From Lagos, Nigeria. please i need assistance with the standard costing: a technique at variance with modern management. it is a project topic i came across in CIMA magazine and i am now working on it. the problem is i haven't got enough materials on it. and if possible i would like to know companies that employ standard costing and companies that don't thank you for your assistance I replied as follows: Hi there! You need to tell me a bit about who you are, where you are and why you are doing this and then I'll help if I can. Ismaila wrote back: my name is ... ismaila and i reside in ... nigeria. i am also a CIMA foundation student. i want the information because i am carrying out a project on it for my wife who is at the lagos state university (LASU) here in nigeria.she is in her final year and we haven't got enough material for the project. all we want is some assistance. thank you for your assistance. I then asked: OK, Ismaila, give me a day or two and I'll tell you what I can. What kind of resources do you have there: do you have good textbooks eg by Drury and Horngren ... or even mine? Which Journals and magazines on accountancy, too? Ismaila responded: i have drury, lucey and a report on the topic by drury in cima magazine. if i can get more journals or reports it will do just fine. thank you so much. yours, ismaila Finally, I said: Hello again, Ismaila, The answer to your question is very confusing for a lot of people. The latest management accounting work will say that standard costing is old fashioned and we should all worry about activity based costing (ABC) and management (ABM), the balanced scorecard (BSC), Just in Time Management (JIT), Backflush Costing; and all sorts of other things. The reality is that the vast majority of businesses around the world that need a cost accounting system to provides valuable information for management decisions making could do worse than consider at least a partial standard costing system. Not all businesses can benefit from the BSC, ABC, ABM and so on: they simply don't have the expertise to install it and the expertise to use it. Take your own situation in Nigeria: take a look at the average small and medium sized business and assess the likelihood that it could sustain these MIS regimes. Are they even computerised? If computerised, are they able to afford the software to manage their data. If they don't have this software, is their accountant and the non financial staff able to program their own MIS to deal with these requests? The same applies in Europe, the USA, Australia and anywhere you care to name. Not everyone has and can use the more modern systems. So, back to Standard Costing (SC). SC is not always appropriate; but it is relatively simple to understand when we are discussing such things as material prices, wage rates and variable overhead rates. Consider the price and usage variances for materials, for example: with a bit of practice, they are really not that bad. Management all over the world has got used to standard costing variances and providing the right variances are calculated and reported on accurately, they are often satisfied with the accountant's variance analysis. Where SC goes wrong is when it is applied using out of date standards: I have been working over the last three years or so with organisations that have been using standards that are 10 or even 20 years old. Honestly! Clearly, standards need to be accurate and up to date. ABC was born out of frustration by non accountants: accountants can't claim the credit for its development. The problem the non accountants had was that SC was kept at a very general level and absorption costing was used in such a way as to be meaningless. Appropriate SC, up to date standards, accurate and timely reporting all help to keep SC useful. Moreover, when the management accountant works hand in hand with his production and other non financial managers, they can all use SC to provide good quality MIS information! This is a very brief overview of the situation Ismaila and I hope it helps you to kick start your reading and thinking ... for your wife, too! Best wishes DW