MAAW's Blog

References for Comparisons of IFRS and US GAAP

2012-02-24T06:04:00.001-08:00

These references were provided by Bob Jensen

US GAAP versus IFRS: The basics
2011 Edition, 56 Pages
Free from Ernst & Young
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssetsAL/IFRSBasics_BB2280_December2011/$FILE/IFRSBasics_BB2280_December2011.pdf

IFRS and US GAAP: Similarities and Differences
2011 Edition, 238 Pages
From PwC
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/issues/ifrs-reporting/publications/ifrs-and-us-gaap-similarities-and-differences.jhtml

From Deloitte
Comparisons of IFRS With Local GAAPS
http://www.iasplus.com/dttpubs/pubs.htm#compare1109

IFRS and US GAAP
July 2008 Edition, 76 Pages
http://www.iasplus.com/dttpubs/0809ifrsusgaap.pdf

Some humor. What people think professors do.

2012-02-18T05:39:00.002-08:00

What people think professors do.

http://kd9la.blogspot.com/2012/02/okay-ill-do-one.html

Other what people think I do memes.

http://weknowmemes.com/2012/02/what-i-really-do-meme/

Summary of Imai, M. 1986. Kaizen

2012-02-04T11:31:00.000-08:00

Imai provides a very good introduction to lean concepts in his 1986 book Kaizen, although he does not use the terms lean, lean thinking, or lean enterprise anywhere in the book. The term "lean" did not become popular until Womack and Jones used terms such as lean thinking and lean principles in their articles and books in the 1990s. Instead Imai's umbrella term is Kaizen.

For my summary of Imai's book see Imai, M. 1986. Kaizen: The Key To Japan's Competitive Success. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Note that Kaizen was published before Johnson and Kaplan's 1987 Relevance Lost and it provided an early wake-up call that something was wrong with the way American companies were managed over twenty-five years ago. I believe Imai's book is just as relevant today as it was in 1986.

Is Your Management Accounting Textbook Obsolete?

2012-01-31T06:38:00.000-08:00

Although I think most management accounting textbook authors have come a long way, it appears that some are still in the dark. Any current management/managerial/cost accounting course or textbook should include some discussion of various concepts and terms associated with lean such as: Lean Company, Lean Enterprise, Japanese Management Methods, Just-in-Time, Kanban-Demand-Pull versus Push or Batch Production, Cellular Factory Layout, One Piece Flow, Visual Controls, Theory of Constraints, Kaizen, Value Chain, Value Stream, Value Stream Mapping, Value Stream Costing, Total Quality, Statistical Process Control, Cross-Functional Responsibility, etc.. Today you cannot trust the textbook to include lean concepts and the many related conflicts with traditional accounting. Look in the index. If none of these terms and concepts appear in the course or textbook, the course or textbook is obsolete. Adding a couple of topics like ABC and the Balanced Scorecard does not bring a management accounting textbook up to date. Traditional managerial accounting topics associated with batch production, responsibility accounting, variance analysis, etc are incompatible with the lean enterprise. Those who teach management accounting should have integrated lean concepts into their courses ten or twenty years ago. Now I think anyone teaching management accounting without lean concepts should either get up to date, teach something else, or retire and get out of the way.

For a summary of lean terms and concepts see http://maaw.info/LeanConceptsandTermsSummary.htm

See my previous post for more on out of date textbooks at http://maaw.blogspot.com/2011/09/faculty-coverage-and-familiarity-with.html

Lean Company vs. Lean Enterprise

2012-01-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

What is the difference between a lean company and a lean enterprise?

I believe many people use the term "lean enterprise" incorrectly. Womack and Jones make a clear distinction between a lean company and a lean enterprise in their 1994 article: Womack, J. P. and D. T. Jones. 1994. From lean production to the lean enterprise. Harvard Business Review (March-April): 93-103.

See my summary for their explanation of the difference at http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumWomackAndJones94.htm

New journal bibliography on MAAW - Journal of International Accounting Research

2012-01-15T14:34:00.000-08:00

International accounting has become more important in recent years as indicated by the articles in recent accounting literature, particularly articles in the following journal.

