Accounting and Management Are Usually Fused into a Single Career - Essay Example

Accounting and management are usually fused into a single career commonly referred to management accounting which is usage of information for improved control of firms. It is very important for one to understand the nature and kind of a career of choice to avoid regrets in the future. Consideration of the ethical standards and career goals is necessary so that they may be aligned with overall job satisfaction and performance. In this regards, some careers usually require specialized communication skills for effective performance and therefore its role should be considered. Accounting and Management Accounting and management are usually fused into a single career commonly referred to management accounting which is usage of information for improved control of firms. As such, management accounting forms an important faucet of organizational management at all levels in a company (Atkinson et al 82). Within the structures of leadership in organizations, there are different decisions that need to be made by heads of departments. In order to make these decisions, the leaders have to overcome several challenges which involve consulting with other employees. Consulting on the other hand involves communication and therefore communication plays a central role in the career of accounting management. It follows then that a person practicing in this field has to have at least two solid backgrounds of education in financial accounting and management disciplines (Shah, Malik and Malik 6). This is only possible when one is a specialist in business field and furthered one of the two disciplines in masters. Role of Communication Communication forms an important aspect of everyday life since human beings are relational in nature. In the world of business, effective communication should be an important tool that ensures good relations within a firm and clients that are served by the firm. Collaborative communication whereby different stakeholders in an organization have free of information is quite important in ensuring client satisfaction and increasing the profitability of a company. Accounting matters are sensitive because they involve financial matters where clients are very keen on knowing how their money is being handled to ensure profitability. The main of business entities in engaging in financial matters is to make gains and be competitive in the corporate world. As such, communication is quite important in how different matters are handled in the accounting departments (Koski, Ehlen, and Saxby 86). Information economics views the management of accounting as an important tool that helps in decision making. This tool is useful in providing signals that are influence decision making in the uncertain nature of financial matters. Therefore, the effectiveness of accounting management is often measured by ripple effects of a person’s usage of the different utilities found within it. Some decisions can be disastrous especially if they are not based on sound accounting and economical principles whereas others can be advantageous. In this regards, it is important for people working within the management and accounting fields to have regular communication so that they may freely exchange ideas. Collapse of many financial institutions has been blamed on poor communication mainly in failure to communicate important decisions. When communication is not done in good time, important and crucial decisions fail to be made leading to crumbling of financial institutions (Kaplan 405). Overview of the Industry The management accounting industry or career utilizes financial as well as non financial information to make important decisions that can propel organizations towards achieving their goals. It therefore focuses on present and future opportunities so that it can propel itself into greater heights in terms of performance. Many may think that there are no limitations in its but they do exist especially those that come about due to value-added principle. This principle dictates that actions and decisions should only be undertaken on those proceedings that lead to value addition on services or goods. Some of the financial information used by professionals in this hand includes market share, sales returns, profits and losses and sales growth. on the other hand, non financial information utilized includes product quality, customer loyalty and satisfaction levels of customers (Koski, Ehlen, and Saxby 82). Management accounting goes beyond the use of numbers or statistics and evaluation of financial performance. This is because evaluation of past performance is geared towards formulation of new policies and frameworks within which organizations work to remain relevant in the corporate world. As such, strategic management relies heavily on the decisions that are made by management accountants in order to avoid inevitable problems within accounting. Coming up with new strategies can only be possible through revision and correction of past policies that did not produce the desire results in terms of cost reduction, increasing efficiency and increasing customer satisfaction. Therefore, various financial, as well as non-financial, information within organizations is very important in determining the path taken by financial institutions. However, when this information is not complied and analyzed by professionals within the management accounting docket, it is utterly useless (Shah, Malik and Malik 4). The measurement of financial management is also done here whereby it involves the development of objectives and vision and budgets that support them. These budgets must be realistic and objective where every aspect of an organization is discussed in details. Within the general goals and objectives of an organization, there must be overarching goals from different departments. These overarching or subsidiary goals should also have their budgetary allocations which should not be overbearing on the overall budget. As such, there should be streamlining of the different goals envisioned within an organization so that a clear