Cost Accounting Skills Needs of Small Business Operators

Abstract

The major purpose of the study was to determine the record-keeping, inventory control and price determination skills needs of small business operators in Anambra State. Three research questions and two null hypotheses were used to attain this purpose. A descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study which involved 280 registered small business operators in the state. Due to the manageable size of the population, all the 280 registered small business operators were surveyed. Therefore there was no sampling. Data were collected with the help of three research assistants using structured Cost Accounting Skills Needs (CASNs) questionnaire with 43-item statements. The questionnaire was divided into four sections (A - D). Section A was used to obtain the personal data of the respondents. Sections B, C and D carried a bipolar scale of perceived importance and expressed possession to obtain the respondents’ ratings of the skills (record-keeping, inventory control and price determination skills). The instrument was validated by three experts. Cronbach Alpha reliability technique was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. Reliability coefficient of 0.78, 0.83 and 0.75 were obtained for record-keeping, inventory control and price determination skills respectively. Data from 269 copies returned were used for data analysis. Analysis was done using mean and correlated t-test at 0.05 level of significance to answer the research questions while analysis of variance was used to test the two null hypotheses. The study found that record-keeping, inventory control and price determination skills were perceived to be very important by the operators, but the levels of possession were still below expectation. Based on these findings, the study recommended that a training programme be mounted for small business operators in the state on record-keeping and inventory control skills needed for business operation.