The bibliography for the Journal of International Accounting Research is at
http://maaw.info/JournalOfInternationalAccountingResearch.htm

For many related articles see the bibliography for IFRS at
http://maaw.info/IFRSBibliography.htm

Pearltrees - A different way to organize web pages

2012-01-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

I have been playing around with the Pearler for several days. It allows you to collect web pages, place them in Pearltrees and add Pearls or links to the pages you like. You can use it on the Pearler site, or place your root tree, or individual Pearltrees on different pages on your own site. You can also work on your Pearltrees with team members. It's fun to play with, but somewhat addictive. For what it's worth, I organized MAAW's hundred + topics into 14 Pearltrees.

MAAW's Pearltrees on the Pearler site - http://www.pearltrees.com/#/N-reveal=5&N-fa=4029796&N-u=1_484552&N-p=32411065&N-s=1_4074700&N-f=1_4074700

MAAW's Pearltrees on the MAAW site - http://maaw.info/MAAWsPearltrees/MAAWsPearltreesMain.htm

A single Pearltree for MAAW's Journal bibliographies - http://maaw.info/MAAWsPearltrees/JournalBibsPearltree.htm

Brookgreen Gardens

2011-12-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

I took a few photos at Brookgreen Gardens a few weeks ago. Their tag line is "Ever Changing, Simply Amazing."

Check it out at http://maaw.info/Photos/BrookGreenGardens.htm

MAAW's new Forensic Accounting Journal Bibliographies

2011-12-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

I recently added the following journal bibliographies to MAAW:

Journal of Forensic Accounting - http://maaw.info/JournalOfForensicAccounting.htm

Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting - http://maaw.info/JournalOfForensicAndInvestigativeAccounting.htm

The JFIA is an electronic journal and all of the papers are available on the LSU web site.

Careers with a U.S. Government Department or Agency

2011-12-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

Accounting graduates should also consider a career with the U.S. government. For links to most U.S. Government departments and agencies see http://maaw.info/NonProfitLinks.htm

Look for Careers and Paid Student Intern Programs, or search the sites using those terms. There are a lot of opportunities available to current and recent college graduates that should not be ignored.

Training Programs for Accounting Graduates

2011-12-12T05:47:00.000-08:00

Going to work for a public accounting firm is one route to a successful career in both public accounting and corporate accounting. However, there are many other routes to a career in corporate accounting that do not involve going through a CPA firm first. The following list of companies provides some very good examples. All of these companies provide training programs for recent accounting graduates. You can apply to get into most, if not all of these programs whether they interview on your campus or not.

http://maaw.info/TrainingPrograms.htm

Forensic Accounting

2011-12-09T08:07:00.001-08:00

A Guide for those interested in Forensic Accounting or simply want to find our what it's all about. http://www.forensicaccounting.net/

New Addition to the Summaries on Lean Enterprise

2011-12-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

I just added a summary of the following interesting article to the lean enterprise sections of the MAAW site.

Staats, B. R. and D. M. Upton. 2011. Lean knowledge work: The "Toyota" principles can also be effective in operations involving judgment and expertise. Harvard Business Review (October): 100-110. (Summary).

A criticism of salary surveys and studies

2011-12-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

A criticism of salary surveys and studies like the one in my previous post is that they probably mislead the reader by implying causation from correlation. People who have various graduate degrees and certifications probably make more money because they out perform their colleagues in may other ways, not because they have another degree or are certified. In any case, I still agree with Simon's, a master's of accountancy and a professional certification are both in the "you're crazy if you don't get them" category.

Schiffel, L., K. A. Smith and D. L. Schroeder. 2011. IMA 2010 Salary Survey: How's that recovery workin' for you? Strategic Finance (June): 26-46.
http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSalarySurvey2011.htm

Simon, C. C. 2011. R.O.I.: Is graduate school worth the investment? The New York Times Education Life (July 24): 18-19.
http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSimon2011.htm

More support for the CMA Program

2011-12-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

In the following article Krippel and Mitchell estimate the total lifetime present value of the CMA and return per study hour for ages 22-59.

Krippel, G. L. and S. Mitchell. 2011. What's your CMA worth? We show you how to estimate the lifetime value of the certification. Strategic Finance (November): 41-47.

http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumKrippelMitchell2011.htm

Response to the following question on Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing

2011-12-02T08:19:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know of any examples, problem sets, or articles that describe in detail Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing?

Some articles on time-driven ABC from http://maaw.info/ABCArticles.htm

Anderson, S. R., K. Prokop, R. S. Kaplan. 2007. Fast-track profit models. Cost Management (July/August): 16-28. (Using time-driven activity-based costing to identify where profit opportunities exist for potential acquisitions).

