AJAX progress indicator
  • activity-based costing(ABC) A costing system for situations where overhead is high and/or a variety of products are produced; costs are traced to activities and then activities are allocated to production
  • Business to Business(B2B) A system that enables data interchange between companies; sometimes sufficiently robust to permit automatic inventory replenishment, etc.
  • budgetA planning tool that outlines the financial plans for an organization; there are various types of budgets -- operating, capital, and financial
  • Certified Financial Manager(CFM) a professional designation of competency in the field of financial management that is issued by the Institute of Management Accountants
  • Chartered Global Management Accountant(CGMA) sponsors a designation that distinguishes professionals who have advanced proficiency in finance, operations, strategy and management
  • Certified Management Accountant(CMA) a professional designation of competency in the field of management accounting that is issued by the Institute of Management Accountants
  • controllerThe primary person responsible for the cost and managerial accounting functions
  • conversion costCost components needed to change raw materials to finished goods, specifically direct labor and manufacturing overhead
  • cost accountingThe process by which an organization's cost is collected, assigned, and interpreted
  • cost of goods manufacturedThe amount of cost attributable to goods reaching the end of production; beginning work in process (wip) + (direct materials, direct labor, manufacturing overhead) - ending wip
  • direct laborGross wages paid to those who physically and directly work on the goods being produced
  • direct materialThe costs of all materials that are an integral part of a finished product and that have a physical presence that is readily traced to that finished product
  • Enterprise Resource Packages(ERP) Comprehensive database software that tracks an almost endless array of business and accounting data
  • finished goodsFinished goods represent the cost of completed products awaiting sale to a customer
  • Institute of Management Accountants(IMA) a professional association for management accountants that sponsors the CMA and CFM designations
  • inventoriable costProduct costs that attach to inventory
  • job costing methodA costing approach whereby actual labor and material is tracked for each job or product
  • Machine to Machine(M2M) enables connected devices to communicate with each other
  • manufacturing overheadAll costs of manufacturing other than direct materials and direct labor (also called factory overhead)
  • period costA cost not attributable to the acquisition or manufacture of inventory; expensed as incurred
  • prime costProduct costs that are direct in nature; direct materials and direct labor
  • process costing methodsA product costing method particularly well suited to situations where production occurs in a continuous process; costs are pooled and assigned to aggregate output
  • product costCosts that attach to a product; the summation of direct materials, direct labor, and factory overhead
  • raw materialsThe components that will be used in manufacturing units that are not yet started -- also known as direct materials
  • radio frequency identification(RFID) Micro processes embedded in inventory that emit radio frequency signals that enable a computer to automatically track inventory
  • scorecards (balanced)A system for evaluating elements that are important to the organization and under the control of an employee holding that position
  • SG&ASelling, general, and administrative costs; the period costs of the business
  • standardsBenchmarks against which actual productive activity is compared
  • sustainabilityDevelopment without depletion of natural resources or negative effects on the environment
  • theory of constraints(TOC) Efficiency is improved by seeking out and eliminating constraints within the organization
  • total quality management(TQM) A process for continuous improvement by focusing on customer service and systematic problem solving via teams made up of front-line employees
  • variancesDeviations from the norm that may provide warning signs of situations requiring corrective action by managers
  • work in processGoods that are in production but not yet complete; an accumulation of monies spent on direct material, direct labor, and applied manufacturing overhead