西方会计英语Unit ten Accountancy in the future
时间：2018-12-05 作者：英语课 分类：西方会计英语
[00:04.15]Text 10.1
[00:06.58]Factories run by numbers.Numbers to calculate profit and losses;to analyse the costs of new products;and to chart corporate 1 strategy.
[00:17.68]But a lot of managers are relying on the wrong numbers.
[00:21.16]As they adopt new manufacturing techniques like computer-aided design,just-in-time stock management and total quality control,
[00:28.00]many firms are discovering that their existing accounting 2 ssytems also need dragging into the 1990s.
[00:34.32]Unless the bean-counters join the manufacturing revolution,
[00:37.38]traditional cost accounting will have little place in the factory of the future.
[00:41.20]Companies use accounting in two main ways:financial accouting for shareholders,tax authorities and the like;
[00:47.31]and management accounting to help managers determine the costs of producing various products and to plan future investments.
[00:54.26]At a conference on strategic manufacturing,organised by the Strathclyde Institute in Scotland,
[00:59.45]the biggest beef was not about problems such as linking robots to computer-aided-design terminals.
[01:04.52]It was about management accounting.Companies complained that if they had relied on the traditional way in which cost accountants do their sums,
[01:13.14]they might not have been able to justify 3 decisions to invest in new types of manufacturing at all.
[01:18.52]Why not?According to Mr Tracey O'Rourke of Rockwell International,an American conglomerate 4,
[01:24.51]traditional accounting methods lose relevance 5 when applied 6 to manufacturing systems which are flexible and re-usable.
[01:31.17]Since it tore up its cost-accounting rulebook,
[01:34.30]Rockwell's Allen-Bradley industrial-automation division reckons it has been able to make a bigger variety of electrical switches of higher quality and lower unit cost than its competitors.
[01:45.53]It does so in Milwaukee,not Malaysia.
[01:49.32]In Manchester,ICL,a once-crippled British computer company,makes minicomputers to order in ten days—four times faster than five years ago.
[02:00.06]Its plant is flexible enough to switch to making washing machines if ICL wants to.
[02:05.15]The firm's director of manufacturing, Mr Rod Powell,who is a qualified 7 accountant,
[02:10.27]says that unless management accountants move fast,they will be almost without use to the manufacturing manager of 1995'.
[02:17.87]Where are accountants going wrong?Their fiercest critic,Professor Robert Kaplan of Harvard University,
[02:24.40]argues that today's costaccounting systems result in companies not knowing what individual proucts cost—or how to go about cutting costs.
[02:33.05]He says companies have become good at measuring the costs of labour and materials,but not those of other overheads.
[02:39.79]Traditionally,overhead costs are assigned to products in an arbitrary way.
[02:44.88]If a company uses 10% of its total labour to make a product,accountants often simply assign 10% of factory overheads to that product in order to determine its cost.
[02:55.73]This worked fine when companies produced a narrow range of products,and when the costs of labour and materials were the most important factors.
[03:04.66]These days,other costs make up a much bigger proportion of each product's value.Accountants do not know how to measure them.
[03:13.75]The same factory often produces a wide variety of products,each with a shortening life-cycle.
[03:20.36]Firms are using more bought-in,preassembled components 9.
[03:24.30]Overhead costs,especially in R & D,sales and marketing,have risen greatly in relation to labour costs.
[03:32.22]In the information-technology industry,ICL's Mr Powell estimates that labour costs have fallen from 20% of total product costs in 1970 to only 3% now.
[03:44.26]Costing the uncostable
[03:46.72]Many of the new manufacturing techniques have been borrowed or developed from Japan.
[03:51.89]Like western companies,Japanese firms keep an account of the flow of manufacturing costs in terms of labour,
[03:58.60]material and other overheads.But there are significant differences.
[04:03.62]Japanese accounting systems are used to motivate employees into producing products at a "target cost" and to reduce that cost over the lifetime of the product.
[04:13.86]The techniques used to do that can reshape a factory.
[04:17.70]The traditional way to ensure that a company gets the most out of its investment in a new machine is to measure how much it is used.
[04:25.38]That encourages supervisors 10 to run the machine as fast and for as long as possible,
[04:30.29]building big batches 11 of components.Common result:excess stocks.
