Running Header: LEAN ACCOUNTING: Principles, Benefits & Implementation
The Principles, Benefits and Implementation
of Lean Accounting
December 2014
LEAN ACCOUNTING: Principles, Benefits & Implementation
The Principles, Benefits and Compliance of Lean Accounting
Introduction
As a way to reduce costs, manufacturing businesses today are looking for a leaner
approach to production and are focusing on the overall process of producing an item to
eventually sell to a consumer. This process is called the value stream, which is defined in
Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis as “the value-added activities needed to design,
manufacture, and deliver a given product or product line to customers” (Horngren, Datar, &
Rajan, 2014, p. 635). With the assistance of technology advancements to support with the
communication of the different components of the value stream, processes have been
developed, like Just in Time (JIT) production, that allow for the lean production of
merchandise. Dan Woods describes this lean production process, in an article published in
Forbes:
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