The seventh Canadian edition has been reviewed more extensively than at any time in its history in an attempt to make this edition the clearest to date for the reader.

The results of these peer reviews and the authors’ efforts are reflected in revision and reorganization in nearly every chapter to extend relevant discussions, clarify previous discussions, and present new topics. We believe we have improved an already good text to provide an even greater understanding of the issues.

For example, coverage of cost behaviour, including its relevance and terminology, has been altered. The role of inventory and the treatment of overhead have been explained in connection with cost behaviour. Activity based costing and its connections to management decisions have been clarified.

Additional topics and changes include expanded content on the role of management accounting in serving management’s needs. Chapter 1 also features a condensed and clarified discussion of the changing business environment, and standards of ethical conduct for management accountants to reflect the relevance to the current business scene and the requirements of accredited programs.

Chapter 2 reflects the move of the discussion of strategic planning to chapter 9 to provide a guide for the planning described there. The discussion of the cost of goods manufactured has been clarified.

Chapter 8 on activity-based costing includes a discussion of the adjustments and practices needed when these costs are applied to decision situations where the unaltered use of activity costs could be misleading. The appendix to chapter 8 is an especially relevant extension of the discussion of these anomalies.

In addition to coverage of strategic planning, Chapter 9 now also contains an expanded discussion of the business plan to emphasize the interactive nature of business planning. Plus, new materials will help readers further understand detailed schedules, including a new Schedule 7 that relates cash flow to the income statement.

The discussion of balanced scorecards has been removed from chapter 10 and presented in chapter 12 where it provides a natural extension of traditional financial controls.

Chapter 13 features revisions to integrate the various topics in decision analyses. New “Decision Aid” boxes assist the reader with the application of these concepts.

Chapter 14 includes a new discussion of the popular payback method of analysis together with an expanded discussion of post-appraisal of investment projects. An appendix on risk analysis of long-term projects has been added extending the discussion in chapter 6.

Chapter 15 provides a new discussion of sustainability reporting in the Canadian context, a key focus for today’s business managers.

In addition, the chapter-opening Business Focus discussions have been updated in nearly all instances, new real-world examples are highlighted in Focus on Current Practice boxes, and most exercises, problems and cases have been revised or replaced to keep this text current.