Research/JLL-ShopTopic-Grocery-share.pdf); “Trader Joe’s Customer Choice Award Winners,” Trader Joe’s
Co. press release, Monrovia, CA: January 4, 2016 (http://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/trader-joes-customer-choice-award-winners).

The interest in sustainability appears to be intensifying among companies. General


Electric, Poland Springs (a bottled-water manufacturer), and Hewlett-Packard are among the
many companies incorporating sustainability into their decision making. Sustainability is im-
portant to these companies for several reasons:

■ More and more investors care about sustainability. These investors make investment deci-
sions based on a company’s financial, social, and environmental performance and raise
questions about sustainability at shareholder meetings.
■ Companies that emphasize sustainability find that sustainability goals attract and inspire
employees.
■ Customers prefer the products of companies with good sustainability records and boycott
companies with poor sustainability records.
■ Society and activist nongovernmental organizations, in particular, monitor the sustain-
ability performance of firms and take legal action against those that violate environ-
mental laws. Countries with fast-growing economies, such as China and India, are now
DecisiOn either requiring or encouraging companies to develop and report on their sustainability
Point initiatives.
How do companies Management accountants help managers track the key success factors of their firms as
add value, and what
well as those of their competitors. Competitive information serves as a benchmark managers
are the dimensions
of performance that use to continuously improve their operations. Examples of continuous improvement include
customers are expecting Southwest Airlines’ efforts to increase the number of its flights that arrive on time, eBay’s
of companies? efforts to improve the access its customers have to online auctions, and Lowe’s efforts to
deCiSion MaKing, planning, and Control: the FiVe-Step deCiSion-MaKing proCeSS 9

continuously reduce the cost of its home-improvement products. Sometimes, more funda-
mental changes and innovations in operations, such as redesigning a manufacturing process
to reduce costs, may be necessary. To successfully implement their strategies, firms have to do
more than analyze their value chains and supply chains and execute key success factors. They
also have to have good decision-making processes.

Decision Making, Planning, and Control:


The Five-Step Decision-Making Process
Learning
4
We illustrate a five-step decision-making process using the example of the Daily News, a
newspaper in Boulder, Colorado. Subsequent chapters of the book describe how managers use Objective
this five-step decision-making process to make many different types of decisions.
Explain the five-step
The Daily News differentiates itself from its competitors by using (1) highly respected decision-making process
journalists who write well-researched news articles, (2) color to enhance attractiveness to read-
ers and advertisers, and (3) a Web site that delivers up-to-the-minute news, interviews, and . . . identify the problem and
uncertainties; obtain infor-
analyses. The newspaper has the following resources to deliver on this strategy: an automated, mation; make predictions
computer-integrated, state-of-the-art printing facility; a Web-based information technology about the future; make deci-
infrastructure; and a distribution network that is one of the best in the newspaper industry. sions by choosing among
To keep up with steadily increasing production costs, Naomi Crawford, manager of alternatives; implement the
the Daily News, needs to increase the company’s revenues in 2017. As she ponders what she decision, evaluate perfor-
mance, and learn
should do in early 2017, Naomi works through the five-step decision-making process.
and its role in management
1. Identify the problem and uncertainties. Naomi has two main choices: accounting
a. increase the selling price of the newspaper or . . . planning and control of
b. increase the rate per page charged to advertisers. operations and activities
The key uncertainty is the effect any increase in prices or rates will have on demand. A
decrease in demand could offset the price or rate increases and lead to lower rather than
higher revenues. These decisions would take effect in March 2017.
2. Obtain information. Gathering information before making a decision helps managers
gain a better understanding of uncertainties. Naomi asks her marketing manager to talk
to some representative readers to gauge their reaction to an increase in the newspaper’s
selling price. She asks her advertising sales manager to talk to current and potential ad-
vertisers to assess demand for advertising. She also reviews the effect that past increases in
the price of the newspaper had on readership. Ramon Sandoval, management accountant
at the Daily News, presents information about the effect of past increases or decreases in
advertising rates on advertising revenues. He also collects and analyzes information on
advertising rates competing newspapers and other media outlets charge.
3. Make predictions about the future. Based on this information, Naomi makes predic-
tions about the future. She concludes that increasing prices would upset readers and
decrease readership. She has a different view about advertising rates. She expects a mar-
ketwide increase in advertising rates and believes that increasing rates will have little effect
on the number of advertising pages sold.
Naomi recognizes that making predictions requires judgment. She looks for biases
in her thinking. Has she correctly judged reader sentiment or is the negative publicity of
a price increase overly influencing her decision making? How sure is she that competitors
will increase their advertising rates? Is her thinking in this respect biased by how competi-
tors have responded in the past? Have circumstances changed? How confident is she that
her sales representatives can convince advertisers to pay higher rates? After retesting her
assumptions and reviewing her thinking, Naomi feels comfortable with her predictions
and judgments.
4. Make decisions by choosing among alternatives. When making decisions, a com-
pany’s strategy serves as a vital guidepost for the many individuals in different parts
of the organization making decisions at different times. Consistent strategies provide
a common purpose for these disparate decisions. Only if these decisions can be aligned
with its strategy will an organization achieve its goals. Without this alignment, the
10 Chapter 1 the Manager and ManageMent aCCounting

company’s decisions will be uncoordinated, pull the organization in different directions,


