DEVELOPMENT OF COST ACCOUNTING SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR SMALL BUSINESS OPERATORS IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out to develop cost accounting skills training programme for  small business operators in South-East, Nigeria. Specifically, the study determined the objectives, contents, instructional methods, learning experiences and evaluation activities necessary for the training programme. Five research questions were answered by the study while five null hypotheses  were  tested  at  0.05  level  of  significance.  The  study  adopted  Research  and Development (R & D) design. The population for the study was 116. This was made up of 110 accounting lecturers from seven public universities in South-East Nigeria that offer business education  (accounting  option) and accountancy  programme  three chartered  accountants, and three curriculum planner. Due to the manageable size of the population, the entire 110 accounting lecturers were surveyed. Therefore, there was no sampling. The instrument for data collection is a structured questionnaire with 107 items.   The questionnaire was titled

‘‘Cost  Accounting  Skills Training  Programme  Questionnaire  (CASTPQ)’’.  The  questionnaire

was  validated  by  five  experts.  To  establish  the  internal  consistency  of  the  instrument, Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was used which yielded an overall coefficient of 0.83 for the entire instrument. One hundred and ten copies of questionnaire were administered to the respondents by the researcher with the help of three research assistants.  Out of the

110 copies of the questionnaire administered to the respondents, 107 were completely filled and returned, representing 97.3% return rate. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test  statistic was used to test  the  null  hypotheses  at  0.05  level  of  significance.  Based  on  the  data  collected  and analysed,  the  study  identified  11  instructional  objectives,  63  cost  accounting  skills,  17 instructional  methods,  nine learning  experiences  and seven  evaluation  activities  that are required  in the cost  accounting  skill  training  programme  for small  business  operators  in South-East Nigeria. The draft of the cost accounting skills training programme was prepared based  on  the  findings  and  it  was  validated  by  nine  experts  namely:  three  accounting lecturers,  three chartered  accountants,  and three curriculum  experts.  However,  panel of validates discussion group was conducted to further elicit information used for revision of the draft of cost accounting skills training programme before packaging it finally. The results of the null hypotheses indicated no significant difference in the mean ratings of the senior and junior accounting lecturers on the 89 out of the 107 items listed on the questionnaire for cost accounting skills training programme.   However, significant differences were found in the mean ratings of the two groups of respondents for the remaining 18 items. Based on these findings, the study among others recommended that the Federal and state ministries of  commerce  and  industries  should  adopt  the  packaged  cost  accounting  skill  training programme  for  training  existing  and  intending  small  business  operators  for  improved business  performance  in  the  study  area  and  the  country  in  general.  Also,  educational institutions  offering  business  education  and  accounting  programmes  should  review  their course contents in cost accounting in order to lay  more emphasis on the cost accounting skills required  for small  business  operation.  Finally,  agencies  in charge of small  business operator  should  utilised  the  packaged   cost  accounting   skills  training  programme   for organising seminars, conferences and workshops for small business operators.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

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Accounting  is the language  of business.  This  language  involves  activities  such  as keeping  proper  record  of  business  transactions  in  such  a  manner  that  facilitates  their presentation,  retrieval, use and disposition.  Other activities  involved  in accounting  include proper inventory control, valuation and price determination.   Accounting serves as the means of  communicating  matters  relating  to  various  aspects  of  business  operations  to  users. Business  is  an  organisation  that  produces  or  distributes  goods  and  services  for  profit (Adekola,  2010).  A  business  is  also  an  organisation  or  enterprising  entity  engaged  in commercial or industrial activities. In this study, a business is an economic entity engaged in the distribution of goods and provision of  services to consumers at a profit. According to American Institute of Certified Public Accountant (AICPA), the role of accounting is that of communicating the results of the operations of a business to users of accounting information such  as  owners  of  the  business,  managers,  investors,  creditors,  suppliers  and  employees (Conrado, Jose and Christian (2009). This role of accounting is best understood by commonly accepted  definition of accounting given by AICPA as the art of recording, classifying and summarising in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in part at least, of financial character and interpreting the results thereof. The definition was further explained by the institute as: the art of recording, involving putting into writing or in print,  the  transactions  of financial  character,  reasonably  soon  after  occurrence,  in the records  maintained  by  the  business  e.g.  cash  book,  day  books,  journals,  ledgers,  etc. Recording is essentially concerned with, not only ensuring that  all business transactions of financial character are recorded but also that they are recorded in an orderly manner.

