1. The appropriate basis for decision making
2. The types of data to use in decision-making and, by implication, the types of data not to use.

Decision means choices, thus decision-making implies making choices between alternatives, competing course of action. If there is no available alternative, then decision-making is not necessary. Management has to assess whether choosing a particular product X has the overall benefits or choosing an alternative, Y i.e. compare the two products, and weight up any differences between choosing on and not the other.

Management accounting is a key part in an iterative decision making process:

• Alternative courses of actions are identified.
• Estimating is made of the results of each alternative.
• Preferred courses of actions are chosen in terms of business objectives.
• Actual results are compared with corresponding estimates.
• New course of action are identified.

This is a continuous process.

The fundamental question for consideration here is, “How is management to choose from among these so many possible alternatives so as to maximize the present value of the expected future cash flows?” The answer to this question is indirect. Each potential alternative will have different cash consequences and change continuously with time. Therefore, analyzing the differences between available alternatives is essential to good decision-making. This analysis is called ‘differential’ or ‘incremental’ cash analysis. This basically gives managers an overlook of the advantages and disadvantages of the choice of alternatives. The final decision is to accept the alternative with the greatest net present value or cash flow, i.e. NPV

Stage 5, 6 and 7 : The decision making and control processes

Stage 5 is the forecasting stage in which it predicts the most likely outcome of a decision, expressed in a budget form. The budget is prepared on estimates of differential costs and revenues in the chosen course of action with some valid assumptions.