and produce inconsistent results.
Consistent with a product differentiation strategy, Naomi decides to increase adver-
tising rates by 4% to $5,200 per page in March 2017, but not increase the selling price of
the newspaper. She is confident that the Daily News’s distinctive style and Web presence
will increase readership, creating value for advertisers. She communicates the new ad-
vertising rate schedule to the sales department. Ramon estimates advertising revenues of
$4,160,000 ($5,200 per page * 800 pages predicted to be sold in March 2017).
Steps 1 through 4 are collectively referred to as planning. Planning consists of selecting
an organization’s goals and strategies, predicting results under various alternative ways of
achieving those goals, deciding how to attain the desired goals, and communicating the goals
and how to achieve them to the entire organization. Management accountants serve as busi-
ness partners in these planning activities because they understand the key success factors and
what creates value.
The most important planning tool when implementing strategy is a budget. A budget is the
quantitative expression of a proposed plan of action by management and is an aid to coordinating
what needs to be done to execute that plan. For March 2017, the budgeted advertising revenue of
the Daily News equals $4,160,000. The full budget for March 2017 includes budgeted circulation
revenue and the production, distribution, and customer-service costs to achieve the company’s
sales goals; the anticipated cash flows; and the potential financing needs. Because multiple de-
partments help prepare the budget, personnel throughout the organization have to coordinate
and communicate with one another as well as with the company’s suppliers and customers.
5. Implement the decision, evaluate performance, and learn. Managers at the Daily News
take action to implement and achieve the March 2017 budget. The firm’s management ac-
countants then collect information on how the company’s actual performance compares to
planned or budgeted performance (also referred to as scorekeeping). The information on the
actual results is different from the predecision planning information Naomi and her staff
collected in Step 2, which enabled her to better understand uncertainties, to make predic-
tions, and to make a decision. Allowing managers to compare actual performance to bud-
geted performance is the control or postdecision role of information. Control comprises
taking actions that implement the planning decisions, evaluating past performance, and
providing feedback and learning to help future decision making.
Measuring actual performance informs managers how well they and their sub-
units are doing. Linking rewards to performance helps motivate managers. These
rewards are both intrinsic (recognition for a job well done) and extrinsic (salary, bo-
nuses, and promotions linked to performance). We discuss this in more detail in a later
chapter (Chapter 23). A budget serves as much as a control tool as a planning tool. Why?
Because a budget is a benchmark against which actual performance can be compared.
Consider performance evaluation at the Daily News. During March 2017, the newspaper sold
advertising, issued invoices, and received payments. The accounting system recorded these
invoices and receipts. Exhibit 1-4 shows the Daily News’s advertising revenues for March
2017. This performance report indicates that 760 pages of advertising (40 pages fewer than

exhiBit 1-4 Performance Report of Advertising Revenues at the Daily News


for March 2017

Difference: Difference as a
Actual Budgeted (Actual Result 2 Percentage of
Result Amount Budgeted Amount) Budgeted Amount
(1) (2) (3) 5 (1) 2 (2) (4) 5 (3) 4 (2)
Advertising pages sold 760 pages 800 pages 40 pages Unfavorable 5.0% Unfavorable
Average rate per page $5,080 $5,200 $120 Unfavorable 2.3% Unfavorable
Advertising revenues $3,860,800 $4,160,000 $299,200 Unfavorable 7.2% Unfavorable
deCiSion MaKing, planning, and Control: the FiVe-Step deCiSion-MaKing proCeSS 11

the budgeted 800 pages) were sold. The average rate per page was $5,080, compared with the
budgeted $5,200 rate, yielding actual advertising revenues of $3,860,800. The actual advertis-
ing revenues were $299,200 less than the budgeted $4,160,000. Observe how managers use both
financial and nonfinancial information, such as pages of advertising, to evaluate performance.
The performance report in Exhibit 1-4 spurs investigation and learning, which involves
examining past performance (the control function) and systematically exploring alternative
ways to make better-informed decisions and plans in the future. Learning can lead to changes
in goals, strategies, the ways decision alternatives are identified, and the range of information
collected when making predictions and sometimes can lead to changes in managers.
The performance report in Exhibit 1-4 would prompt the management accountant to
raise several questions directing the attention of managers to problems and opportunities. Is
the strategy of differentiating the Daily News from other newspapers attracting more readers?
Did the marketing and sales department make sufficient efforts to convince advertisers that,
even at the higher rate of $5,200 per page, advertising in the Daily News was a good buy?
Why was the actual average rate per page ($5,080) less than the budgeted rate ($5,200)? Did
some sales representatives offer discounted rates? Did economic conditions cause the decline
in advertising revenues? Are revenues falling because editorial and production standards have
declined? Are more readers getting their news online?
Answers to these questions could prompt the newspaper’s publisher to take subsequent
actions, including, for example, adding more sales personnel, making changes in editorial
policy, putting more resources into expanding its presence online and on mobile devices, get-
ting readers to pay for online content, and selling digital advertising. Good implementation
requires the marketing, editorial, and production departments to work together and coordi-
nate their actions.
The management accountant could go further by identifying the specific advertisers that
cut back or stopped advertising after the rate increase went into effect. Managers could then
decide when and how sales representatives should follow up with these advertisers.
Planning and control activities must be flexible enough so that managers can seize oppor-
tunities unforeseen at the time the plan was formulated. In no case should control mean that
managers cling to a plan when unfolding events (such as a sensational news story) indicate DecisiOn
that actions not encompassed by that plan (such as spending more money to cover the story) Point
would offer better results for the company (from higher newspaper sales). How do managers make
The left side of Exhibit 1-5 provides an overview of the decision-making processes at the decisions to implement
Daily News. The right side of the exhibit highlights how the management accounting system strategy?
aids in decision making.
Planning and control activities get more challenging when monitoring and managing inno-
vation and sustainability. Consider the problem of how the Daily News must innovate as more
of its readers migrate to the Web to get their news. Now follow the five-step process we de-
scribed earlier. In Step 1, the uncertainties are much greater. Will there be demand for a news-
paper? Will customers look to the Daily News to get their information or to other sources? In
Step 2, obtaining information is more difficult because there is little history that managers can
comfortably rely on. Instead, managers will have to make connections across disparate data,
run experiments, engage with diverse experts, and speculate to understand how the world
might evolve. In Step 3, making predictions about the future will require developing different
scenarios and models. In Step 4, managers will need to make decisions knowing that conditions
might change in unanticipated ways that will require them to be flexible and correct course
midstream. In Step 5, the learning component is critical. How have the uncertainties evolved
and what do managers need to do to respond to these changing circumstances?
Planning and control for sustainability is equally challenging. What should the Daily
News do about energy consumption in its printing presses, recycling of newsprint, and pollu-
tion prevention? Among the uncertainties managers face is whether customers will reward the
Daily News for these actions by being more loyal and whether investors will react favorably
to managers spending resources on sustainability. Information to gauge customer and inves-
tor sentiment is not easy to obtain. Predicting how sustainability efforts might pay off in the
long run is far from certain. Even as managers make decisions, the sustainability landscape
will doubtlessly change with respect to environmental regulations and societal expectations,
requiring managers to learn and adapt.
12 Chapter 1 the Manager and ManageMent aCCounting