The art of classifying, on the other hand, is concerned with the systematic analysis of the recorded data so that items of like nature are classified  under appropriate  heads.  This accounting classification is usually done by maintaining ledgers with individual account heads

under which all financial transactions of a similar nature are collected. The art of summarizing

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in a significant manner consists of presenting the classified data in a manner which is useful

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to the internal and external end-users of accounting statements such as owners, employees or management.

The final function of accounting is the interpretation of the summarized data in such a manner that the end-user can make meaningful judgements about the financial condition or the profitability of the business operations or can use the data in preparing future plans and laying down policies to execute  such plans.   It is recognised  that  appropriate  accounting information is important for a successful management  of a  business whether it is large or small.  The importance of accounting as a source of information for owners and managers of businesses,  and their different stakeholders  is  obvious. Both financial and cost accounting information  are  important.    However,  management/owners  of  business  are  usually  more interested  in cost  accounting  information  relating  to  the cost of goods and  services  they produce or render.

Cost accounting is relevant to businesses and organisations because it is one of the sources from which information relating to cost can be obtained and effectively managed. Hongren, Datar, Foster, Rajan and Ittner (2009) stated that cost accounting provides key data to managers  for planning  and controlling,  as well as costing  products and services.   The authors  further  explained  cost accounting  as a  managerial  tool for business  strategy and implementation.    Business  strategy,  according  to  Witzell  in  Okoro  (2006),  is  a planned approach to the achievement of long term goals, including the activities that a business will undertake, the resources it will require, and  the markets where it will do business, among others.  Business strategies as used in this study mean all those actions that must be taken by businessmen to ensure that operations are carried out smoothly and in a profitable way. Such actions include cost accounting activities such as keeping records of all items of stock held by the business, recording the  movement of such stock in the stock cards, calculating various inventory levels to determine appropriate time for ordering or replenishing stocks, assignment of values to remaining of unsold stocks and establishing selling prices of stocks.

The cost accounting activities which this study will concentrate on include: Record- keeping,  inventory control,  inventory valuation  and price determination  which  are various components  of  cost  accounting.    Record-keeping,  as  defined  in  Australian  Standard  on Management, is the making and maintaining of complete, accurate and reliable evidence of business transactions  in the form of recorded  information.   Dun and Bradstreet in Osuala (2004) noted that, there is a correlation  between inadequate records and business failures. Thus,  the  inability to  keep  adequate  records constitutes  a major  problem.   Good  record- keeping is essential to small businesses because it supports all communication and decision making.  Good record keeping enables a business operator to: (a) recall the detail of what was decided (b) prove what was done or decided (c) provide evidence of business transactions (d) make decisions consistently and formulate policy on a solid basis of knowledge and not to be based on guess work (Pinson, 2007).  Therefore, not only are reliable records important for financial management, planning and control, but are critical to the survival of the business. Record  keeping  is  an  indispensable  business  tool  used  in  monitoring  not  only  business performance but also its inventory control.

Inventory  simply  means  the  goods  and  services  that  businesses  hold  in  stock. Inventory could be defined as the total amount of goods and/or materials contained in a store or a factory at any given time (Bessong, 2005).  Inventory control, therefore, means keeping the  overall  costs  associated  with  having  inventory  as  low  as  possible  without  creating problems  for customer  satisfaction  (Lucey,  2009).   Since  the  largest  investment  that any business must make is in inventory, business operators should be able to control the inventory levels so as not to be too high or too low.  Inventory control is one of the most neglected of all the management responsibilities (Osuala, 2004).   Many businesses have an excess amount of working capital tied up in an accumulation of needless inventory (Osuala, 2004).   Carrying excess inventory will result in excess carrying cost and excess cost of holding them.   Cost accounting  provides  techniques  and  methods  of  controlling  inventory  and  in  valuating inventory.

