管理会计专业术语词汇大全(英文版)changes.Batch-level activities Activities thatare performed each time a batch is produced.Benchmarking An approach that uses best practices as the standard for evaluating activity performance.Best-fitting line The line that fits a setof data points the best in the sensethat the sum of the squared deviationsof the data points from the lineis the smallest.Binding constraints Constraintswhose resources are fully utilized. Break-even point The point where total sales revenue equals total costs;the point of zero profits.Activity output The result or productof an activity.Activity output measure The numberof times an activity is performed. It is the quantifiable measure of the output. Activity reduction Decreasing the time and resources required by an activity. Activity selection The process of choosing among sets of activities caused by competing strategies.Activity sharing Increasing the efficiency of necessary activities by using economies of scale.Activity volume variance The cost ofthe actual activity capacity acquired and the capacity that should be used. Activity-based cost (ABC) system A cost system that first traces costs to activities and then traces costs from activities to products.Activity-based costing (ABC) A cost assignment approach that first uses direct and driver tracing to assigncosts to activities and then uses drivers to assign costs to cost objects.Activity-based management (ABM) A systemwide, integrated approach thatfocuses management’s attention o nactivities with the objective of improvingcustomer value and the profitachieved by providing this value. Itincludes driver analysis, activityanalysis, and performance evaluation,and draws on activity-based costingas a major source of information.Activity-based management (ABM)accounting system An accounting systemthat emphasizes the use ofactivities for assigning and managingcosts.Activity-based responsibility accountingA control system defined bycentering responsibility on processesand teams where activity performanceis measured in terms of time, quality,and efficiency.Actual costing An approach that assignsactual costs of direct materials,direct labor, and overhead to products.Adjusted cost of goods sold The costof goods sold after all adjustmentsfor overhead variance are made.G l o s s a r y•68183_glossary_849-860.qxd 1/22/04 2:27 PM Page 849 Budget committee A committee responsiblefor setting budgetarypolicies and goals, reviewing and approvingthe budget, and resolving anydifferences that may arise in the budgetaryprocess.Budget director The individual responsiblefor coordinating anddirecting the overall budgetingprocess.Budgetary slack The process ofpadding the budget by overestimatingcosts and underestimating revenues.Budgets Plans of action expressed infinancial terms.CCapital budgeting The process ofmaking capital investment decisions. Capital investment decisions Theprocess of planning, setting goals and priorities, arranging financing, and identifying criteria for making longterm investments.Carrying costs The costs of holding inventory.Cash budget A detailed plan that outlinesall sources and uses of cash.Causal factors Activities or variablesthat invoke service costs. Generally, itis desirable to use causal factors asthe basis for allocating service costs. Centralized decision making A systemin which decisions are made at thetop level of an organization and local managers are given the charge to implement them.Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Aperson who has passed a comprehensive examination designed to ensuretechnical competence and has twoyears’ experience.Certified Management Accountant (CMA) A person who has passed arigorous qualifying examination, hasmet an experience requirement, and participates in continuing education. Certified Public Accountant (CPA) A person who is permitted (by law) toserve as an external auditor and whomust pass a national examination andbe licensed by the state in which heor she practices.Continuous replenishment A systemwhere a manufacturer assumes the inventory management function for theretailer.Contribution margin Sales revenueminus total variable cost or price minusunit variable cost.Contribution margin ratio Contribution margin divided by sales revenue.It is the proportion of each sales dollar available to cover fixed costs andprovide for profit.Control The process of setting standards, receiving feedback on actual performance, and taking corrective action whenever actual performance deviates significantly from planned performance.Control activities Activities performedby an organization to prevent or detect poor quality (because poorquality may exist).Control costs Costs incurred from performing control activities.Control limits The maximum allowable deviation from a standard.Controllable costs Costs that managers have the power to influence.Controller The chief accounting officer; supervises all accounting departments.Controlling The managerial activityof monitoring a plan’s implementa tion and taking corrective action asneeded.Conversion cost The sum of direct labor cost and overhead cost.Core objectives and measures Those objectives and measures common tomost organizations.Cost The cash or cash equivalentvalue sacrificed for goods and