Academic management

According to the Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Business Administration Curriculum, Cost Accounting and Management Control is part of the module of Accounting, particularly under the heading Management Accounting. As students have no previous contact with determining the cost of a product and decision-making, the course will provide them with basic skills and knowledge of key concepts that will be very useful not only in subsequent accounting related courses, but also in order to complete their Bachelor’s Degree and succeed in their professional environment.

The aim of this course is to provide people within the organization with information to help them make better decisions. Cost accounting measures, analyses and reports financial and non-financial information related to the costs of acquiring or using resources in an organization.

The contents of this course are tightly related to subjects like Organization and Management and Marketing. It is advisable to have completed Introduction to Accounting. The course also requires knowledge of the microeconomic models which describe how a company works. In addition, the student should be competent in basic mathematical and statistical operations.

The general competences which students will develop in Cost Accounting and Management Control  include:

– CG1 - Ability for analysis and synthesis.

– CG2 - Learning ability.

– CG3 - Ability for fluent oral and written communication in mother tongue.

– CG6 - Ability to use ICT tools.

– CG7 - Ability to work independently.

– CG8 -Ability to work in teams.

– CG9 - Ability to work in an international context.

– CG10 - Critical and self-critical ability.

– CG11 - Decision-making skills.

– CG12 - Ability to put knowledge into practice.

– CG13 - Creativity for finding new ideas and solutions.

– CG16 - Organization and planning skills.

– CG19 - Concern for quality and good work.

– CG20 - Values and ethics.

– CG21 - Integration of democratic values and the culture of peace in the working environment.

– CG22 - Integration of the principles of equal treatment and opportunities for men and women in the working environment.

– CG23 - Integration of the principles of equal opportunities and universal access for the disabled in the working environment.

Students will also develop the following specific competences on the course:

– CE6 - Identify and apply quantitative tools in order to measure business performance.

– CE7 – Propose, analyse and solve mathematical models in the business field.

– CE8 – Use and interpret specific software for data processing.

– CE15 – Apply and interpret both national and international accounting regulations.

– CE16 - Draw up and analyze internal and external accounting information for management control and decision-making.

– CE20 - Transfer information, ideas, problems and solutions in the area of business management to a specialist or non-specialist audience.

– CE21 - Issue advisory reports on specific company and market situations.

As far as learning outcomes are concerned, the knowledge and skills that students will acquire upon successful completion of the course will enable them to:

– RA2.1: Understand the accounting principles and procedures underlying the firm’s financial statements at a basic level and apply them in the bookkeeping process and transaction analysis.

– RA2.2: Complete the accounting cycle, determining accounting income and producing the annual financial statements.

– RA2.3: Promote ethical behaviour in accounting and ensure standards of professional behaviour.

– RA2.5: Apply accounting ratios in order to measure business performance.

– RA2.6: Interpret accounting information to evaluate the financial position of real companies, the success of their operations, and gain an insight into their future performance, based on real-world examples.

–  RA2.7: Evaluate business performance.

–  RA2.11: Diagnose the different problems faced by an economic organization.

– RA2.12: Identify, record and report relevant economic and financial data to allow informed business decision making.

Abbreviated Programme

Unit 1.- Introduction to Cost Accounting.

Unit 2.- Direct material costs.

Unit 3.- Labour costs.

Unit 4.- Cost assignment.

Detailed Programme

Unit 1.- Introduction to Cost Accounting.

1. 1. Cost Accounting as a source of information for internal parties within the organization.
   2. Costs and cost terminology.
   3. Classifications of costs.

            1.3.1. Fixed and variable costs.

1.3.2. Direct and indirect costs.

1.3.3. Product costs and period costs.

            1.4      Relevant and avoidable costs.

Learning outcomes:

Understanding the decision-making process and the nature of the information which should be provided.

Unit 2.- Direct material costs.

2.1.      Introduction.

2.2.      Perpetual inventory.

2.3       Determining direct material costs.

2.4.      Quantitative methods in stock control systems.

2.5.      Just-in-time inventory management.

Learning outcomes:

Understanding how raw materials should be managed and the way their costs should be assigned to products.

Unit 3.- Labour costs.

3.1.   Labour costs and their components.

3.2.    Labour cost accounting.

                        3.2.1. Job cards and time sheets.

                        3.2.2. Idle time.

3.3.    Accounting treatment of various labour cost items.

3.3.1. Types of incentives.

                        3.3.2. Overtime premium pay, shift premium pay and holiday and vacation pay.

3.4.   Learning curve theory.

Learning outcomes:

Understanding how labour should be managed and the way its costs should be assigned to products.

Unit 4.- Cost assignment.

            4.1.     Introduction.

            4.2.    The allocation process.

            4.3.    Allocation bases.

            4.4     Budgeted overhead rates.

Learning outcomes:

Describing the process of assigning indirect costs to cost objects.

The methodology used in the course Cost Accounting and Management Control is based on a combination of in-class and distance learning activities, in both cases encouraging active student participation by means of the introduction of elements of dialogue and argument in the classes, aimed at assessing and supervising their understanding of the topics explained.

