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COST ACCOUNTING IN US CITIES: TRANSACTION COSTS AND GOVERNANCE FACTORS AFFECTING COST ACCOUNTING DEVELOPMENT AND USE

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What Is Cost Accounting?

Understanding cost accounting.

  • Cost vs. Financial Accounting
  • Cost Accounting FAQs

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Cost Accounting: Definition and Types With Examples

Yarilet Perez is an experienced multimedia journalist and fact-checker with a Master of Science in Journalism. She has worked in multiple cities covering breaking news, politics, education, and more. Her expertise is in personal finance and investing, and real estate.

cost accounting thesis

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Cost accounting is a form of managerial accounting that aims to capture a company's total cost of production by assessing the variable costs of each step of production as well as fixed costs, such as a lease expense.

Cost accounting is not GAAP-compliant , and can only be used for internal purposes.

Key Takeaways

  • Cost accounting is used internally by management in order to make fully informed business decisions.
  • Unlike financial accounting, which provides information to external financial statement users, cost accounting is not required to adhere to set standards and can be flexible to meet the particular needs of management.
  • As such, cost accounting cannot be used on official financial statements and is not GAAP-compliant.
  • Cost accounting considers all input costs associated with production, including both variable and fixed costs.
  • Types of cost accounting include standard costing, activity-based costing, lean accounting, and marginal costing.

Investopedia / Theresa Chiechi

Cost accounting is used by a company's internal management team to identify all variable and fixed costs associated with the production process. It will first measure and record these costs individually, then compare input costs to output results to aid in measuring financial performance and making future business decisions. There are many types of costs involved in cost accounting , each performing its own function for the accountant.

Types of Costs

  • Fixed costs are costs that don't vary depending on the level of production. These are usually things like the mortgage or lease payment on a building or a piece of equipment that is depreciated at a fixed monthly rate. An increase or decrease in production levels would cause no change in these costs.
  • Variable costs are costs tied to a company's level of production. For example, a floral shop ramping up its floral arrangement inventory for Valentine's Day will incur higher costs when it purchases an increased number of flowers from the local nursery or garden center.
  • Operating costs are costs associated with the day-to-day operations of a business. These costs can be either fixed or variable depending on the unique situation.
  • Direct costs are costs specifically related to producing a product. If a coffee roaster spends five hours roasting coffee, the direct costs of the finished product include the labor hours of the roaster and the cost of the coffee beans.
  • Indirect costs are costs that cannot be directly linked to a product. In the coffee roaster example, the energy cost to heat the roaster would be indirect because it is inexact and difficult to trace to individual products.

Cost Accounting vs. Financial Accounting

While cost accounting is often used by management within a company to aid in decision-making, financial accounting is what outside investors or creditors typically see. Financial accounting presents a company's financial position and performance to external sources through financial statements , which include information about its revenues , expenses , assets , and liabilities . Cost accounting can be most beneficial as a tool for management in budgeting and in setting up cost-control programs, which can improve net margins for the company in the future.

One key difference between cost accounting and financial accounting is that, while in financial accounting the cost is classified depending on the type of transaction, cost accounting classifies costs according to the information needs of the management. Cost accounting, because it is used as an internal tool by management, does not have to meet any specific standard such as  generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and, as a result, varies in use from company to company or department to department.

Cost-accounting methods are typically not useful for figuring out tax liabilities, which means that cost accounting cannot provide a complete analysis of a company's true costs. 

Types of Cost Accounting

Standard costing.

Standard costing assigns "standard" costs, rather than actual costs, to its cost of goods sold (COGS) and inventory. The standard costs are based on the efficient use of labor and materials to produce the good or service under standard operating conditions, and they are essentially the budgeted amount. Even though standard costs are assigned to the goods, the company still has to pay actual costs. Assessing the difference between the standard (efficient) cost and the actual cost incurred is called variance analysis.

If the variance analysis determines that actual costs are higher than expected, the variance is unfavorable. If it determines the actual costs are lower than expected, the variance is favorable. Two factors can contribute to a favorable or unfavorable variance. There is the cost of the input, such as the cost of labor and materials. This is considered to be a rate variance.

Additionally, there is the efficiency or quantity of the input used. This is considered to be a volume variance. If, for example, XYZ company expected to produce 400 widgets in a period but ended up producing 500 widgets, the cost of materials would be higher due to the total quantity produced.

Activity-Based Costing

Activity-based costing (ABC) identifies overhead costs from each department and assigns them to specific cost objects, such as goods or services. The ABC system of cost accounting is based on activities, which refer to any event, unit of work, or task with a specific goal, such as setting up machines for production, designing products, distributing finished goods, or operating machines. These activities are also considered to be cost drivers , and they are the measures used as the basis for allocating overhead costs .