exhiBit 1-5 Example of Management


Management Decision Making Accounting
How Accounting Aids at Daily News System
Decision Making,
PLANNING Budgets
Planning, and Control Financial
• Identify the Problem and Uncertainties • Expected advertising representation
at the Daily News How to increase revenues pages sold, rate per of plans
• Obtain Information page, and revenue
• Make Predictons About the Future
• Make Decisions by Choosing Among
Alternatives
Increase advertising rates by 4%

CONTROL Accounting System Recording


• Source documents transactions
Implement the (invoices to advertisers and
Decision indicating pages sold, classifying
• Implement a 4% rate per page, and them in
Learning

increase in payments received) accounting


advertising rates records
• Recording in general
and subsidiary ledgers

Evaluate
Performance
and Learn Performance Reports
Reports
• Advertising revenues • Comparing actual
comparing
7.2% lower than advertising pages sold,
actual results
budgeted average rate per page, and
to budgets
revenue to budgeted
amounts

Do these challenges of implementing planning and control systems for innovation and
sustainability mean that these systems should not be used for these initiatives? No. Many
companies find value in using these systems to manage innovation and sustainability. But,
in keeping with the challenges described earlier, companies such as Johnson & Johnson use
these systems in a different way to obtain information around key strategic uncertainties, to
implement plans while being mindful that circumstances might change, and to evaluate per-
formance in order to learn. We will return to the themes of innovation and sustainability at
various points in the book.

