THE COST ACCOUNTING MARKET TODAY IS STRONGER THAN EVER: CHALLENGES WITH THE HIGH-TECH BOOM AND THE MANUFACTURING DOWNTURN

摘要

Should cost accounting focus on service industries? In his 2016 piece "A New Perspective in Cost Accounting?" Paul Sharman writes: Only 17 percent of global gross domestic product derives from manufacturing. It is not so much that cost accounting is no longer relevant, but that understanding the economics of service industries is in much greater demand. In all probability, cost accounting is as relevant to those who manage manufacturing enterprises as it has ever been. It might even engage more people than it ever has relative to business globalization. The big question, then, is if we should be extending the range of management accounting to focus on the economics of service industries in which intellectual property, risk/return, management control, and the nature of return on investment are considerably different.