ACCT90009

Strategic Cost Management

SUBJECT GUIDE

Semester 1, 2019

Prepared by
Sarah Yang Spencer
s.yangspencer@unimelb.edu.au

Department of Accounting
Faculty of Business and Economics
Melbourne Business School
Contents

SUBJECT OUTLINE ........................................................................................................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................... 3
SUBJECT AIMS .................................................................................................................................................... 3
PRESCRIBED REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 3
LEARNING OUTCOMES .................................................................................................................................. 4
SUBJECT OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................................................... 4
GENERIC SKILLS ................................................................................................................................................. 4
AWARENESS ISSUES............................................................................................................................................ 4
PREREQUISITES ................................................................................................................................................ 5
ACADEMIC STAFF CONTACT DETAILS ..................................................................................................... 5
TEACHING FORMAT ........................................................................................................................................ 6
LECTURE/SEMINAR TIMES .................................................................................................................................. 6
LECTURE/SEMINAR PROGRAM ............................................................................................................................ 6
LECTURE/SEMINAR SLIDES................................................................................................................................. 7
LECTURE AUDIO CAPTURE ................................................................................................................................. 7
SEMINAR REQUIREMENTS............................................................................................................................ 7
ATTENDANCE ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
SEMINAR PREPARATION ..................................................................................................................................... 8
SEMINAR PARTICIPATION ................................................................................................................................... 8
LECTURE/SEMINAR SCHEDULE .................................................................................................................. 9
ASSESSMENT .................................................................................................................................................... 10
ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................. 10
ASSESSMENT DETAILS ...................................................................................................................................... 10
End-of-Semester Examination: ................................................................................................................... 10
Assignment: ................................................................................................................................................. 11
Online Tests: ............................................................................................................................................... 11
Participation: .............................................................................................................................................. 12
ASSESSMENT POLICIES AND RESOURCES .......................................................................................................... 12
Assignment submission ............................................................................................................................... 12
Assignment extensions and penalties for late submission ........................................................................... 12
Referencing ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Special Consideration ................................................................................................................................. 13
Plagiarism and Collusion ........................................................................................................................... 13
Academic Skills Resources .......................................................................................................................... 13
Exams .......................................................................................................................................................... 13
OTHER SUBJECT RESOURCES.................................................................................................................... 14
THE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ........................................................................................................... 14
STUDENT QUERIES............................................................................................................................................ 14
OTHER QUERIES ................................................................................................................................................ 14
ACCT90009 STRATEGIC COST MANAGEMENT PRIZE......................................................................... 15

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Subject Outline
Introduction
Welcome to ACCT90009 Strategic Cost Management! In this subject, we will examine
topics at the interface of cost accounting and managerial decision making. You will be
introduced to the concepts and processes that underpin the development of cost accounting
systems and gain familiarisation with a range of techniques for the analysis and evaluation
of cost information captured by these systems. In this subject, you will also investigate the
role of cost accounting information in managerial decisions that relate to the efficient and
effective management of organisational resources and the creation of customer and
shareholder value.

This guide details a range of information you will require to support your learning in this
subject. The administration and assessment requirements of each subject within the
business school can differ in important ways. Please ensure that you read the guide carefully
and are familiar with the requirements of this subject, as well as the broader business school
and University policies with which you must comply. We look forward to working with
you and hope that you enjoy this subject!

Sarah Yang Spencer and Mario Schabus

Subject Aims
Through examination of a range of strategic cost management topics, this subject aims to
introduce students to cost management systems and the strategic use of these systems to
ensure the achievement of the long-term goals and objectives of an organisation. This
subject also aims to prepare students for career readiness by making the connection between
experiences in the classroom and the professional world, as well as developing students’
life-long learning skills.

Prescribed References
The prescribed textbook for this subject is:

Bhimani, A., Horngren, C. T., Datar, S. M., and M. V. Rajan. Management and Cost
Accounting, 6th Edition. Pearson Education.

Copies of the prescribed textbook are available from the High Use Reserve in the Giblin-
Eunson library.