path of performance is maintained. In the manufacturing industries, management accounting is very important in improving effectiveness of sub-processes of manufacturing so that the whole process of manufacturing may be successful (Kaplan 410). Career Goals within the Industry The most important career goal in accounting management is to have a help in resource growth of an organization. Periodical changes and growth of recourse only comes through a constant upgrade of skills and knowledge in the course of offering services or working. It follows then that the constant upgrade of skills is very important in enhancing job security and making one relevant. Closely related to skills and knowledge is to get a salary that is commensurate with ones skills. The main aim of working is to get capital that is necessary to keep one going and pay bills besides taking care of one’s family. Sometimes, people are underpaid and this may lead to underperformance or change of jobs which is not good for job morale. However, when one is paid a good salary, the morale to increase job performance is very high. Therefore, being paid ones worth in terms of skills and experience is another important career goal (McManus and Subramaniam 622). Satisfaction with one’s job is also another important career goal. It has come to the attention of many organizations that their employees only go to work to earn their daily living. Such an approach or mentality of work is often brought by increased competitiveness in the job market or people being forced to work in fields that they are not familiar with. Lack of satisfaction among employees influences the performance of an organization towards meeting its set standards and goals negatively. Although many psychologists are of the view that satisfaction is a choice, it can be influenced by some factors such as type of leadership, motivation of employees and decision making processes. Job satisfaction therefore forms another important career that important to both individuals and the organizations they work for (Koski, Ehlen, and Saxby 83). In course of increasing skills and knowledge, another goal comes about which is to gain new experiences. Most of the lifetime of people is spend working and during that time a person is supposed to meet and have new experiences for personal growth. These new experiences impact different learning in a person such as understanding and being able to live with people from other cultures. Experiences learnt in one’s lifetime are simply priceless and come in handy when one is faced with challenges in life. As people learn new experiences, they should also make sure that they also impart on others new experiences so that the world may become a better place. New experiences usually broaden our narrow perception of other people and issues leading to increased tolerance and good cordial working environments at work (Atkinson et al 100). Role Ethics in Career Choice Ethics play a very important role in influencing the kinds of careers that people choose in life. Many people are usually wary of what is expected of them in various jobs and therefore research keenly on different ethics associated with different careers. The medical and financial fields are usually associated with very high ethical standards because the work there is very sensitive and revolves around people. Ethics are mainly concerned with the moral issues that surround our actions in the society and have a very big bearing on the successful practice of one’s career. It follows then that high ethical standards are often highly cherished by the society in performance of work. In careers like accounting management, sound professional ethics are very important because they prevent an individual from engaging in underhand and unorthodox practices that jeopardizes organizations. Many financial institutions such banks and brokerage firms are known to have collapsed due to unethical practices. When individuals are choosing a career, the ethical standards placed on different careers influence to some extend whether they would choose them. This is because they usually take the ethics personally and weigh on whether they can be able to cope and advance their careers. Some studies have also shown that people are also swayed by the perception their peers on the ethical standards of different careers. The opinions of other people are often important in swaying decisions in matters regarding ethics and ethical standards (McManus and Subramaniam 632). Conclusion Accounting and management are usually fused into a single career commonly referred to management accounting which is usage of information for improved control of firms. This is one of the important careers especially in the financial world where financial as well as non financial information is used to make important decisions. This career has developed and evolved over the years to become one pillar careers in organizations especially in the area of strategic management. There are many career goals that may attract someone into this career such increase of skills and knowledge, job satisfaction and gaining new experiences. Moreover, the high ethical standards associated with this career usually influence the decision to enter into the career. Works Cited Atkinson, Anthony A., et al. "New directions in management accounting research." Journal of Management Accounting Research 9 (1997): 79-108. Print. Kaplan, Robert S. "The evolution of management accounting." Accounting Review (1984): 390-418. Print. Koski, Timothy R., Ehlen, Craig R. and Saxby, Carl L. “The Impact Of Communication On The Accounting Firm/Client Relationship”. The Journal of Applied Business Research, 20.3 (2011): 81-91. Print. McManus Lisa and Subramaniam Nava. “Ethical Evaluations and Behavioural Intentions of Early Career Accountants: The Impact of Mentors, Peers and Individual Attributes”. Accounting & Finance, 49.3 (2009): 619–643. Print. Shah, Haider, Malik, Ali and Malik, Muhammad S. “Strategic Management Accounting – A Messiah For Management Accounting?” Australian Journal of Business and Management Research, 1.4 (2011): 01-07. Print. Read More