Marketing and accounting

In marketing and accounting, much of the new thinking centers on the managerial aspects of both functions. Executives are realizing that marketing and accounting need to be coordinated. For example, both marketing and accounting executives need to know profit margins by products. Accounting must furnish management with accurate costing for realistic pricing. Accounting should also furnish marketing with information about profitable limits of every territory as well as of every product sold by the company.
In addition, accounting management can furnish accurate and timely customer costing, showing the relative profitability of customers by size, by type, by geographic location. Accounting can advise marketing of the relative profitability of order size. Accounting, like finance and manufacturing, needs, therefore, to be a full-fledged partner of marketing. Here, we look at these areas again from the point of view of coordination and integration into the total managerial responsibility of the company.
(a) Marketing is responsible for bringing out successful new products. This, as we have seen, will include the packaging, designing, distributing, and profitable selling of products, as well as promoting them. But this activity cannot be carried on without involving other departments. Manufacturing is concerned with the required production schedules, technical services, equipment, and facilities.
Finance is concerned with the cost of research and equipment, and with the added marketing costs (such as adding new salesmen, cost of new promotional programs, etc.). Purchasing must know what raw materials and supplies will be needed, in what quantities, and when. And engineering must be prepared to design the new products in accordance with sound engineering principles.
(b)Marketing is responsible for the company's advertising and promotion. But production must know of all promotion schedules which might call for more inventories, or unusual product mixes. Finance must also know of any unusual expenditures, either for additional inventories, raw materials, supplies, or promotion.
(c)Marketing is responsible for proper marketing personnel policies: recruiting, selection, training, and compensation. But manufacturing must know when these training programs involve trips to the plant and similar disruptions of production schedules. Likewise, personnel must know of marketing requirements in order to coordinate recruiting with over-all company personnel plans.
Marketing is responsible for marketing research: basic research on new products, product possibilities, channels of distribution, and market development. But engineering must know the specific product characteristics called for by the market, the product changes needed, and the timing of such changes. Manufacturing "must know of anticipated plans which call for changed manufacturing facilities, materials, personnel, quality standards, etc. The traffic department must know of anticipated customer requirements, deliveries, warehousing, inventories, and geographic market plans. And again, finance must know of inventory changes, new machinery or equipment investments.
(d) Marketing is responsible for its own departmental organization, and its manpower requirements. As we have seen, this organization often requires working with other departments, with committees, etc. Other departments must be advised of the need for special working arrangements, intra-company integration, and the like.
(e)Marketing is responsible for forecasts, setting quotas, and for territorial performance records. But accounting has to prepare the records on which these forecasts and quotas are based. Finance needs to provide the money for inventories, selling expenses, and additional purchases necessary to meet forecasts.