Research

Core Competencies in Accounting

In this modern society, the modern cost accountant should be a highly educated, sociable person who roams through an organization examining key systems, assisting design teams, and creating many of the most fundamental reports required by management to run a business. When properly implemented, the cost accounting function can have a pervasive influence in the modern corporation. Through the University of Phoenix's Program Map, I realized that internal and external analysis and reporting and technology are among the most important competencies. Developing these functional competencies should be of value to my current position of Cost Analyst, in turn opening more career opportunities to me.

Professional accountants should be able to prepare external reports that are clear, concise, and objective. The key task for the cost accountant is contributing information to a company's external financial reports that are used by external stakeholders. In many cases where the main accounting function is perceived to be financial reporting, the other tasks of the cost accountant may be subordinated to providing various types of information for these external reports. A key piece of information provided by the cost accountant is inventory valuation, which in turn impacts the cost of goods sold. Several tasks are involved, such as deciding on the type of cost layering technique, ensuring that inventory quantities and costs are accurate, and compiling the resulting data into the formats required for external reporting.

Additionally, accounting professionals must be able to generate and analyze internal reports that contain relevant information that leads to appropriate conclusions and are useful for decision makers. An enormous range of topics can be covered by internal reports. Because internal reports lack the amount of structure imposed on external reports, they are much more interesting