Supplementary readings will also be provided by the seminar. All supplementary

references will be made available via the Learning Management System. Readings will be
filed in the relevant weekly ‘Lecture/Seminar Materials’ folder.

http://www.lms.unimelb.edu.au

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Learning Outcomes
Subject Objectives
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• Define costs according to different classification schemes, describe a range of cost

behaviour patterns, and calculate and interpret cost estimates derived using a range of
techniques;
• Design cost allocation systems to meet internal accountability requirements, and
interpret the impact of cost allocations on internal performance reports;
• Analyse resource flows in different organisation settings and design costing systems to
capture critical resource flows;
• Calculate product and service costs using a variety of costing systems and cost
allocation techniques;
• Analyse the impact of costing system choices and cost allocations on pricing,
competition, and management decision making;
• Explain techniques for the management of costs, time, and quality to facilitate the
effective use of organisational resources;
• Analyse and evaluate cost information for the purposes of making a variety of value-
based decisions.

Generic Skills
On successful completion of this subject, students should have improved the following
generic skills:

• Evaluation of data;
• Synthesis of data and theory;
• Using computer programs, including web-based software;
• Problem-solving;
• Oral and written communication;
• Listening to other students with tolerance and engaging in discussion when appropriate.

Awareness Issues
At a broader level, studying this subject will increase your awareness of issues such as:

• Measurement challenges faced by management accountants and managers in

organisations;
• The importance of resource management in organisations and its links to business
processes;
• The challenge of managing resources in a constrained and changing environment.

To view the learning goals, generic skills and graduate attributes for your degree, please
locate the University Handbook entry for your degree at
https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/2019/subjects/acct90009/

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Prerequisites
ACCT90004 Accounting for Decision Making or equivalent.

Academic Staff Contact Details

Subject coordinator and Seminar Leader

Dr Sarah Yang Spencer

Room 08.028, 198 Berkeley Street [The Spot]
[T] +61 3 83440928
[E] s.yangspencer@unimelb.edu.au
[Consultation Hours] Tuesdays 1-3pm

Other Seminar Leader

Dr Mario Schabus
Room 08.021, 198 Berkeley Street [The Spot]
[T] +61 3 83440218
[E] mario.schabus@unimelb.edu.au
[Consultation Hours] Wednesdays 2-4pm

Please send administrative inquiries to the subject coordinator and content-specific

questions to the respective seminar leaders. Where possible, you should endeavour to
address content-specific questions during seminars. If you have a question or idea about
the material, we are covering it is likely that many of your peers in the class may have
similar issues. Both seminar leaders will welcome questions during class. Learning during
seminars will be improved where students explore questions relating to the material in
seminars.

Each seminar leader will hold weekly student consultation hours. These hours are advised
above and on the LMS. If unable to ask questions before, during, or after class, please see
us during our consultation hours.
Email Protocol

Please note that we are only able to respond to student emails coming from a University of
Melbourne email address. Please do not use personal email addresses such as Yahoo,
Hotmail or even business email addresses. Emails from non-University email addresses
may be filtered by the University’s spam filter, which means that we may not receive your
email.

While academic staff endeavour to address queries received via email, it is more
appropriate to resolve substantive questions during lectures, tutorials and normal
consultation hours. With this in mind, we encourage students to attend all lectures and
tutorials and to familiarise themselves with the consultation hours offered for this subject.

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Teaching Format
Lectures are scheduled in Week 1 and Week 12 for the subject. Apart from these two weeks,
there is one three-hour seminar each week for the rest of the semester. Each seminar will
comprise a ‘workshop’ session, where we discuss a range of questions and/or cases relating
to the previous week’s material, as well as a ‘lecture’ session, where new material is
introduced. However, you should note that the ‘lecture’ component is not a traditional
lecture where we speak and you listen. Rather, the classroom environment is highly
participative and will be interspersed with interactive sessions designed to reinforce the
lecture objectives. Interactive sessions throughout the lecture will vary in nature and often
allow you to form small groups to further explore concepts.

Students are expected to have attempted all set workshop questions before the seminar and
to have pre-read all references (to the textbook and supplementary readings) before the
‘lecture’ to ensure they can engage adequately during the class.