Inventory valuation is another component of cost accounting. Inventory valuation is referred  to as the cost assignment  to inventory for the purpose of  establishing  its current value.    Businesses  always  have  various  stocks  or  inventories  held  in  the  form  of  raw materials,  work-in-progress,  finished  goods, products bought  for resale, and service  items (Lucey,  2009). Often the value of such stock is high,  representing  a considerable  sum of money. It is important that stocks are valued consistently, and proper controls are kept over the physical stock.  Similarly, Murthy and Gurusamy (2009) submitted that stock of materials held by a business invariably has considerable value and ties up lots of business money.  The authors maintained that, it is essential for a business to make a physical stock-taking and to value its stock for use in  the financial statements in the calculation of profits and for the balance sheet.   Statement of Accounting  Standards (SAS 4)   recommends  stock valuation methods like First-in-First-Out (FIFO); Weighted Average (WA), Specific Identification (SI), Last-in-Last-Out (LIFO); Standard Cost (SC), Based Stock (BS), Last Purchase Price (LPP) and Adjusted Selling Price (ASP) or Retail Inventory Method (RIM) for use by businesses. However,  the  Statement  of  Accounting  Standard  (SAS4)  lays  more  emphasis  on  three methods.    These  are:  (a)  First-in-First-Out  (FIFO),  (b)  Last-in-First-Out  (LIFO);  and(c) Weighted Average Price (WAP).

FIFO means first in first out, implying that goods should be sold or issued in the order in which they were bought or procured.  This means for example that goods bought in the 3rd week of a particular month should not be sold or issued unless those bought in the first and

second week of that same month have been fully sold off.  The benefit of the FIFO method in case of stocks which have expiring dates is that old stock would be sold out before the date and will be left with currently procured goods.  Under FIFO, inventories are valued at current prices.   This is because goods bought first have been sold leaving those goods bought last. Consequently,  FIFO tends to overstate profit  level during  inflation and does the opposite during deflation (Lucey, 2009)).   On the other hand,  LIFO means  last in first out, which implies that goods purchased last should be sold first.  For instance, inventories bought in the

second week of a particular month should be sold before those procured in the first week of the month.   This method therefore, does not consider the fate of goods with expiring dates (Harrison and Horngren, 2007).

Under LIFO, inventories are valued at historical cost and sold at current prices. This means that goods bought last have been sold, leaving the ones bought first.   This  method therefore  tends  to  understate  profit  level  during  inflation  and  does  the  reverse  during deflation.  According to Bessong (2005), average cost method of stock valuation assumes that inventories  are sold  in batches  and that each batch taken from  the store is composed  of uniform  quantities  from each  supply in stock at the date of  sale.   Meanwhile,  the stock valuation method adopted has some impact on the level of profit calculated, just as price.

Price  is  another  element  in  profit  determination  and  an  important  aspect  of  cost accounting.  Cost is a major determinant of price. This further implies that price is based on the cost of goods or services. Pricing a product simply means establishing a selling price for the product.   In order to ensure that goods and services are sold or offered at a profit, the selling price must be above the cost of goods or services. No matter the type of product or service, the price charged to customers or clients will have a direct effect on the success of the business (Lipe, 2012).  Osuala (1996) defined price as the amount of money which is needed to acquire in exchange for some combined  assortment  of a product and its accompanying services. Price is a very important factor that determines whether a profit is to be made or not. Businesses  who  wish to set prices  effectively,  must determine  the role of price in profit determination.  Osuala (2004) defined profit as the net increase over a period of time in cash or capital cycled through the business and it indicates how effectively the business is being managed over time.   Bessong (2005) stated that if the price of a product or service does not cover costs, cash flow will be cumulatively negative and will exhaust financial resources and in turn causes failure.

