146
8
I
n the Accounting Best Practices Survey of 2003, developed
jointly by Ernst & Young and the Institute of Management
Accountants, 98% of more than 2,000 senior-level financial
executives who participated said their companies do not have
accurate cost information. The major distortions come from
areas such as overhead allocations and shared services. The
executives also wanted more accurate cost information to guide
strategic decision-making activities.
They Want It, but They Don’t Want It—Yet They
Still Need It
One survey goal was to learn what drives management to adopt
new accounting tools and initiatives. Not surprisingly, the survey
found that decision makers and line managers identify cost
management as a key input to decision-making and accurate
cost information as the top priority. Information to help in cost-
reduction decisions ranked second. Almost 40% of the respon-
dents said that the inaccurate cost information had a “signifi-
Other Management
Accounting
Systems
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