Dalci, I., V. Tanis and L. Kosan. 2010. Customer profitability analysis with time-driven activity-based costing: A case study in a hotel. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 22(5): 609-637.

Everaert, P. and W. Bruggeman. 2007. Time-driven activity-based costing: Exploring the underlying model. Cost Management (March/April): 16-20.

Everaert, P., W. Bruggeman and G. De Creus. 2008. Sanac Inc.: From ABC to time-driven ABC (TDABC) - An instructional case. Journal of Accounting Education 26(3): 118-154.

Everaert, P., W. Bruggeman, G. Sarens, S. R. Anderson and Y. Levant. 2008. Cost modeling in logistics using time-driven ABC: Experiences from a wholesaler. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 38(3): 172-191.

Gervais, M., Y. Levant and C. Ducrocq. 2010. Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC): An initial appraisal through a longitudinal case study. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research (Summer): 1-20.

Kaplan, R. S. and S. R. Anderson. 2004. Time-driven activity-based costing. Harvard Business Review (November): 131-138. (Link).

Kaplan, R. S. and S. R. Anderson. 2007. The innovation of time-driven activity-based costing. Cost Management (March/April): 5-15.

Szychta, A. 2010. Time-driven activity-based costing in service industries. Social Sciences/ Socialiniai Mokslai. 1(67): 49-60. (Link).

Assumption-based metrics alternative to the Balanced Scorecard

2011-11-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

In a recent article the author begins by stating that surveys show 47-70 percent of executives are dissatisfied with their balanced scorecards because they include too many irrelevant factors. He recommends assumption-based metrics as a more powerful alternative because it allows for testing and revising various strategies. In addition he provides an assumption-based metric software application referred to as GoalScreen that is available free to IMA members through 2011. The application includes several steps. First, set a target or goal and list every major assumption needed for a successful outcome including those that are controllable and those that are not controllable. Second, choose a metric or driver (root cause) for each key assumption that has high impact and independence. Note that impact and independence make the metric or driver predictive. Third, for each metric or driver, list the expected outcome, a worse-case outcome, and a worse-case impact on the target or goal. Then rank your assumptions by worst-case impact. The next set of outcomes show if your assumptions were justified. If not, adjust them and keep testing. For more information see Apgar, D. 2011. Assumption-based metrics: Recipe for success. Strategic Finance (November): 26-33. For the GoalScreen application see http://goalscreen.com
The IMA publications have a lot to offer. For bibliographies that include all of their major articles from 1919-2011 see http://maaw.info/IMAMain.htm

CFO Magazine

2011-11-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

I recently started developing a bibliography for the CFO magazine. They publish short articles (mostly written by their editors) related to current issues in accounting, tax, banking, capital markets, risk, human capital, growth companies, strategy, and technology. I have found many interesting articles in the 2010-2011 monthly issues, and they are all available on the popular CFO web site.

For the bibliography see http://maaw.info/CFO.htm

For the CFO site see http://www.cfo.com/magazine/

Google Search Tricks

2011-11-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

These Google search tricks are very useful.

http://prezi.com/mohshuoe-qcf/google-search-tricks/

The Best Way to Study

2011-10-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

The Best Way to Study from the Wall Street Journal

Charles T. Horngren, Management Accounting Pioneer: 1926-2011

2011-10-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

Charles T. Horngren, Management Accounting Pioneer: 1926-2011

IRS Publication 970 - Tax Benefits for Education

2011-10-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

College students should take a look at IRS Publication 970 - Tax Benefits for Education. This publication explains 12 different tax benefits including:
1. Scholarships, fellowships, grants and tuition reductions,
2. American opportunity credit,
3. Lifetime learning credit,
4. Student loan interest deduction,
5. Student loan cancellations and repayment assistance,
6. Tuition and fees deduction,
7. Coverdell education savings account (ESA),
8. Qualified tuition program (QTP),
9. Education exception to additional tax on early IRA distributions,
10. Educational savings bond program,
11. Employer-provided educational assistance,
12. Business deduction for work-related education.

Publication 970 is on line at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf

Social Responsibility Reporting

2011-10-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

For a more detailed summary of the Jones and Jonas article mentioned in the post below see http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumJonesJonas2011.htm

For some background on Social Accounting see Estes, R. 1992. Social accounting past and future: Should the profession lead, follow - or just get out of the way? Advances In Management Accounting (1): 97-108. http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumEstes92(2).htm

Opportunities for accountants related to Social Responsibility Reporting

2011-09-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Notes on a recent article in the CPA Journal*

From an accounting perspective their is considerable interest in the "triple bottom line" (economic, environmental, and social) as reflected by trends in corporate social responsibility reporting and the Global Reporting Initiative.

