What are the typical duties of a management accountant?

LilAntLady

Im pretty sure that I am doing a lot of my 'supposed' manager at work who is the 'supposed' management accountant. I am rushed off my feet each day and he sits there all day rustling a few pieces of paper and swans off early as he has nothing to do.

Ive raised the issue with my manager above him and they say they are aware of his lack of involvement and have asked me to carry on whilst I am until they sort something out.

I just wondered if before anything radical happens, I am making a mountain out of a mole hill?

So was just wondering if anyone knew what the typical duties of a management accountant in a manufacturing company would be?

Many thanks in advance

RichardK

Hi, I got this off the internet for you.........

managemnet accountant looks at the financial situation of a firm in the future and at the current one. these informations are however only for the internal use.

the financial situation need to be set so that it is easy to use, relevant informations within and up to date.

furthermore managment accounting covers only parts of the companiy and no the entire firm as financial accounting does.

Duties: a management accountant therefore needs to be able to set up a cash flow forecast, do budgeting, , contribution statements, break-even charts, investment apraisal etc

They are also specially trained in putting their feet up and giving you all the work!

I hope this helps

NeilH

RichardK wrote: »

furthermore managment accounting covers only parts of the companiy

Hi

I'd say (at least in the roles I've done and worked alongside) it's actually the opposite.

My work can cover anything accounting and finance orientated from the purchase of supplies, stock, overheads, sales and all of the variances that go with these - pretty much anything from one end of the business to the other! In addition, there is also performance analysis, financial management as well as month end packs and all that goes with it - such as reporting on the financial statements and interpreting their performance.

Management Accountant/Accounting can be pretty broad term. On one hand it’s used to describe costing and budgeting, whilst in a broader sense it can be used to describe the whole raft of accounting that is done as part of managing a business - somtimes with a wavy line between financial accounting and management accounting!

Neil

Marga

LilAntLady wrote: »

Im pretty sure that I am doing a lot of my 'supposed' manager at work who is the 'supposed' management accountant. I am rushed off my feet each day and he sits there all day rustling a few pieces of paper and swans off early as he has nothing to do.

Ive raised the issue with my manager above him and they say they are aware of his lack of involvement and have asked me to carry on whilst I am until they sort something out.

I just wondered if before anything radical happens, I am making a mountain out of a mole hill?

So was just wondering if anyone knew what the typical duties of a management accountant in a manufacturing company would be?

Many thanks in advance

hi , please dont take it this the wrong way but most "managers" do that ...not work and slip some tasks to the people who works for them....

recently we had a case like that in our company and we advised the "bosses" ....after a while this person had "the contract not renewed" basically they got rid of him.


I think the best you did was to highlight the problem this shows that you are interested in the work being done. As you do most of the tasks this shows that you can cover some areas if needed be which in the long term could mean a promotion.

The key is to put all the work you have done into writing linking it with how good that has been for the business or how you have achieved goals. Then pass this to your manager's boss, this way he can see that you are eager to haver the work done and in between lines he will read that you have done the work but not your boss.

Try not to "complain" about his lack of work as that way would look as if you are not flexible or adaptable to change!

Miss_HJ

Marga wrote: »

hi , please dont take it this the wrong way but most "managers" do that ...not work and slip some tasks to the people who works for them....

recently we had a case like that in our company and we advised the "bosses" ....after a while this person had "the contract not renewed" basically they got rid of him.


I think the best you did was to highlight the problem this shows that you are interested in the work being done. As you do most of the tasks this shows that you can cover some areas if needed be which in the long term could mean a promotion.

The key is to put all the work you have done into writing linking it with how good that has been for the business or how you have achieved goals. Then pass this to your manager's boss, this way he can see that you are eager to haver the work done and in between lines he will read that you have done the work but not your boss.

Try not to "complain" about his lack of work as that way would look as if you are not flexible or adaptable to change!

It depends on the size of the business as each will have different expectations of the role!! I work in a large company and am an assistant management accountant, my BOSS is unqualified and TBH does what she wants, she has worked for the company for many years and that is enuf, while me and another do the slog whilst studying.

Its frustrating but you have taken the right action, I have dne the same, highlighting my lack of progression due to inexperience and I believe our time will come to be rewarded for the hard work we do!!

Good luck!

blobbyh

Contrary to what the AAT always teach you in that management accounts are exclusively for internal use - which I admit is mostly the case - I would beg to differ that it's not always that way! We have to provide monthly management accounts to our bank for the security of our overdraft facility even though we're not using it and others may have to submit cashflow forecasts for the arrangement of a bank loan.

Working with our financial controller, I do most things from basic ledger work through credit control right up to preparation of the monthly accounts for sign off by our FD. However, most of my time is taken up producing both regular and one-off reports for our Managing Director for making strategic business decisions. I guess I spend twenty to thirty hours a week solely working on or designing Excel spreadsheets, one of the accountants best friends.

Bookworm55

Further to what others have been saying, it really depends on the company. There's no reason why a management accountant's remit couldn't extend to the entire company, or it could be very specialised.

For a manufacturing company, there's likely to be materials costing and manufacturing variance analysis. Budget monitoring and setting is also a possibility.

There could well be keeping track of the company's debtors (accounts receivable) and creditors (accounts payable), which could involve looking like you're doing nothing when actually you're waiting for someone to return a call. (Not that I'm defending them, I just sometimes get in that position of needing a response to a call or email before I can really do anything)

I think reports and analyses of income and expenditure would take up a major chunk of a management accountant's time.