Lecture/Seminar Times
Lecture/seminar streams will run at the following times and venues in semester 1, 2019:

Day Format Time Venue

Wednesday, Lecture PAR-Law-GM15 (DPP

18:15–21:15
6 March (only for Week 1) Lecture Theatre)
Seminar
Tuesday 9:00–12:00 PAR-FBE-221 (Theatre 4)
(from Week 2 to Week 11)
Seminar
Wednesday 10:00–13:00 PAR-FBE-221 (Theatre 4)
(from Week 2 to Week 11)
Seminar
Wednesday 17:15-20:15 PAR-FBE-211 (Theatre 2)
(from Week 2 to Week 11)
Seminar
Thursday 9:00-12:00 PAR-FBE-221 (Theatre 4)
(from Week 2 to Week 11)
Wednesday Lecture PAR-Law-GM15 (DPP
18:15–21:15
29 May (only for Week 12) Lecture Theatre)

Students must attend the two lectures in Week 1 and Week 12. For seminars, please note it
is important that you attend the seminar stream to which you are officially allocated, due to
capacity constraints at each venue and to ensure productive group discussions. Attendance
will only be recorded and participation will only be rewarded at your allocated seminar
stream.

Lecture/Seminar Program
A detailed program of material to be covered in this subject is available from the Learning
Management System (Subject Information folder). Relevant references to the prescribed
textbook are provided by topic. Students are reminded that supplementary readings may
also be required. These will be available from the ‘Lecture/Seminar Materials’ folder on
the LMS.

Students should note that the learning materials for this subject are largely accumulative.
Students will need to keep pace with the learning program outlined in the lecture/seminar
schedule by ensuring they complete set readings and thoroughly attempt self-study
materials and weekly workshop tasks.

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Lecture/Seminar Slides
Slides for the ‘lecture’ component of each seminar (outlines only) can also be downloaded
from the Learning Management System (‘Lecture/Seminar Materials’ folder).
Lecture/Seminar slides will be made available to students at least one week in advance.

Lecture Audio Capture

Please note that only lectures will be audio-streamed, not the seminars in Strategic Cost
Management. The interactive nature of each seminar is not conducive to audio-streaming.
In no circumstances may students make recordings of seminars via personal recording
devices or any other medium. Any recordings made of seminars are in breach of University
policies and constitute academic misconduct.

Seminar Requirements
The most important requirement for this course is thorough preparation for seminars!

Attendance
Attendance at seminars may be recorded each week. Any student attending less than 8 of
the scheduled 10 seminars may be required to provide evidence of exceptional
circumstances explaining their inability to attend class. Please note carefully, attendance
at class is an expectation. No portion of your participation mark will be determined by
attendance alone.

Students must attend their allocated seminar stream. If there are extenuating circumstances
that prevent you from attending your allocated seminar stream in any particular week, you
should email the subject co-ordinator, well in advance of the seminar. Where possible
alternative arrangements will be made. Please note, it may not always be possible for you
to attend an alternative seminar stream.

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Seminar Preparation
There are pre-set questions, problems and/or cases for the workshop component of each
seminar. These tasks relate to the ‘lecture’ content from the preceding week. These seminar
questions are available from the LMS. Students are required to prepare responses to all set
seminar questions.

The workshop questions will help you learn and develop your understanding of the content
and its application in an organisational context. The workshop questions (available on the
LMS, ‘Lecture/Seminar Materials’ folder) are designed to encourage full preparation,
increase your engagement in the seminar, and to help you identify areas where you need to
supplement your current knowledge.

High levels of preparation, reflected in well thought out responses to seminar questions,
will always be regarded highly.

Students are also required to prepare for the ‘lecture’ component of each seminar by reading
and thinking carefully about all set references and lecture materials prior to the relevant
seminar. This will ensure students are able to satisfactorily participate in the interactive
‘lecture’ component of seminars. The depth of understanding and the effectiveness of
learning will be maximised only if students attend class prepared.

Seminar Participation
Students are expected to actively participate in seminars. Participation in seminars will
only be possible where students are thoroughly prepared. Each student’s participation in
seminars will be monitored throughout the semester and seminar participation records will
be used for final assessment purposes. In this instance, students will only be rewarded if
they are outstanding contributors or contributors in seminars, and there are no marks for
simply attending class and not participating. The following information can be used as a
guide to differentiate student contributions in seminars.

