Role of management accountant-A gist

Management Accountant-an accountant of the future for Governance-Both Corporate world and the GovernmeRole of Management Accountants. In 21st Century.



Management Accountants and Indian economy:
Management Accountants are Indispensable part of any Governance be it Business,Industry,service or Federal setup of Governments.The skills the Management accountants will acquire based on the revised curriculam and exposure Mindset will help Indian Economy in achieving its goals and stick to the road-map of Growth and social development.
The focus of management accountant is to maximize returns to the Stake-Holders,be it owners(managers/governors),Consumers,Lenders,and society at large.Management Accountant achieves this with twin tools in his hands one is Cost-minimisation(better read as Optimisation)and the other is Income maximization(Schematising Opportunities and selecting one or more than one on priority- yield(Government) criteria and Risk-return criteria(Business).
The financial Advisors and Budget officers in the Government of various states local bodies and in the centre are not Specialists and they are even posted from un-related Cadres.This is not to mean they are not in the learning Process some even deserve Certification of Merit from the ICWAI as recognition of their Management Accounting Skills(I hope the Council will consider this angle-even associate membership to a select group).
Indian Economy is regulated by Budget anticipating sources of revenues and prioritizing the expenditure schemes.The governance of the country at various levels is segmented into specialized ministries and departments.
Indian Economy also accounts its activity in Revenue-expenditure Statements Published Periodically.There are some departments which have adopted double entry system of Accounting. However Cost and Management Accounting in Government is submerged in the age-old techniques of the British-Raj often Neglected field.Here is were we have to start and CASB(USA)and public sector standards of IFAC and other related developments in developed worlds would be of guidance.
Project Accounting one of the Major thrust areas for Government(Social Cost-Benefit Analysis)is where management accountant can be of utmost important and The council should deploy research committee should come with concept paper on this aspect to be addressed to the government.
Management Accountant can play a vital role in establishing an egalitarian society by enabling better redistribution of wealth of nations with available techniques .He can be a better planner an objective Government Accountant and Analysts for Social-Cost-Benefit schemes.
Management accountant can thus be a piller for Governance of the country.
(Please see my brief note on Paradigm Income Study) .




Management accountants for business/Industry/Service sector.

Business:
The role of Management Accountant in business cannot be Over-emphasised whether large or small the business has to maintain records and keep accountants for the self of the proprietor/partners/requirement of statutes(Sec44AB of IT Act/VAT etc.).
As an accountant primarily the MA(read hence forth as management accountant)is in a better position to handle accounts of the Business and also help the proprietor in making sound decisions specially borrowing,stock maintenance etc)
MA should develop independent accounting firms and prove their worth by handling accounting assignments of the businesses.Businessmen of today are exposed to emerging trends of financial markets and would like to take opportunity to deploy surplus cash in markets and MA has a vital role as Portfolio manager to high-end and medium-end businessmen.
MA as Portfolio manager is always in a better position to manage funds.Since the prime concern of MA is Risk-return/Cost-benefit and priority-yield.
The MA with new skills acquired in Computerisation and being a functional specialist can help business in Synergising/shedding flabs/networking with external environment.
Industry:

The role of MA in Industry is well defined by statutes and practices however in various forms of Industry his role has got highlighted depending on compliance criteria.MA has to rise to the role of being a part of Corporate Governance in the industry and Various statutes have to enable his role for overall health of the industry.
MA at the shop-floor of a production facility is an Industrial Accountant with ability to engineer Cost of Product, Process and help in work-study,six-sigma,JIT and other industrial engineering techniques.
MA as an accountant has multi-dimensional role as a Book-Keeper/Cost-Analyst/Financial Planner and Tax Consultant adequate skills is inducted in the MA to handle in Dynamics of Industry.
MA as a Part of Corporate Governance.MA is an independent thinker and should keep himself abreast with latest developments in International/Internal environment as a primary analyst he is problem-solver as an expert in corporate laws he is an advisor on Compliance as a Cost-engineer he is an indispensable Guide for Shop-floor dynamics and as a financial analyst he is a true financial advisor.

The role of MA in service sector is evolving and much is needed for statutes to get amended and a step forward has already been made by making compulsory maintenance of Cost-records in utility companies.When we talk of services sector primarily they are classified to Industrial-support services like Power, Ports,Transport and shipping,Railways,Consulting firms,Insurance and Banks etc.There are also general utility companies available for everyone like telephone ,again personal banking and insurance,power,security,Defence etc.
All these service sector enterprise have their own definite goals and the services rendered involve cost and recovery aspects many service sectors in the form of infrastructure controlled by government which had its own system of monitoring cost and enjoyed monopoly status and budget support.But today the service sector dynamics has made businesses to think interms of Cost and price.
Most of the happening today is in the services sector and MA should develop skills in this area to prove for himself and the Profession.

MA in agricultural sector can be divided into to 1.Corporate farming.2.Medium-level Farmers with 100 acres to cultivate.3.Marginal Farmers.
With government considering Taxing of this groups there will be emerging need for compliance and the role of MA will evolve.MA already has a major role in setting minimum Support prices(agriculture price commission)Farm subsidy evaluation,Essential commodity production decision at national level.

In essence MA is an Accountant,Decision maker,Cost Engineer,Investment and Tax-planner,Auditor(statutory and tax),System(Functional) specialist,Government Accountant.Overall he is a part and parcel and Piller of Indian Economy



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