Revolutionizing Accounting for Decision Making

About the Book

This book combines multiple disciplines of lean and activity-based costing in a practical, easy-to-use way so that leaders can make informed decisions. Most of my life has been dealing with organizations that are in financial distress. Many financial decisions were based upon information that was technically accurate but simultaneously misleading or deceptive. Unfortunately, organizations are making decisions about selling divisions, shutting down product lines, moving facilities, and disrupting people’s lives without a clear understanding of the accuracy and the importance of those decisions. Individuals and their families have seen lives shattered because of suspect information. As a certified public accountant (CPA), we pride ourselves that our responsibility is to the public. We clearly state in our code of ethics that we have a responsibility to the collective well-being of the people that we serve. That is a daunting responsibility. We also have a responsibility to be objective. Objectivity requires us to be impartial, intellectually honest, and free of conflicts of interest and material bias. The principles of lean, activity-based costing, marketing, strategic planning, and traditional financial reporting are combined using existing systems so that decision-makers can be armed with accurate financial information. Activity-based costing is a process-oriented, systematic approach to attribute cost to the activities for which an organization is engaged to accomplish it strategic mission. An understanding of the organization’s mission is essential for an accurate understanding of the nature of costs. The entire concept of activity based costing and going lean is designed to support the governance responsibilities of management. Our revolutionary approach to accounting for decision making will result in a rethinking of accounting and information system to enable leaders to make more informed decisions.

About the Author

He is a CPA, author, commentator, and expert in corporate restructurings and management. Frank is a Pennsylvania CPA and a graduate of Mt. St. Mary’s College, and he has an MBA from the University of Maryland. Frank has almost forty years’ experience working with organizations in transformation and has worked on numerous lean and activity based costing initiatives. He has served on the boards of three publicly traded companies and as audit committee chair of two. Additionally he has served on boards of privately held companies, and numerous non-profit organizations to include St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, the Institute of World Politics, and the audit committee chair of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He served on the ethics committee of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants for four years and was Chair of the Committee in 2014–2015. Frank Ryan, a retired marine reserve colonel, was recalled to active duty, out of his military retirement, in December 2004 and served with Multinational Force–Iraq until June 2005. Prior to his initial retirement in 2002, Frank served as the central command Special Operations officer during Operation Enduring Freedom. His personal military decorations include three Legions of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the US Army Commendation.