Outstanding Contributor

This student’s contributions in class reflect exceptional preparation. This student offers
substantive ideas, asks probing questions, explains points of confusion and engages in
debate with other contributors. If this student was not present in class, the quality of the
discussions would diminish significantly.

Contributor

This student’s contributions in class reflect occasional preparation. This student offers
ideas, asks questions and contributes to the debate, but the contribution is occasional and
less rich than the “outstanding” contributor. If this student was not present in class, the
quality of discussions would diminish.

Non-Contributor

This student has said little or nothing in class to date. Hence, there is an inadequate basis
for evaluation. If this student was not present in class, the quality of the discussion would
not be changed.

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 Seminar participation will be reflected in a variety of ways but might commonly include:

• Contributions to workshop discussions on the basis of prepared responses or as an

extension/alternative perspective to another student’s response;
• Contributions to within-seminar activities, such as designated group work in lectures;
• Preparedness to respond to direct questions from the seminar leader;
• Participation in, and contribution to, group discussions/activities.
• High level of engagement with what is occurring in the seminars.

Lecture/Seminar Schedule

Week Date Teaching Topic Required Reading

Commencing Format

1 4th March Lecture The accountants’ role Chapter 1

and the skills required

2 11th March Seminar Cost Behaviour and Chapter 2 & 9

Estimation

3 18th March Seminar Job Costing Chapter 3

4 25th March Seminar Process Costing Chapter 4

5 1st April Seminar Issues in Indirect Cost Chapter 5 & 11

Allocation & Activity-
based Costing

6 8th April Seminar Absorption and Variable

Chapter 7 & 8
Costing & Cost-Volume-
Profit Analysis

7 15th April Seminar Relevant Cost Analysis for

Chapter 10
Decision Making

8 29th April Seminar Pricing and Target Costing Chapter 12

9 6th May Seminar Standard Costing Systems

and Flexible Budgets I: Chapter 14 & 15
Direct Costs

10 13th May Seminar Flexible Budgets II:

Chapter 16
Overheads

11 20th May Seminar Cost Management in

Chapters 20 & 21
Quality and Time

12 27th May Lecture Subject Review All

TEXTBOOK REFERENCES to Bhimani, Horngren, Datar & Rajan. (2015). Management and Cost Accounting, 6th
Edition. Prentice Hall, 2015. Supplementary references may also be listed on the LMS for each week.

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Assessment
Assessment Overview
Your assessment for this subject comprises the following:

Task Due Date Weight

End-of-semester Examination
[3 hours]
Hurdle requirement: Successful Individual Semester 1 University Examination Period 65%
completion of this subject requires
a minimum pass (50%) on the
end-of-semester examination.

Assignment

Business
Group Friday 3rd May by 5:00 p.m. 15%
Solutions/Recommendations

Individual Reflection on Group

Individual Tuesday 7th May by 5:00 p.m. 5%
Work

Online Tests
Week 3, Week 5, Week 7, Week 9,
[5 tests at 2% each] Individual Week 11 10%

Participation

Seminar Participation Individual Seminars 2-11

5%
Discussion Board Participation Individual Week 2 – Week 11

Assessment Details
End-of-Semester Examination:
The end-of-semester examination is three (3) hours in duration and will be held during the
University’s examination period (Tuesday 11th June to Friday 28th June 2019). Students
should note that they are required to be available to sit for the exam at any stage throughout
this examination period. The exam will include a variety of questions designed to test each
student’s mastery of the subject’s objectives. Workshop questions, in-class exercises, and
the group assignment are also indicative of the types of questions that may be included on
the exam. Further details regarding the exam will be provided in Week 12 Lecture.

Special Examinations

There are no supplementary examinations for subjects taught in the Melbourne Business
School, however, the examiners for this subject may require students to present for further
written or oral tests (special examinations) to be held before the publication of results at the

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end of the semester. Students are warned that only very short notice of these tests can be
given and thus, it is very important that you can be reached at the address and phone number
held by the University. It is the student’s responsibility to notify student records of any
change to their contact details and to ensure they are available for further assessment. If a
student fails to avail himself/herself of the opportunity to sit for a special exam (for
whatever reason) they should not expect to be offered another exam.