Traditionally, overhead costs are assigned based on one generic measure, such as machine hours. Under ABC, an activity analysis is performed where appropriate measures are identified as the cost drivers. As a result, ABC tends to be much more accurate and helpful when it comes to managers reviewing the cost and profitability of their company's specific services or products.

For example, cost accountants using ABC might pass out a survey to production-line employees who will then account for the amount of time they spend on different tasks. The costs of these specific activities are only assigned to the goods or services that used the activity. This gives management a better idea of where exactly the time and money are being spent.

To illustrate this, assume a company produces both trinkets and widgets. The trinkets are very labor-intensive and require quite a bit of hands-on effort from the production staff. The production of widgets is automated, and it mostly consists of putting the raw material in a machine and waiting many hours for the finished good. It would not make sense to use machine hours to allocate overhead to both items because the trinkets hardly used any machine hours. Under ABC, the trinkets are assigned more overhead related to labor and the widgets are assigned more overhead related to machine use.

Lean Accounting

The main goal of lean accounting is to improve financial management practices within an organization. Lean accounting is an extension of the philosophy of lean manufacturing and production, which has the stated intention of minimizing waste while optimizing productivity. For example, if an accounting department is able to cut down on wasted time, employees can focus that saved time more productively on value-added tasks.

When using lean accounting, traditional costing methods are replaced by value-based pricing  and lean-focused performance measurements. Financial decision-making is based on the impact on the company's total value stream profitability. Value streams are the profit centers of a company, which is any branch or division that directly adds to its bottom-line profitability.

Marginal Costing

Marginal costing (sometimes called cost-volume-profit analysis ) is the impact on the cost of a product by adding one additional unit into production. It is useful for short-term economic decisions. Marginal costing can help management identify the impact of varying levels of costs and volume on operating profit. This type of analysis can be used by management to gain insight into potentially profitable new products, sales prices to establish for existing products, and the impact of marketing campaigns.

The  break-even point —which is the production level where total revenue for a product equals total expense —is calculated as the total fixed costs of a company divided by its contribution margin. The contribution margin , calculated as the sales revenue minus variable costs, can also be calculated on a per-unit basis in order to determine the extent to which a specific product contributes to the overall profit of the company.

History of Cost Accounting

Scholars believe that cost accounting was first developed during the  industrial revolution  when the emerging economics of industrial supply and demand forced manufacturers to start tracking their fixed and variable expenses in order to optimize their production processes.

Cost accounting allowed railroad and steel companies to control costs and become more efficient. By the beginning of the 20th century, cost accounting had become a widely covered topic in the literature on business management.

How Does Cost Accounting Differ From Traditional Accounting Methods?

In contrast to general accounting or financial accounting, the cost-accounting method is an internally focused, firm-specific system used to implement  cost controls . Cost accounting can be much more flexible and specific, particularly when it comes to the subdivision of costs and inventory valuation. Cost-accounting methods and techniques will vary from firm to firm and can become quite complex.

Why Is Cost Accounting Used?

Cost accounting is helpful because it can identify where a company is spending its money, how much it earns, and where money is being lost. Cost accounting aims to report, analyze, and lead to the improvement of internal cost controls and efficiency. Even though companies cannot use cost-accounting figures in their financial statements or for tax purposes, they are crucial for internal controls.

Which Types of Costs Go Into Cost Accounting?

These will vary from industry to industry and firm to firm, however certain cost categories will typically be included (some of which may overlap), such as direct costs, indirect costs, variable costs, fixed costs, and operating costs.

What Are Some Advantages of Cost Accounting?

Since cost-accounting methods are developed by and tailored to a specific firm, they are highly customizable and adaptable. Managers appreciate cost accounting because it can be adapted, tinkered with, and implemented according to the changing needs of the business. Unlike the  Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)-driven financial accounting, cost accounting need only concern itself with insider eyes and internal purposes. Management can analyze information based on criteria that it specifically values, which guides how prices are set, resources are distributed, capital is raised, and risks are assumed.

What Are Some Drawbacks of Cost Accounting?

Cost-accounting systems ,and the techniques that are used with them, can have a high start-up cost to develop and implement. Training accounting staff and managers on esoteric and often complex systems takes time and effort, and mistakes may be made early on. Higher-skilled  accountants  and  auditors  are likely to charge more for their services when evaluating a cost-accounting system than a standardized one like GAAP.

