6. Predictive Analytics Era—Predictive accounting.
Today and moving forward, there’s a shift in emphasis
from a historical to a predictive view of strategy and
operations. With cost projections, organizations can
translate their plans and actions into monetary terms for
decision evaluation and/or validation.
Where are the emerging practices in management
accounting that may likely evolve into lasting trends?
They are in steps 5 and 6 in Figure 1.
Before getting to the trends,
let’s look at the role of management
accounting. Contrary
to beliefs that the
only purpose of management
accounting is
to collect, transform,
and report data, its
primary purpose is
first and foremost to
influence behavior at
all levels, from the desk
of the CEO down to
each employee. It should
do this by supporting decisions.
A secondary purpose is
to stimulate investigation and discovery
by signaling relevant information
(and, consequently, bringing focus) and
by generating questions.
Here is the IMA® formal definition of management
accounting:
Management accounting is a profession that involves
partnering in management decision making, devising planning
and performance management systems, and providing
expertise in financial reporting and control to assist management
in the formulation and implementation of an
organization’s strategy.
My intent isn’t to debate or replace IMA’s definition
but to emphasize the importance of its need to support
decision making