A recent survey by KPMG indicated that 80% of the global Fortune 250 companies issue CSR reports. In addition 45% of the largest 100 companies surveyed in twenty-two countries issue CSR reports. According to the Corporate Register more than 3,000 reports were prepared in 2009.

Three theories are used in attempts to explain why these companies voluntarily submit CSR reports. These include economic theory, stakeholder theory, and political cost theory.
Economic theory views CSR reporting as a form of marketing where CSR reports are only appropriate if they are used to promote the business. Stakeholder theory advocates argue that a company's performance should be based on how it satisfies all of its constituents including customers, employees, suppliers, the local community, and society at large. On the other hand, political cost theory views CSR reporting as a way to avoid mandated disclosures, regulation, or litigation.

Some reasons given for reporting by CSR reporting firms were: 1) to achieve competitive advantage and leadership, 2) to improve internal processes, and 3) to enhance the company's reputation and to promote trust and respect.

Global trends indicate that CSR reports are becoming a regular part of corporate reporting. To add credibility to their CSR reports companies have used professional assurance providers, stakeholder panels, and other external groups. However, most reports have not included external assurance, although the demand for assurance is increasing. These trends create opportunities for the accounting profession.

For links to several CSR reporting resources see http://maaw.info/SocialAccountingLinks.htm

*Jones, A. III and G. A. Jonas. 2011. Corporate social responsibility reporting: The growing need for input from the accounting profession. The CPA Journal (February): 65-71. (The purpose of this paper is to provide the what, who, and why of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), along with some practical guidance for accountants).

http://maaw.info/SocialAccountingMain.htm

Faculty Coverage and Familiarity with Lean Enterprise Concepts

2011-09-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Castellano and Burrows recently reported on a survey of 352 faculty listed in Hasselback's directory with cost or managerial accounting as a teaching or research interest (Castellano, J. F. and R. Burrows. 2011. Relevance lost: The practice/classroom gap. Management Accounting Quarterly (Winter): 41-48.)

The authors' motivation for the survey was based on their own textbook review process that indicated little or no coverage of lean enterprise concepts in the leading cost and managerial accounting textbooks. The results of their textbook review process provided two purposes for the survey. The first purpose was to determine whether management accounting faculty were covering lean enterprise topics in cost/managerial accounting courses, as well as the survey respondents' familiarity with various lean enterprise concepts. An additional purpose was to determine the extent that the absence of lean enterprise topics in the textbooks was being supplemented with IMA materials, journal articles, outside speakers, or student projects.

Survey results indicating the extent of faculty coverage and familiarity with lean enterprise topics were generated with a set of questions related to eight lean enterprise terms or topics. These terms, or topics, and the percentage of faculty who either indicated that the topic was not important, or that they were not familiar with the topic are as follows: Value stream mapping 44%, Value stream costing 43%, Lean manufacturing 26%, Lean accounting 33%, Toyota production system 48%, Toyota Way principles 53%, Visual control systems 45%, Performance measurements in a lean environment 25%.

The percentages of faculty indicating that the topics were not covered in the textbook that they were using were: Value stream mapping 65%, Value stream costing 62%, Lean manufacturing 38%, Lean accounting 51%, Toyota production system 70%, Toyota Way principles 77%, Visual control systems 73%, Performance measurements in a lean environment 54%.

The percentages of faculty indicating that they were not supplementing the textbooks were: Value stream mapping 84%, Value stream costing 84%, Lean manufacturing 68%, Lean accounting 72%, Toyota production system 83%, Toyota Way principles 90%, Visual control systems 87%, Performance measurements in a lean environment 70%.

An explanation for these survey results might be related to the terminology used in the survey, rather than the absence of familiarity with lean enterprise concepts since most of the lean enterprise concepts (focused factory, flexible manufacturing, cellular manufacturing, demand pull systems, kanban production control, non-financial performance measurements, etc.) have been in the just-in-time literature for over 25 years and there have been hundreds of articles published in the accounting literature related to these topics.

I would be interested to know what others think about this survey, but one thing is clear. There is no shortage of materials that could be used to supplement the concepts included in the Castellano-Borrows survey.

For example, a few articles are listed below in the order of the terms used by Castellano and Burrows. All of the summaries appear on the MAAW site and are offered here to supplement any management accounting course or self study program. However, the full text of all of these articles are available to most faculty and students via their university library data base subscriptions to sites such as ProQuest.