Key Management Accounting Guidelines


Learning
5
Three guidelines help management accountants provide the most value to the strategic and
Objective operational decision making of their companies: (1) employ a cost–benefit approach, (2) give
full recognition to behavioral and technical considerations, and (3) use different costs for dif-
Describe three guidelines
management accoun-
ferent purposes.
tants follow in supporting
managers Cost–Benefit Approach
. . . employing a cost– Managers continually face resource-allocation decisions, such as whether to purchase a new
benefit approach, rec-
ognizing behavioral as
software package or hire a new employee. They use a cost–benefit approach when making
well as technical consid- these decisions. Managers should spend resources if the expected benefits to the company
erations, and calculating exceed the expected costs. Managers rely on management accounting information to quantify
different costs for different expected benefits and expected costs (although all benefits and costs are not easy to quantify).
purposes Consider the installation of a consulting company’s first budgeting system. Previously,
the company used historical recordkeeping and little formal planning. A major benefit of
installing a budgeting system is that it compels managers to plan ahead, compare actual to
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“The squire called her eighteen,” said Mr. Jones, giving a wink to
his wife, as much as to say, that’s about the right age for Stephen.
“I wonder if she is handsome,” said Susan, who was somewhat
vain of her own looks, and having been a sort of reigning belle in
Pond village for some time, felt a little alarm at the idea of a rival.
“I dare be bound she’s handsome,” said Mrs. Jones, “if she’s
sister to Miss Johnson; for where’ll you find a handsomer woman
than Miss Johnson, go the town through?”
After supper, Stephen went down to Mr. Robinson’s store, and
told the news to young Charles Robinson and all the young fellows
who were gathered there for a game at quoits and a ring at wrestling.
And Susan went directly over to Mr. Bean’s and told Patty, and Patty
went round to the Widow Davis’ and told Sally, and before nine
o’clock the matter was pretty well understood in about every house
in the village.
At the close of the fourth day, a little before sunset, a chaise was
seen to drive up to Squire Johnson’s door. Of course the eyes of the
whole village were turned in that direction. Sally Davis, who was just
coming in from milking, set her pail down on the grass by the side of
the road as soon as the chaise came in sight, and watched it till it
reached the squire’s door, and the gentleman and lady had got out
and gone into the house. Patty Bean was doing up the ironing that
afternoon, and she had just taken a hot iron from the fire as the
chaise passed the door, and she ran with it in her hand and stood on
the door steps till the whole ceremony of alighting, greeting, and
entering the house, was over. Old Mrs. Bean stood with her head out
of the window, her iron-bowed spectacles resting upon the top of her
forehead, her shriveled hand placed across her eyebrows to defend
her red eyes from the rays of the setting sun, and her skinny chin
protruding about three inches in advance of a couple of stubs of
teeth, which her open mouth exposed fairly to view.
“Seems to me they are dreadful loving,” said old Mrs. Bean, as
she saw Mrs. Johnson descend the steps and welcome her sister
with a kiss.
“La me, if there isn’t the squire kissing of her tu,” said Patty; “well,
I declare, I would a waited till I got into the house, I’ll die if I wouldn’t.
It looks so vulgar to be kissing afore folks, and out doors tu; I should
think Squire Johnson would be ashamed of himself.”
“Well, I shouldn’t,” said young John Bean, who came up at that
moment, and who had passed the chaise just as the young lady
alighted from it. “I shouldn’t be ashamed to kiss sich a pretty gal as
that any how; I’d kiss her wherever I could ketch her, if it was in the
meetin-house.”
“Why, is she handsome, Jack?” said Patty.
“Yes, she’s got the prettiest little puckery kind of a mouth I’ve
seen this six months. Her cheeks are red, and her eyes shine like
new buttons.”
“Well,” replied Patty, “if she’ll only take the shine off of Susan
Jones when she goes to meetin, Sunday, I sha’n’t care.”
While these observations were going on at old Mr. Bean’s,
Charles Robinson and a group of young fellows with him were
standing in front of Robinson’s store, a little farther down the road,
and watching the scene that was passing at Squire Johnson’s. They
witnessed the whole with becoming decorum, now and then making
a remark about the fine horse and the handsome chaise, till they saw
the tall squire bend his head down and give the young lady a kiss,
when they all burst out into a loud laugh. In a moment, being
conscious that their laugh must be heard and noticed at the squire’s,
they, in order to do away the impression it must necessarily make, at
once turned their heads the other way, and Charles Robinson, who
was quick at an expedient, knocked off the hat of the lad who was
standing next to him, and then they all laughed louder than before.
“Here comes Jack Bean,” said Charles, “now we shall hear
something about her, for Jack was coming by the squire’s when she
got out of the chaise. How does she look, Jack?”
“Handsome as a picter,” said Jack. “I haint seen a prettier gal
since last Thanksgiving Day, when Jane Ford was here to visit
Susan Jones.”
“Black eyes or blue?” said Charles.
“Blue,” said Jack, “but all-fired bright.”
“Tall or short?” said Stephen Jones, who was rather short himself,
and therefore felt a particular interest on that point.
“Rather short,” said Jack, “but straight and round as our young
colt.”
“Do you know what her name is?” said Charles.
“They called her Lucy when she got out of the chaise,” said Jack,
“and as Miss Johnson’s name was Brown before she was married, I
s’pose her name must be Lucy Brown.”
“Just such a name as I like,” said Charles Robinson; “Lucy Brown
sounds well. Now suppose, in order to get acquainted with her, we
all hands take a sail to-morrow night, about this time, on the pond,
and invite her to go with us.”
“Agreed,” said Stephen Jones. “Agreed,” said Jack Bean.
“Agreed,” said all hands.
The question then arose, who should carry the invitation to her;
and the young men being rather bashful on that score, it was finally
settled that Susan Jones should bear the invitation, and accompany
her to the boat, where they should all be in waiting to receive her.
The next day was a very long day, at least to most of the young men
of Pond village; and promptly, an hour before sunset, most of them
were assembled, with half a score of their sisters and female
cousins, by a little stone wharf on the margin of the pond, for the
