RCA Discussion Series

The RCA Institute holds monthly discussion series for those interested in RCA, providing the opportunity to learn and ask questions. All levels of experience and interest are welcome. 

 

The RCA Discussion series is also available on the Resource Consumption Accounting YouTube channel.

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​2022 Discussion Series

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January 14         The Importance of Causality to Internal Decision Support (View Recorded Webinar)

The principle of causality was identified by the IMA Conceptual Framework for Managerial Costing as the foundational principle for operational and cost modeling for internal decision support.  This discussion will discuss the meaning of causality in modeling, its importance, and how RCA models causality to improve decision making.

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February 11       Introduction to RCA (View Recorded Webinar)

 

This discussion will introduce new attendees and review with longer term members the foundations of RCA and how it can improve information on cost and profitability.  It will focus on the central role of resources, capacity, causal relationships, and responsiveness play in improving decisions.  Begin the process of understanding how RCA connects operations to finance and provides the information to optimize your organization’s profitability or mission outcomes.

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March 4              Introduction to RCA Modeling – Part I (View Recorded Webinar)

 

This discussion introduces Resource Consumption Accounting modeling techniques that improve operational, cost, and profit performance.   Learn how RCA models operational resource quantities and monetary values to produce superior information on capacity use, consumption of resources, and information on costs and quantities for marginal and incremental decisions.

 

Recordings of past webinars are available on the RCA Institute You Tube Channel.

 

RCA Related Columns in Automation World Magazine

RCA Institute Executive Director, Larry White, writes a column every other month for Automation World that often covers RCA related topics.   You can view the collection of columns at:  https://www.automationworld.com/home/contact/13743073/larry-white

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RCA Institute Special Report:  Evaluation of Technology Business Management Council's Cost Modeling Guidance

The RCA Institute has completed a review of the TBM Council's Taxonomy that serves as the basis for building cost models of IT functions in organizations.  The review was based on the Institute of Management Accountants Statement on Management Accounting:  Costing System Attributes that Support Good Decision Making.  The review finds the TBM Taxonomy provides a framework that can improve cost information to some extent, but falls short in its claims about consumption, performance, and optimization because it does not provide enough guidance to ensure it's cost model is built on a solid operational foundation of causality based on resources, processes, and capacity.

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Watch an interesting discussion on TBM Council's approach to modeling IT resources and costs to make them more visible and manageable throughout the organization. RCA expert Anton van der Merwe, Alta Via Consulting, and TBM author, Todd Tucker discuss a wide range of IT management and cost modeling issues. https://lnkd.in/eiftDhm6

 

RCA Related Presentation: Driving Strategic Management with the Profitability Analytics Framework

RCA Institute Executive Director Larry White and Doug Hicks presented this webinar for IMA on March 29, 2021.  It presents the IMA Statement on Management Accounting: Profitability Analytics Framework that focuses on improving internal decision support throughout the organization.  It also includes a number of practical applications from the presenter's experience.  Note:  The link takes you to an IMA form. It will ask for an IMA member number, but any 5 digit numeric code seems to work.  It would be polite to fill out the rest of the information correctly to show IMA your interest.

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RCA Related Article:  AI for Decision Analysis

The February 2021cover article for Strategic Finance (official publication of the Institute of Management Accountants was written by RCA Institute Chair, Anton van der Merwe of Alta Via Consulting (altavia.com), and RCA Institute Executive Director, Larry White.  It present an RCA oriented approach to creating monetary decision support information in an Industry 4.0 data rich environment.  The article includes examples of RCA applications.

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RCA Related Presentations

• IMA Video: New Technology with Larry White - New Perspectives on Accounting and Finance

• IMA Video: AI Economy with Anton van der Merwe - New Perspectives on Accounting and Finance

• Recorded Presentation - Conceptual Framework for Managerial Costing, Part 1

• Recorded Presentation - Conceptual Framework for Managerial Costing, Part 2

• Conceptual Framework for Managerial Costing and RCA for the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board Forum

 

RCA Education by Webcast

The RCA Institute is producing a series of pre-recorded webcasts that will provide an introduction to Resource Consumption Accounting.  Five introductory webcasts are now available on the RCA Institute You Tube Channel. The topics are:

• Part 1:  What is Resource Consumption Accounting?  (7 minutes)

• Part 1.B: What is the Resource Consumption Accounting Institute? (7 minutes)

• Part 2.A: Resource Consumption Accounting Modeling Principles, Part 1 (9 minutes)

• Part 2.B: Resource Consumption Accounting Modeling Principles, Part 2 (10 minutes)

• Part 3: Resource Consumption Accounting Overview (8 minutes)
   

The Institute of Management Accountant's Conceptual Framework for Managerial Costing

In September 2014, the IMA published its Conceptual Framework for Managerial Costing (CFMC) that established clear principles, concepts, and constraints for creating cost information purely for internal decision support. RCA is the most comprehensive approach to implementing the CFMC. In July 2019, a follow on Statement of Management Accounting, Costing System Attributes that Support Good Decision Making, provides practical guidance on applying the principle of causality and the concepts for building effective cost models for internal decision support. The SMA Developing an Effective Managerial Costing Model provides a process to create cost information for internal decision support.  These documents are aligned with the RCA approach to modeling and internal decision support information.