Value stream mapping
Baggaley, B. and B. Maskell. 2003. Value stream management for lean companies, Part I. Journal of Cost Management (March/April): 23-27. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBaggaleyMaskell03(1).htm

Baggaley, B. and B. Maskell. 2003. Value stream management for lean companies, Part II. Journal of Cost Management (May/June): 24-30. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBaggaleyMaskell03(2).htm

Womack, J. P. and D. T. Jones. 1996. Beyond Toyota: How to root out waste and pursue perfection. Harvard Business Review (September-October): 140-144, 146, 148-152, 154, 156, 158. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumWomackJones96.htm

Value stream costing
Baggaley, B. and B. Maskell. 2003. Value stream management for lean companies, Part II. Journal of Cost Management (May/June): 24-30. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBaggaleyMaskell03(2).htm

Brosnahan, J. P. 2008. Unleash the power of lean accounting. Journal of Accountancy (July): 60-66. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBrosnahan2008.htm

Lean manufacturing
Brosnahan, J. P. 2008. Unleash the power of lean accounting. Journal of Accountancy (July): 60-66. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBrosnahan2008.htm

See MAAW's JIT section - http://maaw.info/JITMain.htm

Swank, C. K. 2003. The lean service machine. Harvard Business Review (October): 123-129. (How lean production principles are used by a life insurance company). Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSwank2003.htm

Lean accounting
See What is Lean Accounting? - http://maaw.info/LeanAccounting.htm

Baggaley, B. and B. Maskell. 2003. Value stream management for lean companies, Part II. Journal of Cost Management (May/June): 24-30. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBaggaleyMaskell03(2).htm

Maskell, B. H. and B. L. Baggaley. 2006. Lean accounting: What's it all about? Target Magazine 22(1): 35-43. Note - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumMaskellBagalley06.htm and Article link - http://ame.org/MagazineOnlinePDF.aspx?artid=3303

Toyota Production System
Spear, S. and H. K. Bowen. 1999. Decoding the DNA of the Toyota production system. Harvard Business Review (September-October): 97-106. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSpearBowen99.htm

Spear, S. J. 2004. Learning to lead at Toyota. Harvard Business Review (May): 78-86. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSpear2004.htm

Johnson, H. T. and A. Broms. 2000. Profit Beyond Measure: Extraordinary Results through Attention to Work and People. New York: The Free Press. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumJohnsonBroms2000.htm

Toyota Way principles
Liker, J. 2003. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles From The World's Greatest Manufacturer. McGraw-Hill. Briefly: 1. Base decisions on a long-term strategy, 2. Create a continuous process flow, 3. Use pull systems, 4. Level the work load to minimize waste, 5. Stop the production line to fix problems, 6. Standardize processes and tasks, 7. Use visual controls, 8. Use reliable thoroughly tested technology, 9. Develop leaders, 10. Develop teams, 11. Respect partners and suppliers, 12. Use go-and-see for yourself management, 13. Use consensus decisions, 14. Become a learning organization through continuous improvement.
Visual control systems

Goodson, R. E. 2002. Read a plant - fast. Harvard Business Review (May): 105-113. (How the rapid plant assessment (RPA) process can tell you if a factory is truly lean in as little as 30 minutes. The process includes two tools: The RPA rating sheet includes 11 categories for assessing leanness, and the RPA questionnaire includes 20 yes or no questions). Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumGoodson2002.htm

Most of the articles listed above mention visual controls.

Performance measurements in a lean environment
Fullerton, R. R. 2003. Performance measurement and reward systems in JIT and non-JIT firms. Cost Management (November/December): 40-47. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumFullerton03.htm

Fullerton, R. R. and C. S. McWatters. 2002. The role of performance measures and incentive systems in relation to the degree of JIT implementation. Accounting, Organizations and Society 27(8): 711-735. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumFullertonMcWatters02.htm

Maskell, B. H. and B. L. Baggaley. 2006. Lean accounting: What's it all about? Target Magazine 22(1): 35-43. Note - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumMaskellBagalley06.htm and Article link - http://ame.org/MagazineOnlinePDF.aspx?artid=3303

See What is Lean Accounting? - http://maaw.info/LeanAccounting.htm and the just-in-time section in MAAW's Chapter 8 - http://maaw.info/Chapter8.htm#Process%20Oriented%20Performance%20Measurements