proposed sail. All the girls in the village, of a suitable age, were
there, except Patty Bean. She had undergone a good deal of
fidgeting and fussing during the day, to prepare for the sail, but had
been disappointed. Her new bonnet was not done; and as for
wearing her old flap-sided bonnet, she declared she would not, if she
never went. Presently Susan Jones and Miss Lucy Brown were seen
coming down the road. In a moment all were quiet, the laugh and the
joke were hushed, and each one put on his best looks. When they
arrived, Susan went through the ceremony of introducing Miss
Brown to each of the ladies and gentlemen present.
“But how in the world are you going to sail?” said Miss Brown,
“for there isn’t a breath of wind; and I don’t see any sail-boat,
neither.”
“Oh, the less wind we have, the better, when we sail here,” said
Charles Robinson; “and there is our sail-boat,” pointing to a flat-
bottomed scow-boat, some twenty feet long by ten wide.
“We don’t use no sails,” said Jack Bean; “sometimes, when the
wind is fair, we put up a bush to help pull along a little, and when
’tisn’t, we row.”
The party were soon embarked on board the scow, and a couple
of oars were set in motion, and they glided slowly and pleasantly
over as lovely a sheet of water as ever glowed in the sunsetting ray.
In one hour’s time, the whole party felt perfectly acquainted with Miss
Lucy Brown. She had talked in the most lively and fascinating
manner; she had told stories and sung songs. Among others, she
had given Moore’s boat song, with the sweetest possible effect; and
by the time they returned to the landing, it would hardly be too much
to say that half the young men in the party were decidedly in love
with her.
A stern regard to truth requires a remark to be made here, not
altogether favorable to Susan Jones, which is the more to be
regretted, as she was in the main an excellent hearted girl, and
highly esteemed by the whole village. It was observed that as the
company grew more and more pleased with Miss Lucy Brown,
Susan Jones was less and less animated, till at last she became
quite reserved, and apparently sad. She, however, on landing,
treated Miss Brown with respectful attention, accompanied her home
to Squire Johnson’s door, and cordially bade her good night.
The casual glimpses which the young men of Pond village had of
Miss Brown during the remainder of the week, as she occasionally
stood at the door, or looked out at the window, or once or twice when
she walked out with Susan Jones, and the fair view they all had of
her at meeting on the Sabbath, served but to increase their
admiration, and to render her more and more an object of attraction.
She was regarded by all as a prize, and several of them were
already planning what steps it was best to take in order to win her.
The two most prominent candidates, however, for Miss Brown’s
favor, were Charles Robinson and Stephen Jones. Their position and
standing among the young men of the village seemed to put all
others in the back ground. Charles, whose father was wealthy, had
every advantage which money could procure. But Stephen, though
poor, had decidedly the advantage over Charles in personal
recommendations. He had more talent, was more sprightly and
intelligent, and more pleasing in his address. From the evening of
the sail on the pond, they had both watched every movement of Miss
Brown with the most intense interest; and, as nothing can deceive a
lover, each had, with an interest no less intense, watched every
movement of the other. They had ceased to speak to each other
about her, and if her name was mentioned in their presence, both
were always observed to color.
The second week after her arrival, through the influence of Squire
Johnson, the district school was offered to Miss Brown on the other
side of the pond, which offer was accepted, and she went
immediately to take charge of it. This announcement at first threw
something of a damper upon the spirits of the young people of Pond
village. But when it was understood the school would continue but a
few weeks, and being but a mile and a half distant, Miss Brown
would come home every Saturday afternoon, and spend the
Sabbath, it was not very difficult to be reconciled to the temporary
arrangement. The week wore away heavily, especially to Charles
Robinson and Stephen Jones. They counted the days impatiently till
Saturday, and on Saturday they counted the long and lagging hours
till noon. They had both made up their minds that it would be
dangerous to wait longer, and they had both resolved not to let
another Sabbath pass without making direct proposals to Miss
Brown.
Stephen Jones was too early a riser for Charles Robinson, and,
in any enterprise where both were concerned, was pretty sure to
take the lead, except where money could carry the palm, and then,
of course, it was always borne away by Charles. As Miss Lucy had
been absent most of the week, and was to be at home that
afternoon, Charles Robinson had made an arrangement with his
mother and sisters to have a little tea party in the evening, for the
purpose of inviting Miss Brown; and then, of course, he should walk
home with her in the evening; and then, of course, would be a good
opportunity to break the ice, and make known to her his feelings and
wishes. Stephen Jones, however, was more prompt in his
movements. He had got wind of the proposed tea party, although
himself and sister, for obvious reasons, had not been invited, and he
resolved not to risk the arrival of Miss Brown and her visit to Mr.
Robinson’s, before he should see her. She would dismiss her school
at noon, and come the distance of a mile and a half round the pond
home. His mind was at once made up. He would go round and meet
her at the school-house, and accompany her on her walk. There, in
that winding road around those delightful waters, with the tall and
shady trees over head, and the wild grape-vines twining round their
trunks, and climbing to the branches, while the wild birds were
singing through the woods, and the wild ducks playing in the coves
along the shore, surely there, if any where in the world, could a man
bring his mind up to the point of speaking of love.
Accordingly, a little before noon, Stephen washed and brushed
himself up, and put on his Sunday clothes, and started on his
expedition. In order to avoid observation, he took a back route
across the field, intending to come into the road by the pond, a little
out of the village. As ill luck would have it, Charles Robinson had
been out in the same direction, and was returning with an armful of
green boughs and wild flowers, to ornament the parlor for the
evening. He saw Stephen, and noticed his dress, and the direction
he was going, and he at once smoked the whole business. His first
impulse was to rush upon him and collar him, and demand that he
