ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the part which the Cost Accountant's department plays in the running of a manufacturing business, the general nature of the duties it should undertake and how it fits into the rest of the organisation. There are two main sides to the business; the Making; and the Selling - each under a director, with a managing director co-ordinating the two, looking after general policy and watching the working of the whole, particularly from the financial point of view. The three systems such as control accounts, programme and costs, are complementary parts of one whole system of information and their importance lies, not in the information itself, but in the degree to which it helps the management. The responsibility for the sales forecasts rests with the Sales Department, and the proposed expense allowances for the programmed works activity have to be accepted by the works director, and the various items of overhead expense by the various directors concerned.