Researchers agreed that good record keeping, inventory control, inventory valuation and good product pricing are inevitable for business survival (Ayo, 2006; Okoro, 2006; and Owoh, 2006). Small business operators need skills in these areas to  increase their business performance  and  to  reduce  business  failure.  Business  failure  has  been  a  major  factor confronting growth and survival of small business, and  consequently economic growth of a nation.   It is therefore important to find out what causes business failure so as to help the operators increase their performance and the economic role they play in the economy.

Small  businesse  are of great  importance  to every economy.  Small businesses  are economically and socially significant. They are the main driver for employment generation, but they also promote innovation, put business ideas into practice, foster regional economic integration, and maintain social stability (ENSR, 2003). Therefore, strengthening the business performance of small businesses is of great concern to the nation for wealth, job creation as well as the overall standard of living of the citizenry.

. Furthermore, businesses are classified in most countries as micro, small, medium and large. However,  this research work will focus on small business.   The definition  of what constitutes a small business for all practical purposes defies precision.  This is because what is considered  a small business in one economy may be regarded  as a  medium or large scale business  in another  economy  (Osuala,  2004).   Oyekanmi  (2003)  stated  that,  there  is  no universally accepted  definition of small business  in  Africa.   The author further stated that even definitions in other countries lack uniformity and reflect the relative development of the respective economies.

In Nigeria,  the National Council of Industries (NCI) defined  small business as  an industry with a labour size of 11-100 workers or a total capital of not more than N50 million, including working capital but excluding cost of land.  The National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, NASME (2003) defined a small scale business as a business whose total cost including working capital but excluding cost of land is over N10 million  and/or a labour

size of between 31 and 70 full time workers and or with turnover of not more than  N10 million. This study adopts the definition given by NCI.   This is because the  definition is relatively  more  accommodating  and  will  allow  majority  of  small  scale  businesses  the opportunity to participate in any programme designed for SMEs.

Many economies, both developed and developing have recognised the importance of small businesses in nation’s growth and development. Governments in both developed and developing nations provide a wide variety of programmes to assist  small  scale businesses. Obadan  and  Agba  in  Oliver  (2013)  noted  that  in  Malaysia,  the  government  is  highly committed to the development of small business sub-sector.  As one of the country’s policies, Small  and  Medium  Industries  Development  Corporation  (SMEIDEC)  was  established  to enhance  the  competitiveness,  efficiency  and  productivity  of  small  businesses.    In  South Korea, a government policy focused on encouraging industrial restructuring and rationalizing management,   promoting  start–ups,  small  business  products  and  boosting  technological innovation and development.  The Small and Medium Business Administration of the United States of America was established to act as interference between the small business sector and government policy makers.

Nigerian  government   has  advanced   loan  facilities  to  small  and  medium   scale businesses through establishments,  or agencies created for the purpose.   These  include, the Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBCI), Small Scale Industries  Credit Scheme established  under the third National Development  Plan, National Economic Reconstruction Fund  (NERFUND)  and  Family  Economic  Advancement   Programme  (FEAP)  was  also established   as  micro-credit  scheme  geared  towards  investment  promotion  and  poverty alleviation in the various local governments in Nigeria (Udechukwu, 2003).

In spite of all the programmes established by the government to aid business growth, many of the  small business  establishments  in Nigeria  do  not survive  beyond  5  years of establishment.   This could be caused by many factors including skill  acquisition.  Ndulue,

(2002) observed  that small business units in the developing countries do not have  what  it takes to own a successful business in terms of skills and knowledge.  More so, the report of the  Small  Business  Sector  National  Technical  Working  Group  (2008)  observed  that  the problems of small business in Nigeria are not limited to lack of long term financing, but also inadequate management skills and entrepreneurial capacity. Similarly, Obi (2011) noted that many small business operators do not have most of  the  entrepreneurial  skills required for running a business.   The author explained  further  that lack of skills especially accounting skills affects the management of the business and subsequently the profit.

