Customer accounting and customer profitability analysis for the order handling industry—A managerial accounting approach

Abstract

Market-oriented businesses are concerned with customer satisfaction and business profitability, both in the longer term. Thus the marketing managers need updated decision-relevant information (marketing metrics) with respect to the set of processes that are leading to customer values and economic customer values. The attention of this study is focused on the profitability aspects of marketing. The context is the business-tobusiness order-handling industry, i.e. four exporting companies and 176 of their customers in 36 various markets. A market-oriented accounting framework that can be included as a natural part of a managerial accounting system is introduced and discussed, and financial reports as well as graphic representations and key figures for various levels of a market hierarchy are presented. The findings with respect to the profitability of orders, customers and markets are presented and the managerial implications are discussed.