In this discipline theory and practice are perfectly integrated, so any teaching method for accounting must necessarily have a strong practical orientation on a sound theoretical basis, where the student tries to face and confront economic reality by applying theoretical knowledge.

A list or useful handbooks is included under the heading “Resources, Bibliography and Additional Information”.  All the handbooks are available at the Law and Business Library of the University of Oviedo. In addition to the materials listed above, teachers will make other useful study materials available to students at the Virtual Campus.

The Teaching schedule is organized as follows:

• In-class activities: 60 hours

– Lectures. The course will include the “master class”, especially to cover the theoretical aspects of the subject, enabling the teacher to point out key points in a lesson, control the presentation time and promote effective methods to study the subject. Furthermore, the course will foster active participation and student commitment as an enhancement of lectures.

– Classroom practices. “Active-learning” techniques will be used aimed at encouraging student collaboration and interpersonal interaction among students as well as between the instructor and students.

– Evaluation. Theoretical and practical written exam used to assess student progress.

• Out-of-class activities: 90 hours

– Individual work. It is based on three types of activities: study of the theoretical aspects related to “lectures”, study of the practical aspects related to “classroom practices” and, when appropriate, out-of-class practice activities or completion of homework assignments.

The following tables show the distribution of time and for the different activities:

If, in  the event of supervening circumstances,  in-person activities cannot be carried out, they will be replaced with online activities, using the telematic applications provided by the University of Oviedo.

The evaluation of the course is based on two aspects:

1.- Continuous assessment. It involves analysing different parts of the learning process so as to assess student progress throughout the course and then produce a final evaluation result from these periodic assessments. This method of assessment is based on active commitment of students to in-class activities, objective follow-up tests and theoretical and practical quizzes, resolving cases, exercises and practical activities, writing reviews about readings and other materials.  When a student’s activity negatively affects the normal process of a class, this will be borne in mind when considering the student’s continuous assessment.

2.- Final exam. It is the overall assessment that takes place at the end of the learning process, which quantifies and evaluates student performance through a grade. Its primary purpose will be to assess the level of student achievement at the end of the course.

Grading system

Final grades in all examinations during the academic year 2022-2023 (January, May/June and July) will be a weighted average of scores on the continuous assessment and final examination with a weighting of 40% for continuous assessment and 60% for the final exam.

Summary Table 1

The top score on the continuous assessment (4 points out of 10) can be achieved as follows: during lectures and classroom practices, students will take two midterm tests, each one accounting for a maximum of 2 points. The first midterm test will cover Units 1 and 2, while the second one will cover Units 3 and 4. Should tests be made up of multiple-choice and true/false questions, scoring rules will penalize wrong answers.

Summary Table  2

Grading system for those certified as registered part-time students:

Summary Table 3

Final exam dates will be the same for all students.

Successful completion of the course is achieved when the student achieves a final passing grade of 5 points or above (out of 10).

Should sanitary conditions so require, evaluation will be online. In that case, students will be informed of the changes introduced.

It is recalled that the Code of Ethics of the University of Oviedo is in force and is applicable. It can be accessed from the following link: Universidad de Oviedo - Código ético (uniovi.es).

Basic bibliography

DRURY, C. (2016): Management accounting for business, Cengage Learning EMEA, Andover.

Complementary bibliography

García Suárez, J. L. (COORD); Arias Álvarez, A. M.; García Cornejo, B.; Machado Cabezas, A. y Pérez Méndez, J. A. (2013): Cálculo, Análisis y Gestión de Costes. Guía práctica para su aplicación en la empresa, Ediciones Delta, 2ª Edición, Madrid.

García Suárez, J. L. (COORD); Arias Álvarez, A. M.; García Cornejo, B.; Machado Cabezas, A. y Pérez Méndez, J. A. (2021): Cálculo de Costes y Control de Gestión. Más de 100 casos y cuestiones de aplicación práctica, Ediciones Delta, 2ª Edición, Madrid.

Amat, O.; Soldevilla, P. y Aguilá, S. (2003): Ejercicios Resueltos de Contabilidad de Costes, Gestión 2000, Barcelona.

Blanco, I. Aibar, B. y Ríos, S. L. (2001): Contabilidad de costes. Cuestiones, supuestos prácticos resueltos y propuestos, Prentice Hall, Madrid.

Buendía Carrillo, D. y García Meca, E. (Coords.) (2016): Casos prácticos de contabilidad de gestión, Pirámide, Madrid.

Horngren, Ch.T.; Datar,  y Rajan, M. V. (2015): Cost accounting. A managerial emphasis, Pearson Education Limited, Upper Saddle River.

Rayburn, L.G. (1996): Cost accounting: using a cost management approach, Irwin, Chicago.

Ripoll, V. M. y Balada, T. J. (2005): Información de costes para la toma de decisiones empresariales, Ediciones Gestión 2000.

Sáez Torrecilla, A.; Fernández Fernández, A. y Gutiérrez Díaz, G. (2008): Contabilidad de costes y contabilidad de gestión, (Volumen I y II), Mc Graw-Hill, Madrid.

Additional materials will be available at: www.campusvirtual.uniovi.es

Students may also visit the following websites: