Q.Explain the role and duties of a management accountant in an organisation.

The management accountant is not a mere book-keeper but an important member of the management team responsible for the flow of information on which management acts.

The management accountant (sometimes called the controller in large organisations) is the officer responsible for operating the management accounting system and for supplying management with the information it needs. He is a key member of the management team, and his role and duties are the following.

1. Designing and running the information system. He designs, installs and operates the records and reports through which information flows to management.
2. Collecting and compiling data. He gathers accounting and other economic data from inside and outside the business and compiles it into usable form.
3. Analysing and interpreting information. He analyses the figures and interprets their meaning — explaining what the results show and what action they suggest.
4. Preparing budgets and reports. He prepares budgets, forecasts, cost statements and periodic performance reports for the various levels of management.
5. Assisting in planning and decision-making. He supplies the relevant data and analysis for management's plans and decisions and advises on the financial implications of the alternatives.
6. Helping to control operations. He operates the budgetary-control and standard-costing systems, reports the variances between actual and planned performance, and draws management's attention to matters needing action.
7. Communicating and coordinating. He communicates information to the departments and helps coordinate their activities, acting as a link between the accounting function and the rest of management.
8. Advising management. As a specialist he advises management on financial and cost matters and on the likely results of proposed courses of action. …

Students sometimes describe the management accountant as just a book-keeper or accountant who records transactions. The answer must bring out his wider, advisory and analytical role — designing the information system, …