Supplementing Cost Accounting Courses in Response to the Changing Business Environment.

The automated factory, increasing world competition, computer-based accounting systems, and new management techniques have all contributed to rapid change in the field of cost and managerial accounting. Specific areas that have emerged recently are measuring quality, just-in-time inventory systems, flexible manufacturing systems, capital budgeting applied to automation, product profitability analysis, and performance measurement. Due to the time lag between the writing and distribution of textbooks, these topics are either ignored or are given cursory treatment in widely adopted cost accounting textbooks. As a result of a review of the literature and an analysis of six leading cost accounting textbooks, a list of articles, cases, and problems that pertain to these six emerging areas was compiled. The supplemental material was divided into two categories: material appropriate for an undergraduate cost accounting course and material appropriate for an advanced undergraduate or a graduate cost accounting course. The position in the course at which each supplemental topic should be introduced is also discussed.