Assignment:

Group Work (2,500 words, 15%)

The assignment is due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday 3rd May 2019. Further details regarding
the assignment will be distributed via the LMS during the semester. This is a group
assignment. The maximum group size will be advised when the assignment is released.
No exceptions to this group size are permitted under any circumstances.

The work you submit must be the work of your own group. All assignments will be
checked electronically using a plagiarism detection tool. Significant penalties are imposed
where assignments are found to be plagiarised. Further information and links to references
with respect to plagiarism are included later in this section. You are also referred to the
University’s policy on academic integrity http://academicintegrity.unimelb.edu.au/

All students within your group will be given the same mark unless you have raised an
issue during the assignment period. Students who do not satisfactorily contribute to a
group assignment may be allocated a lower mark or assigned a mark of zero.

Individual Reflection on Group Work (500 words, 5%)

The assignment is due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday 7th May 2019. Further details regarding the
assignment will be distributed via the LMS during the semester. This is an individual
assignment, aiming to improve your skills in working in a team.

Online Tests:

You are required to complete five online tests throughout the semester. These tests will be
held every other week starting in Week 3 (i.e., weeks 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11). The due date and
time for your online test will depend on the seminar stream to which you are allocated.
Dues dates and times for each seminar stream are advised on the LMS.

Each test contains 10 multiple choice questions. You only have one attempt at each of the
online tests. Once you begin the test, you must finish the test. Questions are delivered
online one at a time. You must submit an answer to a question in order to progress to the
next question on the test. Once you have submitted an answer you cannot later revisit the
question. These measures are intended to promote fairness between students in an online
assessment environment, as they help minimise opportunities for academic misconduct.

You will have 30 minutes to complete each test. After this time your responses will
automatically be saved and submitted.

Tests are accessed and completed via the LMS. It is imperative that you use a PC or Mac
to access the LMS when completing the tests. The online tests are not compatible with

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 mobile devices, such as mobile phones and tablets. No special consideration will be granted
for problems completing the online tests when using a mobile device. Please note, it is
possible for us to determine the type of device you used to attempt each test.

You must also ensure that you attempt the online test using a stable internet connection.
i.e., do not use free public wi-fi or other unreliable services. Stable internet connections
are available to all students free of charge on campus.

Please note that no extensions or additional attempts will be granted for any of the online
tests for failure to follow any of the above instructions.

Participation:
Your participation throughout the semester will contribute to 5% of your overall mark in
this subject. You can accumulate your mark via seminar participation and discussion board
participation. Each good-quality contribution will provide you with half a mark (0.5), and
the maximum mark you can achieve in this category is five mark. The quality of your
contribution is determined at the discretion of the subject coordinator in consultation with
other seminar leaders or the discussion board leaders. Further information as to
expectations regarding seminar participation is provided earlier in this outline, while
expectations towards discussion board participation will be distributed via LMS during the
semester.

Assessment Policies and Resources

Assignment submission
All assignments must be submitted via LMS Assignment Folder.

Assignment extensions and penalties for late submission

Late submission assignments may attract a penalty unless an extension has been
granted. Extension requests should be made through the online Assignment Extension form
available at http://go.unimelb.edu.au/yh9n All extension requests must be made prior to
the assessment due date and supported with appropriate documentation.

Failure to submit an assignment by the due date and time will automatically incur a penalty
of 10 % for every day, or part thereof, the assignment is late. Penalties are also applied to
weekends at a rate of 10 % per day.

Referencing
All sources used for a written piece of assessment must be referenced. This is to
acknowledge that your material is not based entirely on your own ideas, but is based, in
part, on the ideas, information, and evidence of others. This is desirable as you are attending
University in order to learn from others.

You will be required to use the APA system or the Harvard System of referencing. The
University of Melbourne library services publish information on how to use these
referencing systems correctly. Please refer to http://library.unimelb.edu.au/recite

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It is important that all material you present for assessment is referenced correctly. Material
that has not been referenced correctly may be considered to be plagiarised, and as such may
be penalised. We will also look for evidence that material included in the bibliography has
been used in the assignment. Including references that have not been used may also result
in your assignment being penalised.