Cost accounting is an informal set of flexible tools that a company's managers can use to estimate how well the business is running. Cost accounting looks to assess the different costs of a business and how they impact operations, costs, efficiency, and profits. Individually assessing a company's cost structure allows management to improve the way it runs its business and therefore improve the value of the firm. These are meant to be internal metrics and figures only. Since they are not GAAP-compliant, cost accounting cannot be used for a company's audited financial statements released to the public.

Fleischman, Richard K., and Thomas N. Tyson. "The Economic History Review: Cost Accounting During the Industrial Revolution: The Present State of Historical Knowledge." Economic History Review , vol. 46, no. 3, 1993, pp. 503-517.

cost accounting thesis

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Accounting Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

The Rise of Text Analysis: Using Machine Learning to Explain the Variation in Going Concern Accuracy , Yimei Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Influence Auditors' Knowledge-Sharing Behavior , Xu Cheng

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Retail Investors' Perceptions of Financial Disclosures on Social Media: An Experimental Investigation Using Twitter , Neal Michael Snow

Does the Format of Internal Control Disclosures Matter? An Experimental Investigation of Nonprofessional Investor Behavior , Amanuel Fekade Tadesse

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Do Changing Reference Levels affect the Long-Term Effectiveness of Incentive Contracts? , Lee Michael Kersting

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Effects of Directional Audit Guidance and Estimation Uncertainty on Auditor Confirmation Bias and Professional Skepticism When Evaluating Fair Value Estimates , Norma R. Montague

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Mitigating Escalation of Commitment: An Investigation of the Effects of Priming and Decision-Making Setting in Capital Project Continuation Decisions , Ann C. Dzuranin

Understanding and Improving Use-Tax Compliance: A Theory of Planned Behavior Approach , Christopher Robert Jones

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Detecting Financial Statement Fraud: Three Essays on Fraud Predictors, Multi-Classifier Combination and Fraud Detection Using Data Mining , Johan L. Perols

Performance and Perception: An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Continuous Reporting and Continuous Assurance on Individual Investors , Anita Reed

The Effect of Multidimensional Information Presentation on the Effectiveness and Efficiency of a Spatial Accounting Judgment , John K. Tan

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The List of 70 Accounting Thesis Topics for Students

accounting thesis ideas for students

Accounting describes the process of recording and consolidating financial transactions in business. It involves analyzing, reporting, and summarizing financial transactions to organizations, businesses, tax agencies, and regulators. This is usually presented via a financial statement, a concise summary of all the financial dealings over a stipulated period. It provides clear documented information of a company’s operations, cash flow, and present financial standing. High accounting standards improve the credibility of financial statements. These financial statements can range from cash flow statements, income statements, loss statements, balance sheets, etc. This constant and customary method of financial reporting enables shareholders and other beneficiaries of a business to examine the performance of the said business.

Accounting Thesis For Students

Accounting research topic ideas, topics for accounting thesis, interesting accounting topics for your paper, accounting research questions, accounting dissertation topics, research papers topics on accounting, financial topics to write about.

Accounting is essential for majorly business and management students. They start the basics of the subject in their lower levels, and some progress to further the subject in their higher studies. During this period of education, there will come a time they will require accounting topics for the thesis. They will need to focus on all the elements of the thesis in accounting and compile topics that will suit their interests.

Accounting thesis topics for students are tailored towards a particular aspect of the profession. In this manner, picking an accounting thesis topic and nurturing it will be based on your stage of education, be it an undergraduate, master’s, or PhD level.

Usually, there are areas of improvement and weaknesses in the world of finance. These errors are often the birth of research and analysis to create accounting research paper topics, buying a dissertation , or thesis topics in finance for students.

Trying to focus on many problems at a time can make you not finish your research topic in accounting at the appointed time. As a student, this is one error you want to avoid.

Naturally, you cannot master all the accounting subjects with the same ease. Hence, focus on the ones your strength resides in and discard the ones that posed a certain level of difficulty during the study. This is an important tip and recommendation when picking accounting topics for research. Here are some good examples of accounting research topics ideas.

  • Accounting origin
  • The Ethics of Accounting and Its Relevance in The Society
  • Company structure influence on Accounting
  • Information Systems For Accounting
  • Accounting and Taxes
  • Accounting as Relates to Personal Finance
  • Profit Management
  • Financial Markets and Accounting
  • Accounting Methods Applied Throughout History
  • The Age of Virtual Accountants

Accounting thesis topics for accounting students can be chosen according to the interests, and strengths each student shows in a certain period of their education. This can involve multiple accounting research paper topics, with the student now being left to choose the one they master more appropriately.

Usually, companies have weaknesses in different areas, it is a case of whether they are notable. When trying to pick accounting research topics as an undergraduate, you should focus on a singular problem and view it from various angles of prescriptive solutions.

  • Inventories of Merchandise
  • System Control and Inventory Management
  • Manual of Different Accounting Principles
  • International Financial Reporting Standards of Negligible Assets
  • Procedures for Adopting Financial Reporting Standards
  • Tax Culture as a Method of Keeping Companies in Check
  • Accounting Guidelines of a Business
  • Management Accounting Research
  • Automation of Accounting Processes and Its Effects on Businesses
  • Data Technology in Accounting Functions

These accounting topics come in forms that pique the interest of accountants and everyday business people. It should be bold, descriptive, and tally with a trending and important issue in all areas that concern the accounting sector. Getting topics like these are not as easy as you would imagine. It usually takes broad-spectrum research and paying rapt attention to business accounting flaws or potential problems.

  • Modern Techniques of Debt Management
  • Latest Technologies in Digital Accounting
  • Fundamental Forensic Accountancy Skills
  • Importance of Fast Information Integration for Modern Accounting
  • Analysis and Design Risk in Accounting Systems
  • Accounting Management and Financial Markets
  • Issues in Implementation of Theoretical Accounting Processes in Applied Accounting
  • Strategies to Make Organizational Finances Transparent
  • Offshore Accounting Processes
  • Significance of Financial Markets in Different Economies

When looking for accounting research topics ideas, determining the reason behind the question is the most challenging and vital decision in writing topics for accounting research papers. This difficulty arises because the foundation of your entire accounting topic depends on that one question.

Getting it wrong or mixing up the wrong statements can greatly impair the direction of your accounting topic for a research paper. Some good accounting research questions include:

  • How to Investigate Forensic Accountancy?
  • How to Avoid Debt Growth in Businesses?
  • The Process of Making Accurate and Informed Accounting Decisions?
  • How Does Culture Influence the Accounting System?
  • Steps to Follow to Become a Certified and Chartered Accountant?
  • How to Discover Effective Accounting Systems for Accountants?
  • When Do You Need to Hire Personal Accountants?
  • What are the limitations of digital Technology Evolution for the Accounting Niche?
  • What Factors Facilitated the 2008 Worldwide Financial Crisis?
  • What are the Processes Involved in Tax Assessment in Organizations?

In choosing an accounting topic for a project, you need to pick a topic that interests you, writing becomes easy and fast when you do. You can seek out simple accounting research topics if that’s what you can handle, or you could go for current accounting topics and interesting topics in finance.

However you choose to make that decision is up to you, but whatever topics you eventually come up with must not be vague or narrowly written. There should be a balance. Finally, you should extensively research and review your dissertation topic before making your topic decision. Having all these in mind, let’s look at some project topics on accounting.

  • Quality in Quantitative Management Accounting Research
  • Management Accounting and Supply Chain Strategy
  • Notable Trends in Business Research and Accounting Finance and Management Control
  • Effect of Auditing On Financial Reporting
  • Importance of Fraud Detection in a Digital Environment
  • The Globalization of Auditing Standards- an investigative analysis
  • Studying the Effects of Intellectual Capital on the Development of Large Industries
  • Tax Legislation in Freelance Businesses
  • Critical Analysis of the Effects of Small Business Budgeting on Tertiary Institutions

Research papers on accounting involve a great deal of interest in the subject matter being researched. The aim is to enlighten and provide analytical detail to the readers. Also, in choosing a research paper topic, you should aim to acquire your readers’ attention.

This can be achieved by having sound knowledge of the research topic and gathering relevant information to explain the research better. Here are some good examples of accounting topic research papers.

  • A Review on Government Management Accounting: Research in 2022
  • Business Correspondence Analysis: Its Application in Management Accounting Research
  • The Conceptual Framework of Strategic Management Accounting
  • Meaning of Accounting Theories for Business
  • What Impact Does Accounting Information Systems Have on Business Performance?
  • Best Accounting Practices for Online Businesses
  • Problems with the Normative Theory of Accounting
  • Implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board in the University System
  • The Relationship between Public Sector Expenditure Accounting and Infrastructural Development
  • Application of Accounting Standards in Critical Business Processes of Financial Conglomerates.

In the world of finance, various improvements are to be made with various issues that need solving. Highlighting the need for change and evolution brings about the intention of addressing these issues.

With the inception of digital currencies, new online databases for recording and carrying out financial transactions, there is a wealth of financial discussions to be had. With this fact also comes greater financial issues that need attention. Some eye-opening financial topics you can write about to address some financial systems include:

  • Need for Accounting Technology
  • Issues of Financial Ethics
  • How to Develop and Improve Financial Systems
  • Perspectives on Earnings Management
  • Effective Methods of Tax Reduction for Organizations
  • Role of Financial Markets in Accounting Management
  • Methods of Preventing Financial Fraud
  • What you should know about the Goldman Sachs Securities Fraud Case
  • Commodities in Financial Markets
  • Effect of External Factors on Cash Flow

Wrapping up

Accounting thesis topics for students are nearly limitless. Not only with the issues that need solving or understanding, but the different facets of accounting that the world currently operates on that’s why many students are looking for help who will write my thesis , we have good news for such students because we have been doing this for a long time. This gives room for continuous enlightening and improvement due to the various areas accounting comes in contact with. There is the realm of management accounting, auditing, tax accounting, bookkeeping, online accounting, and many more. With the different list of accounting topics and thesis topics suggested, you can pick out any of them and chart your course to become a great accountant in the future.

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150 Original Accounting Research Paper Topics

Accounting Research Topics

Our academic experts understand how hard it can be to come up with original accounting research paper topics for assignments. Students are often dealing with multiple responsibilities and trying to balance numerous deadlines. Searching the web or class notes takes up a lot of time. Therefore, we have put together our list of 150 accounting research topics that students can choose from or gather inspiration from.

Managerial Accounting Topics for College Students

This area of study has tremendous upside as more businesses rely on managerial accountants to bring innovative changes to their organizations. Here is a list of topics for research paper in this area:

  • Differences between financial accounting and managerial accounting.
  • Managerial accounting in the 21 st century.
  • The impact of managerial accounting in big businesses.
  • The major components of activity-based costing.
  • How managerial accounting affects international finance.
  • The impact managerial accounting has on human resources.
  • The major components of capital budgeting.
  • How managerial accounting affects internal business decisions.
  • Effective ways of adopting managerial accounting into small businesses.
  • Differences between variable costing and absorption costing.

Accounting Blog Topics for Today’s Generation

The following collection can be considered accounting hot topics because they deal with the issues that are most important to today’s generation of accountants that utilize advanced software to keep businesses successful:

  • Cost of manufacturing goods overseas.
  • The cost of instituting anti-harassment programs.
  • Inventory and cost of products sold in the U.S.
  • Reinventing accounts payable processes.
  • Using best practices to boost the bottom line.
  • The cost of keeping human resources on staff.
  • Simplifying procedures in accounts payable.
  • The cost of updating internal systems with technology.
  • The cost-effectiveness of employee training.
  • Working capital increasing in large companies.

Advanced Accounting Topics

As students advance academically, they may want to consider these topics for research paper to earn higher scores in their classes. Here are some suggestions:

  • How to run an efficient large accounting department.
  • Red flags in outdated accounting processes.
  • Identifying unconventional processes in payment processes.
  • Utilizing paperless processes in small businesses.
  • Applying EDP to accounts payable processes.
  • The benefits of automating payables and receivables.
  • Outsourcing procurement processes to save money.
  • Automation to handle repetitive processes.
  • The need for diversifying skills in accounting.
  • The ways time affects seasonal cash flow.

Controversial Accounting Topics

Many accounting topics for research papers need to draw a reader’s attention right from the start. This list of topics is controversial and should accomplish just that:

  • The impact the Jobs Act will have on large businesses.
  • The positive effects tax cuts will have on small business.
  • The risks of offshore accounting on U.S. businesses.
  • The need to update software each year to avoid accounting problems.
  • How small businesses are falling behind in accounting practices.
  • The impact bonus depreciation allows businesses.
  • Applying to government relief programs.
  • Describe the role the internet has on accounting.
  • The trustworthiness of online accounting programs.
  • The negatives of auditing collusion.

Intermediate Accounting Topics

These accounting paper topics are meant for students that have acquired skills in writing but may not have developed the skills needed to write a top-notch paper quite yet. They should be easy to research given a proper planning period:

  • Discuss why companies need to incorporate automated processes.
  • The problems with ethics in accounting practices.
  • Technology advancements that improve accounting accuracy.
  • The problem with accuracy in decade-old software.
  • Explain the best way to help accountants work manually.
  • Describe the historical prospect of best accounting practices.
  • The most effective way to become a certified accountant.
  • Compare accounting systems that improve processes.
  • The quick flow of data and the value on today’s accountants.
  • The negatives that come from relying on accounting software.

Interesting Accounting Topics

Sometimes you need to consider accounting project topics that would be great for numerous situations. You may need to present before a class or write a paper for a discussion panel. These ideas may suit your needs:

  • Explain the concept of accounting theory to practice.
  • The theories behind normative accounting practices.
  • The effect theories in accounting have on businesses.
  • Challenges of taking theory to practice.
  • The major changes in accounting practices over the last 25 years.
  • The impact the internet has had on accounting ethics.
  • Accounting practices in the 21 st century.
  • The challenges of accounting technologies on fast-growing companies.
  • The dangers the internet poses toward ethical accounting.
  • Describe the difficulties that come from putting theories into practice.

Accounting Projects Topics for a Short Project

Some cost accounting topics are worthy of an audience but need to be completed within a tight deadline. These project ideas are easy to research and can be completed within one week:

  • Use of efficient accounting software in tax season.
  • Applicable Professional and Legal Standards.
  • The difficulties in using offshore accounting.
  • The most effective way of managing earnings.
  • The development of cash flow in the United Kingdom.
  • The development of cash flow in the United States.
  • The best way to manage personal finances.
  • The effect financial markets have on personal spending.
  • Debt management in large corporations.
  • Accounting challenges during the pandemic.

Forensic Accounting Research Topics

This is another area of accounting that has a promising future for small to large businesses. Here are forensic accounting research paper topics you can use if you are interested in this booming segment:

  • Methods for identifying instances of money laundering.
  • The government’s right to search private accounts.
  • The use of tax records to report possible crimes.
  • Class action litigation cases in the United States.
  • Court use of forensic accounting in criminal cases.
  • Forensic accounting to develop better anti-fraud programs.
  • A company’s reliance on forensic accounting to prevent theft.
  • Establishing controls in emerging international markets.
  • Forensic accountants and their role in court proceedings.
  • Natural disaster and loss quantification practices.

Accounting Theory Topics for College

Good accounting thesis topics should mirror personally important issues. Essay ideas should reflect the things you want to learn more about and explore in-depth. Here is a list that may pique your interest:

  • Impact of accounting research on financial practices.
  • Scientific research studies in modern economies.
  • Modern accounting concepts and applications.
  • The change in accounting practices over the last two decades.
  • Describe the components of Positive Theory.
  • Marketplace discipline across major industries.
  • Major accounting theories and techniques in big businesses.
  • The use of technology to reduce accounting costs.
  • Technology theory in the use of modern accounting.
  • Risk management and the most effective theories.

Accounting Dissertation Topics for Grad Students

The following topic ideas delve into some serious issues in accounting and are much more difficult to handle. These should be approached with the utmost academic determination to earn a master’s or a Ph.D.:

  • Compare accounting software versus manual accounting.
  • Tax management procedures in the 21 st century.
  • The risks of updated technology in small companies.
  • The costs associated with broader health care in the workplace.
  • The history of accounting in the 20 th century.
  • The best method of managing debts without difficulties.
  • Accounting problems caused by online transactions.
  • Cryptocurrency and its impact on modern accounting practices.
  • Forecasting jobs in the field of accounting.
  • The danger technology poses to the accounting industry.

Current Accounting Topics for College

If you don’t have enough time to research current topics in accounting, these ideas will help you save time. There are plenty of online resources discussing current issues and you can also find information in the library:

  • Compare and contrast different cryptocurrencies.
  • The definition of a successful and modern business account.
  • Non-profit organizations and tax reductions.
  • Sports accounting in today’s world of social media.
  • The financial benefits of having a second stream of revenue.
  • Financial stock management of overall earnings.
  • The relationship between corporate donations and accounting.
  • Minimizing risks in big and small-sized businesses.
  • The impact that tax deductions have on big businesses.
  • Financial strategies to ensure employee retention.

Hot Topics in Accounting for a Graduate Level Course

These are the topics you should be considered for a graduate-level course if you want to make a great impression on the professor. Just be sure to do your due diligence and research your selected topic thoroughly:

  • The instances of “cooking books” in the 21 st century.
  • The best approach to update accounting systems.
  • Fraud cases currently in the United States.
  • The importance of forensic accountants in fraud cases.
  • The reasons account reports have government regulations.
  • The benefits of incorporating computerized accounting.
  • The need for companies to make changes to accounting departments.
  • Evolving accounting practices that reduce the risk of theft.
  • The effects offshore gambling has had on accounting.
  • Privacy protocols to keep accounting practices secret.

Financial Accounting Topics Being Discussed Today

Topics in accounting are rooted in financial processes that date back centuries. Yet, there are still many innovative ideas that drive business success. Consider these topics for an essay on issues that are current for today’s world:

  • The evolution of accounting practices over the last century.
  • The biggest ethical concerns about accounting.
  • Minimizing taxes when you are a small company.
  • Accounting software that will cut company costs.
  • The best way to lower taxes through accounting practices.
  • Describe the way managerial accounting is affected by international markets.
  • Explain the major factors of management earnings.
  • The most accurate way to figure out the estimated tax on a company’s earnings.
  • The quickest way to become a certified accountant.
  • Describe how culture influences accounting practices.

