Tools for Enterprise Performance Evaluation

In any successful organization, managers must be held accountable for the results of their decisions and related execution, particularly in regards to budgeting and financial decision making.Tools for Enterprise Performance Management: Budget and Decision Making examines the various roles that managers can have within an organization, as well as the tools and strategies which will allow them to perform to the best of their potential and make financial decisions which will benefit their organization. It is a useful text for both financial managers looking to improve their professional decision making, and also for supervisors and upper-management who need to understand the basis on which to evaluate their managers. It is a free e-book which can be downloaded here.

The text begins with a discussion of centralized vs. de-centralized decision making, as well as responsibility centers, cost and profit centers, and investment centers. Other topics include traceable costs, common fixed costs, standard costs, and the flexible budget as a tool for performance evaluation, planning, and efficiency of operation. Variance analysis is discussed in detail, with attention given to direct materials, variance calculation, direct labor, factory overhead, journal entry, recapping standards, and more. Tables and charts are utilized throughout to supplement explanations.

Content

1. Part 2: Tools for Enterprise Performance Evaluation
2. Responsibility Accounting and Management by Exception
   1. Centralized VS. Decentralized Decision-Making
   2. Responsibility Centers
   3. Cost Center
   4. Profit Center
   5. Investment Center
   6. Affixing Responsibility
   7. Responsibility Center Reports
   8. The Power of a Data Base System
   9. Traceable Versus Common Fixed Costs
   10. Management by Expansion
3. Flexible Budgets
   1. Flexible Budget for Performance Evaluations
   2. Flexible Budgets for Planning
   3. Flexible Budgets and Efficiency of Operation
4. Standard Costs
   1. Setting Standards
   2. Philosophy of Standards
   3. The Downside of the Standards
5. Variance Analysis
   1. Variances Relating to Direct Materials
   2. An Illustration of Direct Material Variance Calculations
   3. Journal Entries for Direct Material Variances
   4. When Purchases Differ From Usage
   5. Variances Relating to Direct Labor
   6. An Illustration of Direct Labor Variance Calculations
   7. Journal Entries for Direct Labor Variances
   8. Factory Overhead Variances
   9. Variable Versus Fixed Overhead
   10. Variances Relating to Variable Factory Overhead
   11. Exploring Variable Overhead Variances
   12. An Illustration of Variable Overhead Variances
   13. Journal Entry for Variable Overhead Variances
   14. Careful Interpretation of Variable Overhead Variances
   15. Variances Relating to Fixed Factory Overhead
   16. An Illustration of Fixed Overhead Variances
   17. Journal Entry for Fixed Overhead Variances
   18. Recapping Standards and Variances
   19. Examining Variances
6. Balanced Scorecard Approach to Performance Evaluation
   1. The Balance Scorecard in Operation
7. Appendix