Adopting Tools from Cost and Management Accounting to Improve the Manner in Which Costs in Social Programs are Analyzed and Evaluated.
Saved in:
| Title: | Adopting Tools from Cost and Management Accounting to Improve the Manner in Which Costs in Social Programs are Analyzed and Evaluated. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Persaud, Nadini1 |
| Source: | Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation. 2020, Vol. 16 Issue 34, p1-13. 13p. |
| Subject Terms: | Cost control, Cost accounting, Externalities, Managerial accounting, Social services |
| Abstract: | Background: Managing programs in an environment where financial resources are limited, budget cuts are a reality, and external funding is now fiercely competitive, necessitate that both program administrators and program evaluators have a better understanding of program costs, so that financial resources can be optimized for societal good. This requires serious analysis of cost behavior and a proper understanding of the relationship between a program's variable costs and fixed costs since these costs have implications for clients fees and the number of clients that can be served. These types of analyses are quite routine in the profitability sector, but are considerably underutilized in other sectors. Purpose: This paper will explain how several common strategic management tools from cost and management accounting can be used to present more meaningful and useful cost information, so that social program decision-making and cost-inclusive evaluations can be enhanced. Setting: N/A. Intervention: N/A. Research Design: A desk review was utilized for the discussion of the cost and management accounting concepts and tools outlined in this paper. The paper illustrates how the toolkit of economic evaluation tools can be enhanced by adding tools from cost and management accounting to enhance strategic decisionmaking. Findings: This paper concludes by noting that program sustainability must be the new name of the game. This necessitates that program administrators and program evaluators start to analyze and evaluate program costs differently. Much work is needed to move towards a different philosophy of thinking with regards to program costs. Program administrators and program evaluators must therefore rise to the challenge and embrace cost analytical methodologies from other disciplines since the use of such methodologies can be beneficial to all concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation is the property of Western Michigan University, The Evaluation Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
|---|---|
| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 143148355 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
| IllustrationInfo | |
| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Adopting Tools from Cost and Management Accounting to Improve the Manner in Which Costs in Social Programs are Analyzed and Evaluated. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Persaud%2C+Nadini%22">Persaud, Nadini</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+MultiDisciplinary+Evaluation%22">Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation</searchLink>. 2020, Vol. 16 Issue 34, p1-13. 13p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cost+control%22">Cost control</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cost+accounting%22">Cost accounting</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Externalities%22">Externalities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Managerial+accounting%22">Managerial accounting</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+services%22">Social services</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Background: Managing programs in an environment where financial resources are limited, budget cuts are a reality, and external funding is now fiercely competitive, necessitate that both program administrators and program evaluators have a better understanding of program costs, so that financial resources can be optimized for societal good. This requires serious analysis of cost behavior and a proper understanding of the relationship between a program's variable costs and fixed costs since these costs have implications for clients fees and the number of clients that can be served. These types of analyses are quite routine in the profitability sector, but are considerably underutilized in other sectors. Purpose: This paper will explain how several common strategic management tools from cost and management accounting can be used to present more meaningful and useful cost information, so that social program decision-making and cost-inclusive evaluations can be enhanced. Setting: N/A. Intervention: N/A. Research Design: A desk review was utilized for the discussion of the cost and management accounting concepts and tools outlined in this paper. The paper illustrates how the toolkit of economic evaluation tools can be enhanced by adding tools from cost and management accounting to enhance strategic decisionmaking. Findings: This paper concludes by noting that program sustainability must be the new name of the game. This necessitates that program administrators and program evaluators start to analyze and evaluate program costs differently. Much work is needed to move towards a different philosophy of thinking with regards to program costs. Program administrators and program evaluators must therefore rise to the challenge and embrace cost analytical methodologies from other disciplines since the use of such methodologies can be beneficial to all concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation is the property of Western Michigan University, The Evaluation Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=143148355 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.56645/jmde.v16i34.615 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 13 StartPage: 1 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Cost control Type: general – SubjectFull: Cost accounting Type: general – SubjectFull: Externalities Type: general – SubjectFull: Managerial accounting Type: general – SubjectFull: Social services Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Adopting Tools from Cost and Management Accounting to Improve the Manner in Which Costs in Social Programs are Analyzed and Evaluated. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Persaud, Nadini IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Text: 2020 Type: published Y: 2020 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 15568180 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 16 – Type: issue Value: 34 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
