Prior to beginning work on the final paper, read the entire assignment and rubric, then review Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 in your textbook and any chapters from earlier weeks that are relevant to areas of this paper.

The purpose of the final paper is for you to demonstrate the learning achieved in the course by describing your understanding and application of knowledge in the field of accounting.

The paper must

• Identify the main issues in the chosen area.
• Contain and reference new learning that has occurred.
• Build upon class activities or incidents that facilitated learning and understanding.
• Present specific current and/or future applications and relevance to the typical workplace.

The Final Paper should also focus on real-life, real-time application of topics covered in this course: the uses you have seen and the uses you can envision. The paper must be submitted to your instructor no later than 11:59 pm of the time zone in which you reside on the last day of class.

Submit a paper on one of the major topics listed below and incorporate at least five scholarly/peer-reviewed or credible sources of your choice in addition to the course textbook, including a minimum of two from the University of Arizona Global Campus Library. Support your statements by citing real world examples and include a complete references list in APA format at the end of the paper.

Choice 1: Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis

• How does a firm use “Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis” to assess performance?
• How would you use such a system to measure how costs change as production changes?
• How do you develop a “break-even analysis” for a given firm, and how would you use it?

Choice 2: Activity Based Costing

• What is “Activity Based Costing” and how does it work?
• What does it do for a firm employing such a system?
• How do you go about developing such a system in a firm?
• What are the steps?
• What would an example look like?

Choice 3: Cost Accounting

• Why is cost accounting so important to the success of the firm?
• What are the various methods of cost accounting and how are they used?

Choice 4: Operating Budgets

• How does an operating budget work to discipline a firm’s management?
• What are the elements of a budget?
• How are budgets constructed?
• What is “Variance Analysis” and how is it used?

The Cost Accounting Final Paper

• Must be eight to 10 double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style (Links to an external site.) as outlined in the Writing Center.
• Must include a title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.).
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear and succinct thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.