Directing

There are number of good plans which are never realized. To realize a plan it requires the initiation and

direction of the number of actions. Often, these actions should be well coordinated and timed. Resources should be ready, and authorizations need to be in place to allow persons to act according to the desired plan. Similarity, imagine that a composer has written a beautiful score of the music -- the "plan." intended for it to come to life needs all the members of the orchestra, and the conductor who can bring the orchestra into synchronization and accord. Likewise, the managerial accountant has a chief role in putting business plans into action. Information systems should be developed to permit management to orchestrate the organization. Management should know that inventory is available when required, productive resources which are man and machine these are scheduled appropriately, transportation systems will be available to deliver the output, and on and on. In calculation, management must be ready to demonstrate compliance with contracts and the regulations. These are very complex tasks. They cannot happen without strong information resources. A major element of management accounting is to grow information systems to support the ongoing direction of business effort.

Managerial accounting supports the "directing" function in number of ways. Areas of support include costing, special analysis and production management.