The clue here is in the name. Management accounts are produced to allow high-ups in a business to make decisions based on the financial position of the company.

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These accounts are reports that detail specific data that is useful for the management’s current needs. Because of this, there are no set format or data requirements for a management account, nor is there a set timeframe for them to be produced. In fact, you may never actually produce one.

The monthly management accounts training offers a quick overview of how a set of management accounts can be produced and what entails in its production. It is intended to give trainees a sequence of activities to follow when putting together a monthly reporting pack for their senior management team.

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The sequence of activities and the importance attached to each activity can be very different, depending on the line of business that you are in. In time, you are likely to develop a more vivid and succinct picture of the production process, which you can then integrate into your own particular circumstances. Most of the information contained is from the point of view of working in both product and service-based industry.

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In most organisations, the board or senior management requires the management accountant or chief accountant to produce a monthly profit and loss account/income statement. This allows the organisation to gauge its performance against set budgets (which are mostly prepared before the start of each financial year) and expected forecasts (mostly updated at each month end).