should return back. But then he recollected that in the last scratch he
had with Stephen, two or three years before, he had a little the worst
of it, and he instinctively stood still while Stephen passed on without
seeing him. It flashed upon his mind at once that the question must
now be reduced to a game of speed. If he could by any means gain
the school-house first, and engage Miss Lucy to walk home with him,
he should consider himself safe. But if Stephen should reach the
school-house first, he should feel a good deal of uneasiness for the
consequences. Stephen was walking very leisurely, and unconscious
that he was in any danger of a competitor on the course, and it was
important that his suspicions should not be awakened. Charles,
therefore, remained perfectly quiet till Stephen had got a little out of
hearing, and then he threw down his bushes and flowers, and ran to
the wharf below the store with his utmost speed. He had one
advantage over Stephen. He was ready at a moment’s warning to
start on an expedition of this kind, for Sunday clothes were an every-
day affair with him. There was a light canoe, belonging to his father,
lying at the wharf, and a couple of stout boys were there fishing.
Charles hailed them, and told them if they would row him across the
pond as quick as they possibly could, he would give them a quarter
of a dollar a piece. This, in their view, was a splendid offer for their
services, and they jumped on board with alacrity and manned the
oars. Charles took a paddle, and stood in the stern to steer the boat,
and help propel her ahead. The distance by water was a little less
than by land, and although Stephen had considerably the start of
him, he believed he should be able to reach the school-house first,
especially if Stephen should not see him and quicken his pace. In
one minute after he arrived at the wharf, the boat was under full way.
The boys laid down to the oars with right good will, and Charles put
out all his strength upon the paddle. They were shooting over the
water twice as fast as a man could walk, and Charles already felt
sure of the victory. But when they had gone about half a mile, they
came in the range of a little opening in the trees on the shore, where
the road was exposed to view, and there, at that critical moment,
was Stephen pursuing his easy walk. Charles’ heart was in his
mouth. Still it was possible Stephen might not see them, for he had
not yet looked round. Lest the sound of the oars might attract his
attention, Charles had instantly, on coming in sight, ordered the boys
to stop rowing, and he grasped his paddle with breathless anxiety,
and waited for Stephen again to disappear. But just as he was upon
the point of passing behind some trees, where the boat would be out
of his sight, Stephen turned his head and looked round. He stopped
short, turned square round, and stood for the space of a minute
looking steadily at the boat. Then lifting his hand, and shaking his fist
resolutely at Charles, as much as to say I understand you, he started
into a quick run.
“Now, boys,” said Charles, “buckle to your oars for your lives, and
if you get to the shore so I can reach the school-house before
Stephen does, I’ll give you half a dollar a piece.”
This of course added new life to the boys and increased speed to
the boat. Their little canoe flew over the water almost like a bird,
carrying a white bone in her mouth, and leaving a long ripple on the
glassy wave behind her. Charles’ hands trembled, but still he did
good execution with his paddle. Although Stephen upon the run was
a very different thing from Stephen at a slow walk, Charles still had
strong hopes of winning the race and gaining his point. He several
times caught glimpses of Stephen through the trees, and, as well as
he could judge, the boat had a little the best of it. But when they
came out into the last opening, where for a little way they had a fair
view of each other, Charles thought Stephen ran faster than ever;
and although he was now considerably nearer the school-house than
Stephen was, he still trembled for the result. They were now within
fifty rods of the shore, and Charles appealed again to the boys’ love
of money.
“Now,” said he, “we have not a minute to spare. If we gain the
point, I’ll give you a dollar apiece.”
The boys strained every nerve, and Charles’ paddle made the
water fly like the tail of a wounded shark. When within half a dozen
rods of the shore, Charles urged them again to spring with all their
might, and one of the boys making a desperate plunge upon his oar,
snapped it in two. The first pull of the other oar headed the boat from
land. Charles saw at once that the delay must be fatal, if he
depended on the boat to carry him ashore. The water was but three
feet deep, and the bottom was sandy. He sprung from the boat, and
rushed toward the shore as fast as he was able to press through the
water. He flew up the bank, and along the road, till he reached the
school-house. The door was open, but he could see no one within.
Several children were at play round the door, who, having seen
Charles approach with such haste, stood with mouths and eyes wide
open, looking at him.
“Where’s the schoolma’m?” said Charles, hastily, to one of the
largest boys.
“Why?” said the boy, opening his eyes still wider, “is any of the
folks dead?”
“You little rascal, I say, where’s the schoolma’m?”
“She jest went down that road,” said the boy, “two or three
minutes ago.”
“Was she alone?” said Charles.
“She started alone,” said the boy, “and a man met her out there a
little ways, and turned about and went with her.”
Charles felt that his cake was all dough again, and that he might
as well give it up for a bad job, and go home. Stephen Jones and
Lucy Brown walked very leisurely home through the woods, and
Charles and the boys went very leisurely in the boat across the
pond. They even stopped by the way, and caught a mess of fish,
since the boys had thrown their lines into the boat when they started.
And when they reached the wharf, Charles, in order to show that he
had been a fishing, took a large string of the fish in his hand, and
carried them up to the house. Miss Lucy Brown, on her way home
through the woods, had undoubtedly been informed of the proposed
tea-party for the evening, to which she was to be invited, and to
which Stephen Jones and Susan Jones were not invited; and when
Miss Lucy’s invitation came, she sent word back, that she was
engaged.
THE FAREWELL.
Farewell, farewell—O! ne’er from me
Till now that word hath hopeless passed;
But, sweet one, faltered forth to thee,
It seems this once as ’twere the last⁠—
The last that thou wilt ever hear
From him who knows thy worth too well;
I’ll stifle one relenting tear,
That mingles in this last farewell.
HARRY CAVENDISH.
———
BY THE AUTHOR OF “CRUISING IN THE LAST WAR,” “THE REEFER OF ’76,”
ETC.
———

