Material and Energy Flow-Based Cost Accounting

The classical approaches to cost accounting are governed by metamodels which specify the application domain of cost accounting as an instrument supporting rational decision making and controlling: Rational decision making requires relevant information about positive outcomes and related negative consequences. Even if this context will be presented in the beginning of this contribution, this article focuses on an engineering-oriented approach to cost accounting: cost accounting as an economic evaluation of detailed engineering of technical conversions, production units, and supply chains. In such a perspective, questions regarding information demand, required modeling concepts, and integration with other instruments have to be defined and answered in another way than in conventional cost accounting.