[04:35.67]These days,most firms need to make things in smaller batches.
[04:40.29]Yesterday's sort of management accounting used to encourage presses in the car industry to continue to churn out body panels for four-door models,
[04:50.12]even while salesmen screamed for two-door versions.
[04:54.06]Today the best factories have machines that can be rapidly re-tooled to allow producers quickly to meet changes in demand.
[05:02.71]Across America,car plants are organising tool-changing contests to reduce,even by seconds,
[05:09.03]the time it takes to switch to making different components.
[05:12.84]What has this got to do with cost accounting?Faster machine-tool changes are among what Rockwell's Mr O'Rourke calls the "intangibles":
[05:22.87]reforms that have a huge value in the market,but are badly measured by internal accounting.
[05:28.96]Those intangibles also include:how better quality can boost market share;how product flexibility 12 improves competitiveness;
[05:38.49]and how the ability to manufacture smaller batches with shorter delivery times leads to customer satisfaction.
[05:45.81]"What is needed",says Mr O'Rourke,"is a new accounting methodology which distinguishes between those items that add value and those that only add cost."
[05:56.02]Activity-based costing is one way forward.It means considering all of a company's activities—
[06:02.32]from logistics to marketing,distribution and administration—as product costs.
[06:08.14]It involves tracing the costs of each of these services to individual products.
[06:13.32]Firms need not abruptly 13 abandon their existing accounting systems in favour of activity-based costing.
[06:19.66]Mr Kaplan says cheap,powerful personal computers let new accounting systems be developed for "strategic purposes",
[06:27.42]off-line from a company's financial accounting.
[06:30.50]Activity-based costing can produce shocks.Lucas Industries,once chiefly a widget-maker for British Leyland,
[06:38.13]is transforming itself into a producer of vehicle and aerospace 14 "systems" with new manufacturing techniques.
[06:45.60]Lucas now makes things in "natural groups" with office and manufacturing workers teamed into "cells" and organised around the flow of materials and information.
[06:56.97]This makes it easier to trace costs to products.Lucas found a component 8 worth less than $1 travelling an unnecessary 20,000 miles—
[07:07.96]including several trips to and from California—before it had any value added to it.
[07:14.16]The company is also making increased use of computer-integrated manufacturing(CIM).
[07:19.72]In theorty,a CIM plant can integrate not just the production process,but also administration,
[07:27.16]product design,market research—and accountancy.A CIM plant could provide costing information faster than an accountant could blink.
[07:39.47]Text 10.2 From information processing to accounting syste
[07:45.84]Accounting systems are just one means of processing information in organisation 15
[07:50.67]Since they are concerned with the management of financial resources and the representation of other aspects of the business in financial term
[07:57.99]they will always be important
[08:00.03]But it must never be forgotten that an accounting system is always a means to a wider organisational end rather than an end in itsel
[08:08.67]Accordingly, the strategy for designing and operating any type of accounting system must reflect the wider purposes of the organisation which are to be served
[08:17.82]the other strategies for control which management has adopted and their implications for information processing, and thereby 16 the internal distribution of power and influenc
[08:28.84]It is perhaps easier to take a partial view when designing accounting systems for enterprises operating in relatively 17 stable condition
[08:36.83]But with dynamic and rapidly changing conditions, when the information needed to make decisions is more fluid and complex
[08:43.91]a wider organisational viewpoint is absolutely essentia
[08:48.27]In such circumstances, accounting systems and their organisational premises 18 need to be consistent with the forms of organisational structure and patterns of reponsibility which can cope with the inherent uncertainty 19 and provide the necessary element of adaptivenes
[09:03.84]They must aim to reinforce the informal communication networks and the patterns of interpersonal relationship
[09:10.61]which constitute the more organic means of control
[09:13.64]Finally they must try to elicit 20 the appropriate individual motivation
[09:18.55]If ,however, these objectives really cannot be achieved, then the current limitations on our ability to design accounting systems,real as they ar
[09:27.12]may need to be recognised as constraints 21 on management's ability to adopt other means of contro
[09:33.75]Such a view presents many challenges to members of the accounting professio
[09:37.78]particularly those concerned with the design and operation of management accounting system
[09:42.61]Accoutants need, for instance, to give a lot more consideration to the design of formal information systems that are consistent with organisational structures which emphasise 22 horizaontal rather than vertical 23 forms of contro
[09:56.53]At present ,many accounting techniques and procedures are more consistent with the organisational forms associated with mechanistic or bureaucratic 24 approaches to management than they are with organic approache
[10:08.50]Progress has undoubtedly 25 been made in this area in the last few years ,but as yet,many difficult problems remain to be solve
[10:16.02]Whilst the management accountant can never become responsible for the management of all information flow
[10:22.08]as one of the few specialists on information in most enterpirses,he has ,I believe ,the potential of broadening his concerns to cover at least the design of the formal sources of informatio
[10:32.95]if not a more general overview 26 of the information processing capabilities 27 of the enterpirs
