Managerial cost accounting for a technical information center

Technical information centers have been established in recent years to cope with the “information explosion” problem which confronts the scientific community. These operations are highly analogous to a typical manufacturing firm with functions such as purchasing, production, service, finance, administration, and distribution. Management of a center encounters cost information requirements similar to those found in other enterprises for planning, control, and decision‐making purposes. Yet, research indicates that few tangible cost‐accounting applications have been attempted in information centers. The purpose of this paper is to describe a research project conducted at a technical information center to test the hypothesis that: A theoretically‐sound managerial cost‐accounting system can be designed to meet the specific characteristics of a technical information center by revising and innovating systems utilized by other enterprises. A computerized cost system was developed and operated for a three‐month period to test this hypothesis. The results of the study indicate that effective managerial cost accounting is possible for a technical information center. Relevant cost information was generated periodically to measure the operating performance of the center's production process. A summary of the data that were reported regularly to management is presented in this paper.