services that are expected to bring a currentor future benefit to the organization.Cost assignment The process of associating the costs, once measured, withthe units produced.Cost behavior The way in which acost changes in relation to changes in activity usage.Cost center A division of a companythat is evaluated on the basis of cost. Coefficient of correlation The squareroot of the coefficient of determination, which is used to express notonly the degree of correlation betweentwo variables but also thedirection of the relationship.Coefficient of determination The percentage of total variability in adependent variable (e.g., cost) that is explained by an independent variable (e.g., activity level). It assumes avalue between 0 and 1.Committed fixed expenses Expenses incurred for the acquisition of longterm activity capacity, usually as theresult of strategic planning.Committed resources Resources thatare purchased in advance of usage.These resources may or may not have unused (excess) capacity.Common costs The costs of resourcesused in the output of two or moreservices or products.Common fixed expenses Fixed expenses that cannot be directly tracedto individual segments and that are unaffected by the elimination of anyone segment.Comparable uncontrolled pricemethod The transfer price most preferred by the Internal Revenue Serviceunder Section 482. The comparable uncontrolled price is essentially equalto the market price.Compounding of interest Paying intereston interest.Constraint set The collection of all constraints that pertain to a particular optimization problem.Constraints Mathematical expressionsthat express resource limitations. Consumption ratio The proportion ofan overhead activity consumed by aproduct.Continuous budget A moving twelvemonthbudget with a future monthadded as the current month expires.Continuous improvement The processof searching for ways of increasingthe overall efficiency and productivityof activities by reducing waste, increasingquality, and reducing costs.850 •68183_glossary_849-860.qxd 1/22/04 2:27 PM Page 850 Cost formula A linear function, Y _F _ VX, where Y _ Total mixedcost, F _ Fixed cost, V _ Variablecost per unit of activity, and X _Activity level.Cost measurement The act of determiningthe dollar amounts of directmaterials, direct labor, and overheadused in production.Cost object Any item, such as products,departments, projects, activities,and so on, for which costs are measuredand assigned.Cost of capital The cost of investmentfunds, usually viewed as a weightedaverage of the costs of funds from allsources.Cost of goods manufactured The totalcost of goods completed duringthe current period.Cost of goods sold The cost of directmaterials, direct labor, and overheadattached to the units sold.Cost of goods sold budget The estimatedcosts for the units sold.Cost-plus method A transfer price acceptableto the Internal RevenueService under Section 482. The costplusmethod is simply a cost-basedtransfer price.Cost reconciliation The final sectionof the production report that comparesthe costs to account for withthe costs accounted for to ensure that they are equal.Costs of quality Costs incurred because poor quality may exist orbecause poor quality does exist.Cost-volume-profit graph A graph that depicts the relationships among costs, volume, and profits. It consists of atotal revenue line and a total cost line. Currency appreciation When one country’s currency becomes stronger and can purchase more units of another country’s currency.Currency depreciation When one country’s currency becomes weakerand can purchase fewer units of another country’s currency.Currency risk management A company’s management of its transaction,ment and, consequently, disappear if the segment is eliminated.Direct labor Labor that is traceableto the goods or services being produced. Direct labor budget A budget showing the total direct labor hoursneeded and the associated cost for the number of units in the production budget.Direct materials Materials that are traceable to the goods or services being produced.Direct materials budget A budget that outlines the expected usage of materials production and purchases of thedirect materials required.Direct method A method that allocates service costs directly toproducing departments. This method ignores any interactions that may exist among support departments.Direct tracing The process of identifying costs that are specifically orphysically associated with a cost object.Discount factor The factor used toconvert a future cash flow to its present value.Discount rate The rate of return usedto compute the present value of futurecash flows.Discounted cash flows Future cashflows expressed in present-value terms. Discounting The act of finding thepresent value of future cash flows. Discounting models Capital investment models that explicitly considerthe time value of money in identifyingcriteria for accepting or rejectingproposed projects.Discretionary fixed expenses Expenses incurred for the acquisition of shortterm capacity or services, usually asthe result of yearly planning.Double-loop feedback Informationabout both the effectiveness of strategy implementation and the validity of assumptions underlying the strategy.Driver analysis The effort