UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS - DALLAS

School of Management

AIM 3341 - Spring 2006

COST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Professor Celal Aksu

SOM 4.229; Phone: 972-883-4426; E-mail: Web CT
Office Hours: Wednesdays 16:00 – 17:00, Thursdays 15:00 – 17:00, and by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Xie Xinmei (Lucy)

SOM 4.211; Phone: 972-883-4924; E-mail: xxx022000@utdallas.edu

Required Material:
• Textbook: C. T. Horngren, S. M. Datar, and G. Foster, Cost Accounting, A Managerial Emphasis
(Prentice-Hall, 12th edition, 2006).
• Handouts: on certain topics that are supplementary to the text. These handouts are part of the
primary source of instructional materials. They will be posted on WebCT. They will not
be available in class or from my office.
• Solutions: to assigned problems. They will be available in class or on Web CT.

Web CT: All electronic communication will take place through Web CT (not UTD e-mail or website).
Therefore you should check Web CT regularly and use Web CT if you need to contact me.
Please avoid e-mailing me using my UTD address.

Course Objectives: The course emphasizes the use of accounting information for internal planning and
control purposes. It is intended for individuals who will make business decisions and evaluate the
performance of business units using data obtained from the accounting system.
It builds upon the material from AIM 2302, Introduction to Cost Management. It is assumed that
you have a thorough understanding of the major concepts from AIM 2302. It is also assumed that
you have an understanding of double-entry accounting (debits and credits).
The course will cover issues involved in the design of a cost accounting system, new management
accounting practices, and the role of management accounting in decisions concerning resource
allocation and performance evaluation.
Throughout the course, we will pay particular attention to various (unintended) dysfunctional
consequences of traditional cost accounting systems, as well as some possible solutions to these
problems.

Course Format: The course will be a combination of lectures, and interactive class discussions. The first
part of each class will be used to discuss the problems that have been assigned on the course outline.
You must be prepared to discuss these problems during this portion of the class.
I will use the second part of each class to discuss and demonstrate various points. I will assume that
you have prepared the required material for the class. It is imperative that you read the assigned
material before coming to class so that you can follow the presentations and engage in discussions as
required.
Class Participation: Students are encouraged to ask relevant questions, make pertinent comments,
and present answers to questions raised during class. They are also encouraged to use office hours to
discuss matters related to the course. Please note that preference in office hours will be given to
students that attend class.

Assignments: The completion of homework assignments is crucial to mastery of the subject matter.
Solutions to assigned exercises and problems will not be collected. Most of them will be
discussed in class. It is solely student's decision as to how much of the assigned exercises
and problems is done prior to class. However, he/she will be responsible for the content of the
assigned homework.

Exams: Exams will cover material contained in the required readings, assignments, and class
discussions. They will generally include multiple choice questions.
Make-up exams will be given only under extenuating circumstances arising from medical or family
emergencies.
It is your responsibility to note the exam dates and let me know at the beginning of the semester
if you foresee any conflicts. It is also your responsibility to ensure that you do not schedule any
job interviews or travel for official or personal reasons during exam days.

Grade Determination: Three, in-class, non-cumulative exams (30% each); and class participation
(10%). Students are allowed to bring in one page of notes to each exam. We will review
graded exams during a class subsequent to the exam. However, the exam must be returned
before you leave the class. You may not keep the exams! If you need more time to review
the exam, you can look at them during my office hours.
Grades for class participation will be based on the following factors: i) attendance, ii)
preparation, iii) appropriate contribution to discussion, and iv) willingness to answer and/or to
ask questions.
 AIM 3341 - Course Outline (Spring 2006)

The following plan of coverage, if need arises, may be changed. These changes will be announced beforehand.

Cost terms, Classifications, and Purposes

Chapters 1 and 2
Job Order Costing and Process Costing Systems
Chapter 4; problems 4-24, 4-30, 4-39
Process Costing Systems
Chapter 17; problems 17-38, 17-39
Chapter 18; appendix excluded; problems 18-30, 18-32, 18-35, 18-36
Activity-Based Costing (ABC) and Activity-Based Management (ABM)
Chapter 5; problems 5-23, 5-25

Exam I (in-class) – February 14 (Tuesday) ... Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 17, 18

Standard Costs; Flexible Budgets and Variance Analysis

Chapter 7; problems 7-25, 7-27, 7-42
Chapter 8; problems 8-29, 8-33, 8-40
Chapter 14; problems 14-32, 14-33, 14-37
Absorption/Variable/Throughput - Actual/Normal/Standard Costing Systems
Chapter 9; problems 9-23, 9-30, 9-33, 9-34, 9-35

Exam II (in class) – March 21 (Tuesday) ... Chapters 7, 8, 9, 14

Strategy, Balanced Scorecard, and Strategic Profitability Analysis

Chapter 13; problems 13-31, 13-33, 13-36, 13-37

Management Control Systems, Decentralization, and Transfer Pricing Methods

Chapter 22; problems 22-21, 22-22, 22-33
Performance Measurement, Financial and Nonfinancial Performance Measures
Chapters 23; problems 23-21, 23-24, 23-30

Exam III (in class) – April 18 (Tuesday) ... Chapters 13, 22, 23