Berkshire Hathaway

Running head: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. AN ANALYSIS OF MANAGERIAL AND COST ACCOUNTING

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: An Analysis of Managerial and Cost Accounting Practices and Major Factors Affecting These Decisions

Vincent KS Berry

Berkeley College, New York

Author Note

Vincent KS Berry is an Accounting major attending Berkeley College in New York, for his undergraduate studies. Starting the Fall of 2011, he will be entering his senior year. This research was conducted to satisfy a term paper in Cost Accounting-Acc. 240 for the Summer 2011.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Abstract

This project presents an analysis of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a publically traded company and includes an analysis of its managerial accounting practices, the major factors affecting these decisions, and the best practices for effective management.

The evaluation includes a key ratio analysis of Berkshire Hathaway’s financial statements to assess the viability of their managerial accounting practices, and examines the company profile, management makeup, accounting statement footnotes, major market competitors, supply chain efficiency, and distribution efficiency.

An assessment is offered of the type quality of managerial accounting approaches made of the costing process, profit planning, budgeting, reporting, inventory and capital allocation manifested in the observed accounting outcomes.

A. Company Profile (as filed with the SEC 2010)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

3555 Farnam Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68131

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire,” “Company” or “Registrant”) is a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of diverse business activities. The most important of these are insurance businesses conducted on both a primary basis and a reinsurance basis. Berkshire also owns and operates a large number of other businesses engaged in a variety of activities, as identified herein. Berkshire is domiciled in the state of Delaware, and its corporate headquarters is...