expendedto identify those factors that are theroot causes of activity costs.economic, and translation exposuredue to exchange rate fluctuations.Currently attainable standards Standardsthat reflect an efficientoperating state; they are rigorous but achievable.Customer perspective A balancedscorecard viewpoint that defines the customer and market segments inwhich the business will compete.Customer value Realization less sacrifice, where realization is what thecustomer receives and sacrifice iswhat is given up.Cycle time The length of time requiredto produce one unit of aproduct.DDecentralization The granting ofdecision-making freedom to loweroperating levels.Decentralized decision making A systemin which decisions are made andimplemented by lower-level managers.Decision making The process of choosingamong competing alternatives.Decision model A specific set of proceduresthat, when followed,produces a decision.Decision package A description ofservice levels, with associated costs,that a decision unit can or would liketo offer.Defective product A product or servicethat does not conform tospecifications.Degree of operating leverage (DOL)A measure of the sensitivity of profitchanges to changes in sales volume. Itmeasures the percentage change inprofits resulting from a percentagechange in sales.Dependent variable A variable whosevalue depends on the value of anothervariable. For example, Y in thecost formula Y _ F _ VX dependson the value of X.Direct costs Costs that can be easilyand accurately traced to a cost object.Direct fixed expenses Fixed costs thatare directly traceable to a given seg-• 85168183_glossary_849-860.qxd 1/22/04 2:27 PM Page 851 Driver tracing The use of drivers toassign costs to cost objects.Drivers Factors that cause changes inresource usage, activity usage, costs,and revenues.Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) System TheTOC inventory management systemthat relies on the drum beat of themajor constrained resources, timebuffers, and ropes to determine inventory levels.Dumping Predatory pricing in the international market.Durability The length of time a product functions.Dysfunctional behavior Individual behavior that conflicts with the goals ofthe organization.EEcoefficiency A view of environmental management maintaining thatorganizations can produce more usefulgoods and services whilesimultaneously reducing negative environmental impacts, resourceconsumption, and costs.Economic order quantity (EOQ) Theamount that should be ordered (or produced) to minimize the total ordering(or setup) and carrying costs.Economic risk The possibility that afirm’s present value of future cashflows can be affected by exchange fluctuations.Economic value added (EVA) A performance measure that is calculatedby taking the after-tax operatingprofit minus the total annual cost ofcapital.Electronic business Any businesstransaction or information exchangethat is executed using informationand communication technology.Electronic commerce (e-commerce)Buying and selling products using information and communicationtechnology.Electronic data interchange (EDI) An inventory management method thatallows suppliers access to a buyer’son-line database.External failure costs Costs incurredbecause products fail to conform torequirements after being sold to outside parties.External linkages The relationship ofa firm’s activities within its segmentof the value chain with those activitiesof its suppliers and customers.External measures Measures that relateto customer and shareholder objectives.FFacility-level activities Activities that sustain a facility’s general manufacturing process.Failure activities Activities performedby an organization or its customers in response to poor quality (poor quality does exist).Failure costs The costs incurred by an organization because failure activitiesare performed.Favorable (F) variances Variances produced whenever the actualamounts are less than the budgetedor standard allowances.Feasible set of solutions The collectionof all feasible solutions.Feasible solution A product mix that satisfies all constraints.Features (quality of design) Characteristics of a product that differentiate functionally similar products.Feedback Information that can beused to evaluate or correct the stepsbeing taken to implement a plan.FIFO costing method A process costing method that separates units inbeginning inventory from those produced during the current period. Unitcosts include only current periodcosts and production.Financial accounting information system An accounting informationsubsystem that is primarily concerned with producing outputs for externalusers and uses well-specified economicevents as inputs and processes thatmeet certain rules and conventions.Financial budgets The portions of themaster budget that include the cash Employee empowerment The authorizationof operational personnel toplan, control, and make decisionswithout explicit authorization frommiddle and higher-level management.Ending finished goods inventory budgetA budget that describes plannedending inventory of finished goods inunits and dollars.Environmental costs Costs that areincurred because poor environmentalquality exists or may exist.Environmental detection costs Costsincurred to detect poor