Accounting Information Systems Research

The next set of topics are great for anyone wanting to combine accounting with technology. We put together this set to generate interest in this area:

  • The ways small businesses can benefit from advanced technologies.
  • Describe how IT affects financial analysis for reporting.
  • Explain how companies use AIS to collect and store data.
  • Explain the 10 elements used to understand AIS.
  • Rank the best accounting information systems.
  • The future of AIS in small business financial practices.
  • Explain how AIS eliminates the use of balance sheets.
  • AIS technologies save money in large businesses.
  • The future of AIS in small to mid-size businesses.
  • Describe the role of AIS in modern business.

Accounting Presentation Topics for College

These presentation topics cover a wide range of areas that are perfect for diverse interests. At the college level, students must conduct a lot of academic research to guarantee they have all the most relevant information needed to present on a great topic:

  • Describe how forensic accounting can reduce risk to small businesses.
  • Describe the challenges value and cost that managers deal with.
  • The biggest changes to accounting practices in the 21 st century.
  • The benefits of having separate controlling accounts.
  • The rapid flow of data and the importance of modern accountants.
  • Describe how forensic accountants conduct their investigations.
  • The most likely causes of financial instability in small businesses.
  • Explain the factors one must consider before investing.
  • Describe the differences between financial and management accounting.
  • Describe the impact of new taxation policies on managerial accounting.

What do you think of our accounting research topics? These are available for free and can be shared with other students. If you need a custom list of accounting topics, our academic experts can take your assignment details and provide you with original and simple accounting research topics to facilitate your project and help you earn a top grade. We can also provide you with writing, editing, and proofreading services to ensure your assignment is error-free and gets you the highest score possible.

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IMAGES

  1. (PDF) Fundamentals of Cost Accounting

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  2. Cost Accounting: Definition and Types With Examples

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  3. Top 50 Cost Accounting Dissertation Topics for Your Next Assignment

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  4. Importance of Cost Accounting -4 Major Importance

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  5. Principles of Cost Accounting, 17th Edition

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VIDEO

  1. Cost Accounting and Cost Analysis

  2. Cost Accounting ( Cost Behaviors Analysis )

  3. Lecture 1

  4. Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting

  5. Part- 2- Cost Analysis- concept of accounting and economic cost, Money and real cost

  6. COST AC SYSTEM

COMMENTS

  1. Use of cost accounting in cost management

    7) "cost accounting is the process of determining the costs of conducting. a business activity consisting in the manufacture and sale of goods or the provision. of services or the marketing of ...

  2. Modern Costing Strategies for Improved Profitability in Small- and

    SME accounting managers (San, Heng, Selley, & Magsi, 2018). Factors such as the perceived cost-benefit trade-off, limited number of products and services, variations in product design, and lack of sophisticated accounting information systems (AISs) limit SME accounting managers' use of modern costing systems (Armitage et al., 2016;

  3. The quality of cost accounting systems in manufacturing firms: A

    The objective of this research is to review and synthesize the existing literature on the quality of Cost Accounting Systems (CAS) by manufacturing firms. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach was used by adopting (170) articles in this field published from (2015) to (2023) and obtained from the Scopus database.

  4. A Study of Cost Accounting Practices

    Purpose: this thesis aims to describe two most prominent cost accounting systems originated in Germany, Japan, and the U.S. respectively from the background, theoretical and empirical aspects, thereafter through comparison amongst the examined costing systems of the three chosen countries, bring about discussions on ... 1.2 Rational of cost ...

  5. Cost Accounting in Us Cities: Transaction Costs and Governance Factors

    This thesis reviews the development of cost accounting research and practices, including the practice of a hybrid of traditional cost accounting and ABC. The research then applies transaction cost theory and a variety of contextual factors that are supported in the literature to create a theoretical model of how cost accounting is used in ...

  6. A Case Study on Inventory Costing Methods

    The costing method a firm chooses to implement has a substantial effect on selling price and, consequently, realizable profit. For instance, if one costing method determines that the cost of an item is $6.00 and the firm wishes to receive a profit of 30%, the price of the item would be $7.80 with a profit of $1.80.

  7. A Comparative Analysis of Activity Based Costing and Standard Costing

    This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and ... costs, overhead allocation, product mix, and other decisions. Standard cost (SC) accounting systems, the most commonly used management accounting system [17] focuses on e ciency of direct labor but does not concentrate on quality ...