CONCLUSION.
I was now alone in the world; I had neither ship, nor home; and
she I had loved was wedded to another. It is strange how
misanthropical a man becomes, after disappointment has soured his
disposition, and destroyed, one after another, the beautiful dreams of
his youth. When I sat down and thought of the hopes of my earlier
years, now gone forever; when I speculated upon my future
prospects; when I recalled to mind how few of the friends I had
begun life with remained, an indescribable sadness came over me,
and, had it not been for my manhood, I would have found a relief in
tears. My zest for society was gone. I cared little for the ordinary
business of life. I only longed for a fitting opportunity to re-enter the
service, and distinguish myself by some gallant deed, which I did not
care to survive, for even fame had become hateful to me, since it
reminded me how insufficient it was to win or retain the love of
woman. In a word, I had become a misanthrope, and was fast losing
all the energy of my character in sickly regrets over the past.
Of the St. Clairs I had not inquired since my return, and their
names, from motives of delicacy perhaps, were never mentioned in
my presence. Yet they occupied a large portion of my thoughts, and
often would I start, and my heart flutter, when, in the streets, I
fancied, for a moment, that I recognized the form of Annette. But a
nearer approach made evident my mistake, and dissipated my
embarrassment. Much, however, as I thought of her, I had never
inquired to whom she had been married; yet my curiosity on this
point continually gained strength; and when I had been a fortnight in
Newport without hearing any allusion to her, I began to wish that
some one would break the ominous silence which seemed to hang
around her and her family. Still I dared not trust myself to broach the
subject. I continued, therefore, ignorant of their present situation, and
of all that concerned them.
There is, not far from the town, and situated in one of the most
beautiful portions of the island, a favorite resort which has long been
known by the familiar and characteristic name of “The Glen.” The
spot is one where the deity of romance might sit enshrined. Here, on
a still summer night, we might, without much stretch of fancy, look for
fairies to come forth and gambol, or listen to the light music of airy
spirits hovering above us. The whole place reminds you of an
enchanted bower, and dull must be his heart who does not feel the
stirrings of the divinity within him as he gazes on the lovely scenery
around. He who can listen here unmoved to the low gurgle of the
brook, or the light rustle of the leaves in the summer wind, must be
formed of the coarsest clods of clay, nor boast one spark of our
immortal nature.
The glen was my favorite resort, and thither would I go and spend
whole afternoons, listening to the laughing prattle of the little river, or
striving to catch, in pauses of the breeze, the murmur of the
neighboring sea. A rude bench had been constructed under some
trees, in a partially open glade, at the lower extremity of the ravine,
and here I usually sat, indulging in those dreamy, half-sick reveries
which are characteristic of youth. The stream, which brawled down
the ravine, in a succession of rapids and cascades, here glided
smoothly along on a level bottom, its banks fringed with long grass
interspersed with wild roses, and its bed strewed with pebbles, round
and silvery, that glistened in the sunbeams, which, here and there,
struggled through the trees, and shimmered on the stream. Faint and
low came to the ear the sound of the mill, situated at the upper end
of the ravine; while occasionally a bird whistled on the stillness, or a
leaf floated lazily down into the river, and went on its way, a tiny bark.
The seclusion of my favorite retreat was often enlivened by the
appearance of strangers, but as they generally remained only a few
minutes, I had the spot, for most of the time, to myself. Here I
dreamed away the long summer afternoons, often lingering until the
moon had risen, to make the scene seem even more beautiful, under
her silvery light. I had no pleasure in any other spot. Perhaps it was
because I had once been here with Annette, when we were both
younger, and I, at least, happier; and I could remember plucking a
flower for her from a time-worn bush that still grew on the margin of
the stream. God knows how we love to haunt the spot made dear to
us by old and tender recollections!
I was sitting, one afternoon, on the rude bench I have spoken of,
listlessly casting pebbles into the river, when I heard the sound of
approaching voices, but I was so accustomed to the visits of
strangers, that I did not pause to look up. Directly the voices came
nearer, and suddenly a word was spoken that thrilled through every
nerve of my system. It was only a single word, but that voice!—
surely it could be none other than Annette’s. My sensations, at that
moment, I will not pretend to analyze. I longed to look up, and yet I
dared not. My heart fluttered wildly, and I could feel the blood rushing
in torrents to my face; but, if I had been called on at that instant to
speak, I could not have complied for worlds. Luckily the tree, under
whose shadow I sat, concealed me from the approaching visitors,
and I had thus time to rally my spirits ere the strangers came up. As
they drew near I recognized the voice of Mr. St. Clair, and then that
of Annette’s cousin Isabel, while there were one or two other
speakers who were strangers to me. Doubtless one of them was
Annette’s husband, and, as this thought flashed across me, I looked
up, impelled by an irresistible impulse. The party were now within
almost twenty yards, coming gaily down the glen. Foremost in the
group walked Isabel, leaning on the arm of a tall, gentlemanly
looking individual, and turning ever and anon around to Annette, who
followed immediately behind, at the side of her father. Another lady,
attended by a gentleman, made up the rest of the company. Where
could Annette’s husband be? was the question that occurred to me
—and who was the distinguished looking gentleman on whose arm
Isabel was so familiarly leaning? But my thoughts were cut short by
a conversation which now began, and of which, during a minute, I
was an unknown auditor—for my position still concealed me from the
party, and my surprise at first, and afterwards delicacy, prevented me
from appearing.
“Ah! Annette,” said Isabel, archly, turning around to her cousin,
“do you know this spot, but especially that rose-bush yonder?—here,
right beyond that old tree—you seem wonderfully ignorant all at
once! I wonder where the donor of that aforesaid rose-bud is now. I
would lay a guinea that it is yet in your possession, preserved in
some favorite book, pressed out between the leaves. Come, answer
frankly, is it not so, my sweet coz?”
I could hear no reply, if one was made, and immediately another
voice spoke. It was that of Isabel’s companion, coming to the aid of
Annette.
“You are too much given to believe that Annette follows your
example, Isabel—now do you turn penitent, and let me be father
confessor—how many rose-buds, ay! and for that matter, even
leaves, have you in your collection, presented to you by your humble
servant, before we had pity on each other, and were married? I
found a flower, last week, in a copy of Spenser, and, if I remember
aright, I was the donor of the trifle.”
“Oh! you betray yourself,” gaily retorted Isabel, “but men are
foolish—and of all foolish men I ever met with, a certain Albert
Marston was, before his marriage, the most foolish. I take credit to
myself,” she continued, in the same playful strain, “for having worked
such a reformation in him since that event. But this is not what we
were talking of—you wish to divert me from my purpose by this light
Cossack warfare—but it won’t do,” she continued, and I fancied she
stamped her foot prettily, as she was wont to do at Clairville Hall,
when she was disposed to have her way; “no—no—Annette must be
the one to turn penitent, and I will play father confessor. Say, now,
fair coz, was it not a certain fancy to see this same rose-bush, that
induced you to insist on coming here?”
During this conversation the parties had remained nearly
stationary at some distance from me. Strange suspicions began to
flash through my mind, as soon as Isabel commenced her banter;
and these suspicions had now been changed into a certainty.
Annette was still unmarried, and it was Isabel’s wedding at which I
had come so near being present, at Clairville Hall. Nor was this all. I
was still loved. Oh! the wild, the rapturous feelings of that moment. I
could with difficulty restrain myself from rising and rushing toward
them; but motives of delicacy forbade me thus to reveal that the
conversation had been overheard. And yet should I remain in my
present position, and play the listener still further? I knew not what to
do. All these considerations flashed through my mind in the space of
less than a minute, during which the party had been silent,
apparently enjoying Annette’s confusion.
“Come, not ready to answer yet?” began Isabel; “well, if you will
not, you shan’t have the rose from that bush, for which you’ve come.
Let us go back,” she said, playfully.
The whole party seemed to enter into the jest, and laughingly
retraced their steps. This afforded me the opportunity for which I
longed. Hastily rising from my seat, I glided unnoticed from tree to
tree, until I reached a copse on the left of the glen, and advancing up
the ravine, under cover of this screen, I re-entered the path at a bend
some distance above the St. Clairs. Here I listened for a moment,
and caught the sound of their approaching voices. Determining no
longer to be a listener to their conversation, I proceeded down the
glen, and, as I turned the corner, a few paces in advance, I came full
in sight of the approaching group. In an instant the gay laughing of
the party ceased, and I saw Annette shrink blushing behind her
father. Isabel was the first to speak. Darting forward, with that
frankness and gaiety which always characterized her, she grasped
my hand, and said⁠—
“You don’t know how happy we all are to see you. Where could
you have come from?—and how could you have made such a
mistake as to congratulate Annette, instead of me, on being married?
But come, I must surrender you to the others—I see they are dying
to speak to you. Uncle, Annette—how lucky it was that we came
here to-day!”
“My dear boy,” said Mr. St. Clair, warmly pressing my hand, “I
cannot tell how rejoiced I am to see you. We heard a rumor that you
were lost, and we all wept—Isabel for the first time for years. It was
but a few days since that we heard you were at Newport, and, as we
were coming hither, I hastened my journey, determined to search
you out. We are on our way there now, and only stopped here a few
minutes to relieve ourselves after a long ride. This day shall be
marked with a white stone. But here I have been keeping you from
speaking to Annette—we old men, you know, are apt to be
garrulous.”
My eyes, indeed, had been seeking Annette, who, still covered
with blushes, and unable to control her embarrassment, sought to
conceal them by keeping in the back ground. As for me, I had
become wonderfully self-possessed. I now advanced and took her
hand. It trembled in my own, and when I spoke, though she replied
faintly, she did not dare to look into my face, except for a moment,
after which her eyes again sought the ground in beautiful
embarrassment. My unexpected appearance, combined with her
cousin’s late raillery, covered her face with blushes, and, for some
time, she could not rally herself sufficient to participate in the
conversation.
What more have I to tell? I was now happy, and for my
misanthropy, it died with the cause that produced it. Mr. St. Clair said
that the wedding need not be delayed, and in less than a month I led
Annette to the altar. Years have flown since then, but I still enjoy
unalloyed felicity, and Annette seems to my eyes more beautiful than
ever. It only remains for me to bid my readers FAREWELL!
THE HOLYNIGHTS.
———
BY HENRY MORFORD.
———