environmental performance.Environmental external failure costsCosts incurred after contaminants are introduced into the environment. Environmental internal failure costsCosts incurred after contaminants are produced but before they are introducedinto the environment.Environmental prevention costs Costs incurred to prevent damage to the environment. Equivalent units of output Completeunits that could have been producedgiven the total amount of manufacturingeffort expended during theperiod.Ethical behavior Choosing actionsthat are “right,” “proper,” and“just.” Our behavior can be right orwrong, it can be proper or improper,and the decisions we make can befair or unfair.Exchange gain A gain on the exchangeof one currency for anotherdue to appreciation in the home currency. Exchange loss A loss on the exchangeof one currency for another due todepreciation in the home currency.Exchange rates The rates at whichforeign currency can be exchangedfor the domestic currency.Expected activity capacity Expectedactivity output for the coming year.Expenses Expired costs.External constraints Limiting factorsimposed on the firm from externalsources (such as market demand).852 •68183_glossary_849-860.qxd 1/22/04 2:27 PM Page 852 budget, the budgeted balance sheet,the budgeted statement of cash flows,and the capital budget.Financial measures Measures expressedin dollar terms.Financial perspective A balancedscorecard viewpoint that describes thefinancial consequences of actionstaken in the other three perspectives.Financial productivity measure A productivitymeasure in which inputs andoutputs are expressed in dollars.Fitness of use The suitability of aproduct for carrying out its advertisedfunctions.Fixed activity rate Fixed activity costdivided by the total capacity of theactivity driver.Fixed cost Costs that, in total, areconstant within the relevant range asthe activity output varies.Fixed overhead spending varianceThe difference between actual fixedoverhead and applied fixed overhead.Fixed overhead volume variance Thedifference between budgeted fixedoverhead and applied fixed overhead;it is a measure of capacity utilization.Flexible budget A budget that canspecify costs for a range of activity.Flexible budget variance The sum ofprice variances and efficiency variancesin a performance reportcomparing actual costs to expectedcosts predicted by a flexible budget. Flexible resource Resources that are purchased as used and needed. Thereis no unused or excess capacity forthese resources.Foreign trade zones Areas that are physically on U.S. soil but consideredto be outside U.S. commerce. Goods imported into a foreign trade zone are duty free until they leave the zone. Forward contract An agreement that requires the buyer to exchange a specified amount of a currency at a specified rate (the forward rate) on a specified future date.Full environmental costing The assignment of all environmental costs,both private and societal, to products. Heterogeneity When there is a greater chance of variation in the performanceof services than in theproduction of products.Hidden quality costs Opportunitycosts resulting from poor quality.High-low method A method for fittinga line to a set of data pointsusing the high and low points in thedata set. For a cost formula, the highand low points represent the high andlow activity levels. It is used to breakout the fixed and variable componentsof a mixed cost.Homogeneous cost pool A collectionof overhead costs associated with activities that have the same processand the same level and can use thesame activity driver to assign costs to products.IIdeal standards Standards that reflect perfect operating conditions.Impact analysis A life-cycle assessmentstep where the environmentalimpacts of different product (orprocess) designs are compared and evaluated.Improvement analysis A life-cycle assessment step where efforts are madeto reduce the environmental impacts revealed by the inventory and impact steps.Incentives The positive or negative measures taken by an organization toinduce a manager to exert effort toward achieving the organization’sgoals.Incremental (or baseline) budgetingThe practice of taking the prior year’s budget and adjusting it upward or downward to determine next year’s budget.Independent projects Projects that, if accepted or rejected, will not affectthe cash flows of another project. Independent variable A variablewhose value does not depend on thevalue of another variable. For example,in the cost formula Y _ F _VX, the variable X is an independent variable.Full private costing The assignmentof only private costs to individual products.Functional-based costing (FBC) An approach for assigning costs ofshared resources to products andother cost objects using only productionor unit-level drivers.Functional-based management(FBM) A managerial approach that attempts to control costs by focusingon the efficiency of organizational subunits.Functional-based management (FBM) accounting system An accounting informationsystem that emphasizes theuse of functional organizational unitsto assign and manage costs.Functional-based responsibility accountingsystem A control systemdefined by centering responsibility onorganizational units and individualswith traditional budgets and standardcosting used to evaluate and monitorperformance.Future value The value that will accumulateby the end of an investment’slife if the investment earns a specifiedcompounded return.GGainsharing Providing cash incentivesfor a company’s entire workforce thatare keyed to quality and productivitygains.Goal congruence The alignment of amanager’s personal goals with thoseof the organization.Goodness of fit The degree of associationbetween Y and X (cost andactivity). It is measured by how muchof the total variability in Y is explainedby X.HHalf-year convention The assumptionthat a newly acquired asset is in servicefor one-half year of its firsttaxable year regardless of the date theservice actually began.Hedging A way of insuring againstgains and losses on foreign currencyexchange.