Capture 2

3. Staffing Staffing is another area in which management accounting can be hugely valuable. Decisions around hiring new staff and setting wages can be a real headache. Management accountants can help you make the right decision by letting you know exactly how much you can afford to spend on staffing, and the returns you can expect foryour investment in personnel. Management accounting will be critical in decisions concerning what you keep in-house, and what you outsource. Getting the balance right between the two is very important, and having the data to inform decisions is a great way to help navigate these tricky choices. How we can able to all benifit There a number of ways to introduce or expand the role of management accounting at your business. Which you choose will depend on your current capabilities, and how much you're able to invest. Hire a management accountant Perhaps the most obvious option is to bring in some new talent who specialise in management accounting. This will obviously be a fairly costly option, although this way you are building these skills into your workforce, meaning that you will always have both the data and their expertise on hand. Train up current staff Perhaps you already have staff who are showing the kind of potential that you think would make them a good accountant. If they have strong quantitative skills, and a good understanding of the way your business works with first—hand experience of how managers make decisions, they are well on their way. CPA is a good starting point to understand the training options available and the cost to your business should you wish to develop a management accountant in—house.