[10:38.20]Of course ,such a reorientation would necessitate 28 major changes in outlook and training ,and in realit
[10:45.36]I remain pessimistic about whether the profession, as distinct from some of its more informed members,is likely to change in this wa
[10:53.92]But the need is real enoug
[10:56.07]Indeed, it may be so real that one wonders whether some other group will arise to move in this direction if accountants choose not to do s
[11:04.11]Conclusi
[11:05.31]It is useful to end our discussion by briefly 29 considering the resemblance which the accountant's task as designer of information systems might bear to that of the architect.
[11:15.29]Both professional groups are concerned with designing and constructing structures which are meant to serve human needs,
[11:22.03]and in doing this,they both tend to be more concerned with how things might be rather than how things necessarily are.
[11:30.23]The similarity might,however,go further.For accountants,like architects,can become involved with the technicalities
[11:36.84]and aesthetics 30 of their edifices 31 to the detriment 32 of the needs of the people who will be using them.
[11:42.54]We can all think of the equivalent in accounting of the architect whose ideas of civilised order have little relationship to what the citizens of actual cities really want.
[11:52.86]It does not require too much imagination to picture the equivalents of those idealistic planners whose efforts have yielded only vandalism and personal isolation 33.
[12:02.57]Like architects,accountants must never regard human beings as unsolicited intrusions on their technical activities.
[12:09.84]It should not be forgotten that these technical activities have of themselves no meaning.
[12:15.37]Accounting systems must always be directed towards fulfilling the needs of the managers and employees who are striving to control complex but purposeful enterprises,
[12:25.43]and accordingly,their design and operation always needs a sensitivity to the attitudes,needs and even passions of the human members of the enterprise.
- This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
- His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。
- A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
- There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。
- He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
- Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？
- The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
- An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。
- Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
- Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。
- She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
- This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
- He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
- We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。
- Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
- Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。
- the components of a machine 机器部件
- Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。
- I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
- Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句
- The prisoners were led out in batches and shot. 这些囚犯被分批带出去枪毙了。
- The stainless drum may be used to make larger batches. 不锈钢转数设备可用来加工批量大的料。
- Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
- The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。
- He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
- I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
- The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
- Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。
- The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
- His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。
- I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
- He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。
- The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
- The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
- According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
- All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。
- Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
- After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。
- It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
- Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。
- Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
- What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
- What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
- The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。
- The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
- Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。
- The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
- In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。
- It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
- He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
- The opening chapter gives a brief historical overview of transport.第一章是运输史的简要回顾。
- The seminar aims to provide an overview on new media publishing.研讨会旨在综览新兴的媒体出版。
- He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
- Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
- Your proposal would necessitate changing our plans.你的提议可能使我们的计划必须变更。
- The conversion will necessitate the complete rebuilding of the interior.转变就必需完善内部重建。
- I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
- He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
- Sometimes, of course, our markings may be simply a matter of aesthetics. 当然，有时我们的标点符号也许只是个审美的问题。 来自名作英译部分
- The field of aesthetics presents an especially difficult problem to the historian. 美学领域向历史学家提出了一个格外困难的问题。
- They complain that the monstrous edifices interfere with television reception. 他们抱怨说，那些怪物般的庞大建筑，干扰了电视接收。 来自辞典例句
- Wealthy officials and landlords built these queer edifices a thousand years ago. 有钱的官吏和地主在一千年前就修建了这种奇怪的建筑物。 来自辞典例句