Key Terms I Flashcards
(26 cards)
Budgets
A detailed plan for the acquisition and use of financial and other resources over a specified time period
Budgeting
The organisational process by which the budget is made
Business process
A series of steps that are followed in order to carry out some task in a business
Constraints
A limitation under which a company must operate, such as limited machine time available that restricts the company’s ability to satisfy demand
Control
The process of instituting procedures and then obtaining feedback to ensure that all parts of the organisation are functioning effectively and moving towards overall company goals
Controlling
Ensuring that the plan is actually carried out and is appropriately modified as circumstances change
Corporate governance
Narrowly defined as the mechanisms that are used to protect the interests of the suppliers of capital to corporations
Decentralisation
The delegation of decision-making authority throughout an organisation by providing managers at various operating levels with the authority to make key decisions relating to their area of responsibility
Decision making
Selecting a course of action from competing alternatives
Directing and motivating
Mobilising people to carry out plans and run routine operations
Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
The installation of integrated real time management information systems
Environmental management accounting
Collects and uses information on environment-related costs, earnings and savings for internal decision making
Feedback
Accounting and other reports that help managers monitor performance and focus on problems and/or opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed
Financial accounting
The phase of accounting concerned with providing information to shareholders, creditors and others outside the organisation
Just-in-time (JIT)
A production and inventory control system in which materials are purchased and units are produced only as needed to meet actual customer demand
Line
A position in an organisation that is directly related to the achievement of the organisations basic objectives
Management accounting
The phase of accounting concerned with providing information to managers for use in planning and controlling operations and in decision-making
Organisation chart
A visual diagram of a firms organisational structure that depicts formal lines of reporting, communication and responsibility between managers
Outsourcing
The use of external suppliers to provide goods and services that used to be provided inside the organisation
Performance report
A detailed report comparing budgeted data to actual data
Planning
Selecting a course of action and specifying how the action will be implemented
Planning and control cycle
The flow of management activities through planning, directing and motivating and controlling, and then back to planning again
Segments
Any part of an organisation that can be evaluated independently of other parts and about which the manager seeks financial data. E.g product line, division, department
Shared service centres
Single locations where the support services of an entire corporation are concentrated