Some say that ’gainst the time that season comes


Wherein our Savior’s birth is celebrated
The bird of dawning singeth all night long,
And then they say no sprite dares stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome then, no planets strike,
No fairy takes or witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.
Hamlet.

Hushed be the voice of mirthfulness,


And stilled be the plaintive tones of care,
That from too many a heart recess
Go forth to float on the midnight air;
It is no time for the wild excess,
No time for the loose unbridled reign
That passion gives to her votaries
When they sever away the golden chain.

Stilled on the ears of the seraph choir


Let the lingering hymns of the season go,
As they sweep their hands o’er the golden wire
To the anthem of love and peace below;
And let us keep in a holy mood
The coming hours of that sacred time
When the word went forth for the hush of blood
And the passing knell for the soul of crime!
When the hosts of the upper region stirred
That another star came forth to shine,
And the rush of an angel’s wing was heard
O’er the moonlit plains of Palestine,
And a softer light o’er the earth was flung
And the pale stars waxed no longer dim,
And forth on a thousand harps outrung
The rising notes of the angels’ hymn.

The same bright stars that then looked down


With a guardian watch o’er hill and plain,
Unfading gems in the starry crown
Glittering on in the blue remain,
And the solemn awe that crept them round
As they watched their flocks that holy time,
An echo with us to-night has found
In the new-born light of another clime.

It has been felt this many a year,


The sacred spell of the season’s death,
And the brighter glow of the starry sphere
As it came that time with the angels’ breath,
For brighter yet the stars gleam out
As the noisome vapor shrinks away
From the open glade that it hung about
Darkened and damp this many a day.

List how the spirit-breathings come


Upon our ears from the voice sublime
Of him who ruled in the spirits’ home,
Who wrote and sang for the end of time!
Hark how he tells when the time is near,
The bird of the dawn sings all night long
And the fairy legions disappear
When he comes abroad with his matin song.
No spirits forth, nor the rank compound
That glows with the witches’ midnight toil,
No deeps of the forest-close resound
With the wizard shriek and the caldron boil.
No planets chill the warm heart’s blood
With the mockery of a demon fire,
No vapors veil with a sickly shroud
The moss-grown top of the old church spire,⁠—

For he who stood in that dreadful watch


On the gray rampart of Elsinore
Told how they ceased from their revel catch
And their reign at the Christmas time was o’er;
We feel it now, as he felt it then,
That the air is full of holiness,
And we need not forms from the earth again
Of the starry hosts to guard and bless.

Then stilled on the ears of the seraph choir


Let the lingering hymns of the season go,
As they sweep their hands o’er the golden wire
To the anthem of love and peace below;
And let us keep in a holy mood
The passing hours of that sacred time
When the word went forth for the hush of blood
And the passing knell for the soul of crime!
THE LADIES’ LIBRARY.
———
BY W. A. JONES.
———

That admirable manual of “les petites morales,” and even of


higher matters occasionally, the Spectator, contains a paper which
we hesitate not to accept as a just specimen of cotemporary satire
on female education; we refer to the catalogue of a Ladies’ Library.
This heterogeneous collection embraces heroical romances and
romancing histories, the ranting tragedies of the day, with the
libertine comedies of the same period. In a word, it leads us to infer
pretty plainly the insignificant pretensions the gentle women of
Queen Anne’s day could lay to any thing like refinement of
education, or even a correct propriety in dress and demeanor. Tell
me your company, and I will disclose your own character; speak that
I may know you, are trite maxims; but give me a list of your favorite
authors is by no means so common, though at least as true, a test.
The literary and indirectly the moral depravity of taste exhibited by
the women of that age, is easily accounted for, when we once learn
the fashionable authors and the indifferent countenance given to any
authors but those of the most frivolous description. The queen
herself was an illiterate woman, and we are told never once had the
curiosity to look into the classic productions of Pope. King William,
the preceding sovereign, was so ignorant of books and the literary
character, as to offer Swift, with whom he had been agreeably
prepossessed, the place of captain of a regiment of horse.
Indulging ourselves in a rapid transition, we pass from this era to
the epoch of Johnson and Burke, and Goldsmith and Sheridan, we
come to the reign of George III. Here we find the scene altered.
From the gay saloon we are dropped, as if by magic, into the library
or conversation room. We read not of balls, but of literary dinners
and æsthetic teas, and we meet for company, not thoughtless,
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