Discussion Question 4

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please download and read the report  published by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). IMA argues that although activity-based costing (ABC) is not a panacea, it is essential for a company to implement a management accounting system such as ABC for all its stakeholdersits employees, its community, its loyal customers, and its shareholdersto understand its cost structure.

After reading IMAs report, in an initial post of at least 200 words, discuss what activity-based costing is and examine how it impacts the role of management accountants in the broader context of performance management that integrates time, quality, service levels, risk, capacity planning, and costs.