The Role of Accountants as Internal Consultants

1. Introduction

In this analysis, it will be shown how accountants at Marmon Company can act as internal consultants, background and knowledge required to be effective, ways in which information gathered is used and ethical considerations. It is important to understand that there is a changing scope of an accountant's role within, and outside of, an organization. This role has changed from simply being a number cruncher who reports the financial information in a standard format at a set time, to one who can provide valuable information used by internal and external individuals and organizations to make decisions. It is important that the information be timely, accurate, and that it provides valuable quality data. It is also important that employees from every level act with integrity and that accountants ensure integrity and ethical behavior in the policies, procedures, and activities that produce the data.

2. Analysis of Topics

2.1. How can accountants at Marmon act as internal consultants?

An accountant's role has changed over the years. It used to be true that more emphasis was placed on collecting and compiling information, and preparing standard reports. Now, more time is being spent on interpreting and analyzing information, and on having involvement in decision making activities. Management accountants have become more of "an advisor for managers about what information would be useful, what information is available, and how to get the needed information" (Horngren, Sundem & Stratton, 2005, p. 17). This is partially due to the fact that accounting software is able to provide more types of information in a faster timeframe than many of the manual accounting methods used previously. Financial information can be tracked not only in a linear fashion across entities and departments, but also across activities that span multiple departments and lines of businesses. That information can be recalled using defined reports, or through ad-hoc queries designed to pull specific information for a one-time decision.