AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES IN NIGERIA CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES

AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES IN NIGERIA CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES

ABSTRACT

Building and Civil engineering aspect of the Nigerian economy is referred to as construction industry. The building construction comprises the establishments engaged in the erection of residential and non-residential buildings, offices and commercial structures etc. The second category is the civil engineering works which involves the construction of roads, bridges, ports, airports, dams, canals etc. In her take-off stage Nigeria has undertaken a series of construction projects. A serious short-coming of some Nigerian contractors is the inadequate attention given to planning and control of construction projects using modern accounting techniques. All aspects of planning generally involves planning for financial resources, acquisition of raw materials, technological development etc. It is therefore important that the accountant should know how the planned programme will affect the growth and profitable operation of an organization. A study of the usefulness/degree of use of the various Management accounting techniques in the construction industry has been undertaken in this work. However, due to time and space constraints in a study of this nature, only those techniques that are discernibly relevant to the construction industry were examined. These techniques include Absorption costing, Marginal costing, Break-even analysis, Long-term forecasting and planning, standard costing, and Budgetary control. A sample of the construction companies scattered all over the country was selected for this study with the following consideration in mind: (a) The need to fairly reflect the different types of construction organisation in the country. (b) The need to obtain an appreciatiable sample size. (c) The need to be careful not to favour only easily accessible region or to ignore areas that may be some distances away. Therefore every Nigerian construction company had the same chance of being selected. It was for this reasons that samples were drawn from five cities across the country : Kaduna, Lagos, Jos, Benin City and Abuja. Through the use of questionnaire and personal interviews with the accountants and chief executives of the various construction companies operating at different levels of capitalization; and through an analysis of the data obtained, the usefulness and degree of use of the various techniques, and the problems militating against their use were ascertained. The study went further to find out the reasons for the frequent abandonment of construction works, especially government contract jobs. The study also tried to ascertain whether or not the construction companies make adequate provisions for the Nigeria peculiar inflationary trend while estimating their contract costs. The problems militating against the application of the various management accounting techniques in the industry were also examined. Recommendations meant to solve these identified problems have been made. A suggestion for further research in this respect has also been offered.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page- – – – – – – – – i
Approval page – – – – – – – -ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – -iii
Acknowledgement – – – – – – – -iv
Abstract – – – – – – – – – -v
Table of content – – – – – – – -vi

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION – – – – – – – -1
1.0 Background of the study – – – – -1
1.1 Statement of the problem – – – – -5
1.2 Purpose of the study – – – – – -6
1.3 Significance of the study – – – – -8
1.4 Research questions – – – – – -9
1.5 Scope of the study – – – – – – -10

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – – – -11

CHAPTER THREE

Research methodology – – – – – – -39
Design of study – – – – – – – -40

CHAPTER FOUR

Presentation, analysis and interpretation of data – -48

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary of findings – – – – – – -60
Conclusion – – – – – – – – -61
Recommendations – – – – – – – -62
Suggestions for further research – – – – -64
References – – – – – – – – -65
Appendix I – – – – — – – – -68
Questionnaire. – – – – – – – -69

AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING TECHNIQUES IN NIGERIA CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES