ABSTRACT
The management control and cost management literature have traditionally focused on two types of cost objects: organizational units and products. The first type focuses mainly on responsibility centres – such as departments or business units – and the task of controlling costs and profitability. The second is typically more decision-oriented, e.g. on pricing and product mix decisions. In both cases the information generated is for internal users and based on internal data sources, e.g. internal production data from internal processes. In some countries the term ‘internal accounting’ is used to describe such an information system, but it is better known as management accounting in the Anglo-Saxon literature.