  8. (PDF) Cost Accounting Systems Structure and Information Quality

    Abstract and Figures. Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationships among cost accounting systems structure and information quality properties through an integrated framework of cost system ...

  9. Full article: Implementation of cost accounting as the economic pillar

    An accurate cost accounting system based on accrual principle could provide the full costs of the medical treatment and structured overview of the performed ... (Master thesis). University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Administration, Ljubljana. Google Scholar. Finkler, S. A., & Ward, D. M. (1999). Cost accounting for health care organizations ...

  10. Ph.D. thesis: Investigating the Role of Cost Accounting within

    Request PDF | On Nov 27, 2017, Chiara Oppi published Ph.D. thesis: Investigating the Role of Cost Accounting within Healthcare Organisations: Traditional Costing and New Instruments | Find, read ...

  11. PDF An Empirical Study of The Use of Cost Accounting Systems in Libyan

    Thesis Submitted to Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, ... 2.11 Cost Accounting Systems in Libyan Agricultural Firms 47 2.12 Summary 51 CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW 52 3.1 Introduction 52 3.2 Overview of Cost Accounting Systems 53 3.2.1 Concept and Definition of Cost Accounting Systems 53 ...

  12. Cost Accounting: Definition and Types With Examples

    Cost accounting is an accounting method that aims to capture a company's costs of production by assessing the input costs of each step of production as well as fixed costs, such as depreciation of ...

  13. Accounting Theses and Dissertations

    Theses/Dissertations from 2009. PDF. Mitigating Escalation of Commitment: An Investigation of the Effects of Priming and Decision-Making Setting in Capital Project Continuation Decisions, Ann C. Dzuranin. PDF. Understanding and Improving Use-Tax Compliance: A Theory of Planned Behavior Approach, Christopher Robert Jones.

  14. PDF St. Mary'S University School of Graduate Studies an Assessment of Cost

    setting price and for control purpose (Horngren C.T, 2003).Thus cost accounting provides information for both management and financial accounting. The information supplied by cost accounting acts as a tool of management for making optimum use of scarce resources and ultimately adds to the profitability of business (ARORA, 2004).

  15. Opportunities and challenges for implementing cost accounting systems

    Introduction. The adoption of cost accounting systems in the health sector gained momentum in the late 1980s as a pivotal step in health financing reforms (Citation 1 - Citation 3).Such systems collect clinical, financial, and human resources data from health service providers across multiple health information systems (HIS) and summarize the data in monetary terms based on a set of ...

  16. Accounting Theses and Dissertations

    Financial Accounting Standards, Audit Profession Development, and Firm-Level Tax Evasion. Williams, Brian (University of Oregon, 2016-02-23) In this study I investigate the relation between (1) country-level financial accounting standards and audit profession development and (2) firm-level tax evasion.

  17. (PDF) Construction Cost Accounting Models for ...

    The cost accounting is the major tool used by the managerial level to control cost and increase profit of. a project, and to plan for the future of the company, what are the costs that will occur ...

  18. PDF Costing Support and Cost Control in Manufacturing

    structures, cost views can be constructed. These cost views visualise the differentiated costs for the user. The cost estimation architecture and the cost structure enable the use of four cost control loops: the engineering and planning feedback loop, the order acceptance feedback loop, the production feedback loop and the accounting feedback loop.

  19. 70 Successful Accounting Thesis Topics for Students

    Here are some good examples of accounting research topics ideas. Accounting origin. The Ethics of Accounting and Its Relevance in The Society. Company structure influence on Accounting. Information Systems For Accounting. Accounting and Taxes. Accounting as Relates to Personal Finance. Profit Management.

  20. Accountancy Bachelor's Thesis

    Meeting expectations: A phenomenological study on the gap between the ICT competencies of BS Accountancy ID 117 graduates from De La Salle University and ICT competencies prescribed by the International Accounting Education Standards Board, Kurt Lewis O. Dela Cruz, Lance Mikhail Jason A. Go, and Laureen Macy C. Ong.

  21. (PDF) Environmental Cost Accounting: Literature Review

    The environmental cost of any company is the sacrifice. incurred by society in the form of resources consumed. by the company as a result of carrying out its activities. As well as the importance ...

  22. 150 Accounting Research Topics for College In 2023

    Here are forensic accounting research paper topics you can use if you are interested in this booming segment: Methods for identifying instances of money laundering. The government's right to search private accounts. The use of tax records to report possible crimes. Class action litigation cases in the United States.

  23. (PDF) THE ROLE OF COST MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR SME ...

    The prime rule of responsibility for leadership is effective cost mana gement. Cost management. involves the accomplishment of effective strategies as well as the giving of resources and s ystem ...