Special Consideration
As a student, you may experience extraordinary or unusual circumstances or ongoing
circumstances that adversely affect your academic performance. The University has
policies in place to support students who are experiencing academic disadvantage. For
more information, see the Special Consideration website:
http://students.unimelb.edu.au/admin/special
Note that some students may need to make a Special Consideration request at the time of
the examination period. In such cases, the request must be made within a specified time
frame.

Plagiarism and Collusion

Plagiarism (failure to cite your sources correctly and completely) and collusion
(unauthorised collaboration with another person to prepare an assessment task) are
considered academic misconduct and attract severe penalties. More information, including
practical advice to students, is available on the University’s Academic Honesty and
Plagiarism website: https://academichonesty.unimelb.edu.au

The Library and Academic Skills also provides excellent resources to help you reference
correctly.

Academic Skills Resources

The Library and Academic Skills offers a range of workshops and resources to help you
with study skills including researching, writing and referencing, presentation skills and
preparing for exams:
http://library.unimelb.edu.au/libraries/bee
http://services.unimelb.edu.au/academicskills
http://studentit.unimelb.edu.au/goodtoknow/pickitup

Exams
The Faculty requires that you are available for the entire examination period.
Supplementary exams will not be provided in cases of absence during the examination
period unless the absence is due to serious illness or other serious circumstances. See the
Special Consideration web site for more information:
http://students.unimelb.edu.au/admin/special

The examination period for this semester will commence on Tuesday 11 June 2019.

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Other Subject Resources
The Learning Management System
The subject website for ACCT90009 Strategic Cost Management can be found on the
University’s Learning Management System. You should ensure that for up-to-date
information concerning ACCT90009 you visit the Learning Management System
frequently:

http://www.lms.unimelb.edu.au/

Access to the Strategic Cost Management site on the Learning Management System is
restricted to students enrolled in ACCT90009 in semester 1, 2019. Information regarding
access to and use of the Learning Management System is also provided at the web address
above.

The Learning Management System contains a number of important study resources for
students enrolled in Strategic Management Accounting. These include:

• The announcement board on which important announcements for the subject will be
released;
• Detailed subject and staff information that student should familiarise themselves with
thoroughly and refer to often throughout the semester;
• Slides for the ‘lecture’ component of each seminar. These will be available to download
from the website at least one week prior to the relevant seminar. Please note that
handouts of seminar slides will not be distributed in seminars;
• All prescribed readings throughout the semester;
• A series of self-study questions and solutions for each seminar;
• A series of workshop questions that must be completed prior to seminars. These
questions reinforce important concepts introduced in prior ‘lectures’;
• Assignment information;
• Access to the assessable online tests;
• An exam archive in which a practice exam will be made available to students;
• Your interim assessment marks for this subject.

Student Queries
• Please refer current and future student enrolment enquiries to Stop 1 (located at 757
Swanston Street): http://students.unimelb.edu.au/stop1
• Queries relating to class registration should be referred to the online Class
Registration Enquiry Management (CREM) system at
http://ask.unimelb.edu.au/app/answers/detail/a_id/6036

Other queries
• Special Consideration, Student Equity and Disability:
https://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-
equity?utm_source=postcard&utm_medium=seds-
link&utm_campaign=Your%20success%20postcard

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 • Confidential Counselling: https://services.unimelb.edu.au/counsel
• Course Planning and Enrolment: https://students.unimelb.edu.au/admin/course-
planning
• Safer Community Program: https://safercommunity.unimelb.edu.au/
• Careers and Further Study: https://careers.unimelb.edu.au/students and
https://study.unimelb.edu.au/study-with-us/understand-your-undergraduate-to-
graduate-degree-pathways/from-secondary-school/packages/by-career
• Admin Support (fees, visas etc): https://students.unimelb.edu.au/study-overseas/help-
and-support/administrative-support
• Overseas Study Opportunities: https://students.unimelb.edu.au/study-overseas

ACCT90009 Strategic Cost Management Prize

This subject has a prize.

The Eric J Ingram Prize for Strategic Cost Management.

For further information and a full list of prizes and studentships available in Business and
Economics, please refer to http://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/scholarships/prizes/subject-prizes

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