Accounting management is an applied field that deals with actual money moving in and out of a system. In many ways, it is the applied form of economics, although the vast majority of accounting management applies to a single business or system rather than an entire economy. This form of management has two main functions: it oversees project planning from an economic standpoint and it deals with the banking and the accounting aspects of the company.
The most likely place where accounting management is needed is within a large organization such as a business or government. In these larger organizations, the accounts are usually managed by an entire department that does nothing but work through monetary information. Smaller structures typically have an accounting system, but do not require the all-encompassing systems commonly found in accounting management. These smaller accounting systems typically have a small staff or may even outsource their accounting to a local firm.
The first main duty of accounting management is overseeing the money used by the organization. As a result, the accounting department is typically involved in nearly every aspect of the organization’s dealings. The accountants assist with every phase of a project from planning to implementation. The accounting system will often determine the monetary viability of a project before it is even started, essentially deciding if the organization can afford the money it will need to spend.
The work of this department is often more behind-the-scenes than others. The planning and analysis phases of a new project are often done by accounting before they are given over to the rest of the company. If the accountants determine that the project isn’t worth the expenditure, it is often terminated before the rest of them company is even fully aware of it.
In approved projects, accounting management is used to keep the spending on track. This means that the department is constantly overseeing the actions of other departments in order to keep costs down. This, plus the initial approval phases, gives this department a great deal of power in a standard organization. As a result, most large-scale accounting departments perform rigorous internal audits to keep the department on track.
The second duty of an accounting management department is handling the money as it flows through the organization. It handles corporate bank accounts, payroll, invoicing and receiving. For the most part, if the process involves the movement of money, whether in or out of the company, the accountants are usually part of it.
