Reporting to management | Meaning | Objectives or Purpose
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Reporting to management – Meaning
The reporting to management is a process of providing information to various levels of management so as to enable in judging the effectiveness of their responsibility centres and become a base for taking corrective measures, if necessary.
Definition of Reporting to Management
“Reporting to Management can be defined as an organized method of providing each manager with all the data and only those data which he needs for his decisions, when he needs them and in a form which aids his understanding and stimulates his action”.
The reporting to management can also be called as management reporting or internal reporting.
Objectives or Purpose of Reporting to management
A Management Accountant has to prepare the report for the following purposes.
1. Means of Communication: A report is used as a means of upward communication. A report is prepared and submitted to someone who needs that information for carrying out functions of management.
2. Satisfy Interested Parties: The interested parties of management report are top management executives, government agencies, shareholders, creditors, customers and general public. Different types of management reports are prepared to satisfy above mentioned interested parties.
3. Serve as a Record: Reports provide valuable and important records for reference in the future. As the facts and investigations are recorded with utmost care, they become a rich source of information for the future.
4. Legal Requirements: Some reports are prepared to satisfy the legal requirements. The annual reports of company accounts is prepared to furnished the same to the shareholders of the company under Companies Act 1946. Likewise, audit report of the company accounts is submitted before the income tax authorities under Income Tax Act 1961.
5. Develop Public Relations: Reports of general progress of business and utilization of national resources are prepared and presented before the public. It is useful for increasing the goodwill of the company and developing public relations.
6. Basis to Measure Performance: The performance of each employee is prepared in a report form. In some cases, group or department performance is prepared in a report form. The individual performance report is used for promotion and incentives. The group performance report is used for giving bonus.
7. Control: Reports are the basis of control process. On the basis of reports, actions are initiated and instructions are given to improve the performance.