• 85368183_glossary_849-860.qxd 1/22/04 2:27 PM Page 853 Indirect costs Costs that cannot betraced to a cost object.Industrial value chain The linked setof value-creating activities from basicraw materials to end-use customers.Innovation process A process that anticipatesthe emerging and potentialneeds of customers and creates new products and services to satisfy those needs.Input trade-off efficiency The leastcost, technically efficient mix of inputs. Inseparability The fact that producersof services and buyers of servicesmust usually be in direct contact foran exchange to take place.Intangibility When buyers of services cannot see, feel, hear, or taste a service before it is bought.Intercept parameter The fixed cost, representing the point where the cost formula intercepts the vertical axis. In the cost formula Y _ F _ VX, F isthe intercept parameter.Internal business process perspectiveA balanced scorecard viewpoint that describes the internal processesneeded to provide value for customers and owners.Internal constraints Limiting factors found within the firm (such as machine time availability).Internal failure costs Costs incurred because products and services fail to conform to requirements where lackof conformity is discovered prior to external sale.Internal linkages Relationships among activities within a firm’s value chain. Internal measures Measures that relate to the processes and capabilitiesthat create value for customers and shareholders.Internal rate of return The rate of return that equates the present value of a project’s cash inflows with the present value of its cash outflows (i.e., it setsthe NPV equal to zero). Also, the rateof return being earned on funds that remain internally invested in a project.Internal value chain The set of activities required to design, develop,Kaizen standard An interim standardthat reflects the planned improvementfor a coming period.Kanban system An information systemthat controls production on ademand-pull basis through the use ofcards or markers.Keep-or-drop decisions Relevant costing analyses that focus on keeping ordropping a segment of a business.LLabor efficiency variance (LEV) The difference between the actual directlabor hours used and the standard direct labor hours allowed multipliedby the standard hourly wage rate.Labor rate variance (LRV) The difference between the actual hourly ratepaid and the standard hourly ratemultiplied by the actual hoursworked.Lag measures Outcome measures or measures of results from past efforts.Lead measures (performance drivers) Factors that drive future performance.Lead time For purchasing, the time to receive an order after it is placed. For manufacturing, the time to produce a product from start to finish.Learning and growth (infrastructure) perspective A balanced scorecardviewpoint that defines the capabilitiesthat an organization needs to createlong-term growth and improvement.Life cycle costs All costs that are associated with the product for itsentire life cycle.Life-cycle assessment An approachthat identifies the environmental consequences of a product through itsentire life cycle and then searches for opportunities to obtain environmentalimprovements.Life-cycle cost assessment A methodthat assigns costs and benefits to environmental consequences andimprovements.Life-cycle cost management The management of value-chain activities sothat a long-term competitive advantageis created.produce, market, distribute, and servicea product (the product can be aservice).Inventory The money an organizationspends in turning raw materials into throughput.Inventory analysis A life-cycle assessmentstep where the quantities andtypes of materials, energy, and environmental releases are described.Investment center A division of acompany that is evaluated on the basisof return on investment.JJust-in-time manufacturing Ademand-pull system whose objectiveis to eliminate waste by producing aproduct only when it is needed andonly in the quantities demanded by customers.JIT purchasing A purchasing methodthat requires suppliers to deliver partsand materials just in time to be usedin production.JIT II A form of a JIT purchasingmethod that requires the supplier’ssales representative to work on site(on a full-time basis) at the customer’sfacility while being paid bythe supplier.Job One distinct unit or set of units.Job-order cost sheet A subsidiary accountto the work-in-process accounton which the total costs of materials,labor, and overhead for a single job。