Managing Uncertainty Through Cost Accounting and Financial Planning
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Course information
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing the course, students will be able to:
- Assess and select cost accounting system designs that fit a given business context, including evaluating trade-offs, behavioral implications, and risks of cost distortion.
- Assess and select financial planning and forecasting approaches appropriate to a given business context, including evaluating strengths, limitations, and organizational consequences.
- Build scenario analyses and translate them into coherent financial plans, including articulating assumptions, evaluating sensitivity, and deriving decision-relevant insights.
- Apply entrepreneurial critical skills—creativity, collaboration, and systems thinking—to complex business problems, including challenges related to sustainability and long-term value creation.
Content
This course develops participants’ competencies in designing cost accounting and financial planning systems that support better operational and strategic decisions.
The first part examines alternative cost accounting system designs and their implications. Participants compare overhead allocation approaches across different business models and operating settings, with a focus on when methods are appropriate, where distortions and errors can arise, and how costing choices shape interpretations of profitability and lead to more profitable decisions.
The second part focuses on financial planning and forecasting in contemporary organizations. Participants examine the design, use, and implications of planning processes and forecasting tools, including how they influence coordination, accountability, and decision-making under uncertainty.
Throughout the course, theory is applied through extensive, purpose-built case studies that are tailored to the course themes and designed to mirror real-world decision contexts.
Teacher
David Derichs
Study material
Suggested literature:
Kaplan, R. & Anderson, S., (2003). Time-driven activity-based costing.
Axson, D., (2009). Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management: Radically Rethinking Management for a Volatile World.
Articles listed under each lecture.
Suggested additional readings:
Barret, R., (2007). Planning and budgeting for the agile enterprise: a driver-based budgeting toolkit. London: CIMA publishing
For those who want to go deeper into cost accounting and activity based management: Kaplan, R. & Cooper, R (1998). Cost & effect: using integrated cost systems to drive profitability and performance. Harvard Business Press. Chapters 1 11
For those who want to go deeper into forecasting: Morlidge, S. & Player, S (2010). Future ready: How to master
Workload
- Lectures 18 h
- Exercises/group work 86 h
- Independent study 56 h
- Exam 2 h
TOTAL=162 h
Prerequisites
Students should have taken at least one course that covers issues of cost accounting (not a requirement but an advantage). At Aalto BIZ this would be: Management Accounting I (ABL-C1122)
Evaluation
1. Lectures, participation activity and case reports (60% of the marking)
2. Final exam (40% of the marking)
Learning is based on case discussions, readings, short introductory lectures, and potentially guest lectures. Lectures will not cover all the content of the course readings, but will provide additional insights and practical applications on topics covered.
Excluding bonus points, students must pass with at least 50% of the points in both the assignment portion of the course and the final exam.
Teaching time and location
The teaching time and the location of the course can be found at Sisu information system
- The link leads to Completion methods tab of the course page
- From the top of the page (Version drop-down menu), check that academic year 2026-2027 is selected
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From the blue bar, click Lecture and open the Groups and teaching times tab to see the teaching time and the location of the course. Exam times can be seen by clicking Exam.
The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.
Further information
Equivalences to other courses: 22E26000 Cost Accounting and Financial Planning
Online learning environment for the course
MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.
Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses
More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.
Registration and course fee
Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below:
Course registration
Registration for this course starts on 21.9.2026 at 9.00
Registration for this course ends on 26.10.2026 at 23.59
It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.
The number of participants is limited to 10.
This course is organized by the Aalto University School of Business.
The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules
Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication
You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course.
Instructions for activating your Aalto user ID
Once you have activated your Aalto user ID, also enable multifactor authentication. Some of Aalto University's services require multifactor authentication.
Studying at the Open University
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