Skill  is  imperative  for  good  accounting,  record-keeping,  good  inventory  control, inventory valuation and price determination.   According to Obi (2006), skill is the ability to use one’s knowledge  effectively  and readily in performing  an act, or a  habit of doing a particular thing competently.  Nnachi (2007) refers to skill as the ability to perform well in a task as a result of exposure, training or practice.  The author explained that an individual may hardly be skilled in a task without exposure, training or practice.

Training is the process of developing skills, habits, knowledge and attitudes for  the purpose  of  increasing  efficiency  for  present  positions  as  well  as  preparing  for  future. According to Armstrong (2004),  training refers to systematic  and planned  instruction and development of activities to promote learning. In this study, training is referred to as learning activities  directed  towards acquisition  of specific knowledge  and  skills for the purpose of business operation.  To ensure that business operators acquire the cost accounting knowledge and skills required for operating their businesses, the development of a training programme, therefore, becomes imperative.

A programme  is a systematically  planned  work that gives details  and  step-by-step procedures of how to do a task or an event or a set of information and or instructions (Onah,

2013). Training programmes are integral part of curriculum process which must begin with conceptualization of idea.  The idea could be in form of dissatisfaction with the status quo.

The perceived need could be in education, economic, social, political or cultural inadequacies which  the people  would  like  to  change  for  better  society  (Udosen,  2009).  According  to Offorma (2009), curriculum is a programme made up of programme of studies, programme of guidance and programme of activities. It conveys the  contents,  subject matter, knowledge, skills, attitudes,  facts, values, ideas, the activities  to be performed  by learners,  assistance, guidance and directions to the learner to solve  problems. Offorma (2009) further explained that the activities of programme development stemmed from curriculum development process, the essence of which is to map out what ought to be covered within a stipulated period and at a certain level of education.   In line with this view of curriculum, the cost accounting training programme will be developed for the small business operators.   The process of programme development involve certain procedures, which include; the identification of objectives of the programme  to  be  developed,  the  contents  of  the  programme,  the  instructional  methods, learning experiences and the  evaluation activities critical for the programme.

Programme objectives are selected based on the result of need analysis. This is to help the planner clearly specify the objectives of the programme for the society for  which the curriculum is to be designed.  According to Onah (2013), objectives are brief, clear statements that describe learning outcomes of instruction; that is, the specific skills, values, and attitudes learners are expected to exhibit to reflect the broader goals. The objectives of cost accounting skills training programme will include the ability of business operators to perform the tasks involved in the processes of costing. These will include the ability to maintain various stock records from source documents,  record  movement  of products in the stock cards, prepare simple  reports  to provide  information needed  for decision  making,  planning  and  control. Others are the ability  to  calculate  various inventory levels, apply different  types of stock valuation, determine the cost of a product or service, calculate selling price of a product or service among others.  This will be achieved through selection of content which the operators will be exposed to in order to address the identified needs.

Curriculum  contents  refer  to  subjects  or subject  matters  to be taught  to  learners. Content selected are usually organised using the criteria of sequence, continuity, integration scope  and balance  (Offorma,  1994).   The content  of cost  accounting  programme  will be selected following the process stated above in order to ensure sequence as is required in cost accounting.   The content will include facts, skills,  problem solving and values/attitudes  in recordkeeping,  inventory  control,  inventory  valuation  and  price  determination  which  are various components of cost accounting this study will cover. The contents of cost accounting skills training programme  must  relate to the objectives to be achieved, must be learnable, arranged  in sequential  order  and  also  relate  to the  interests  and  needs of small  business operators.  The effective teaching of the various components of cost accounting requires that appropriate methods of teaching the different subject matters will be selected.

Method of teaching is the procedure by which the teacher imparts the lesson content to learners. Therefore, the content or subject matter to be taught should determine to a  large extent the methods and techniques to be used (Obi, 2006).  Both teacher-centred and student- centred methods of teaching will be applied appropriately. Lecture methods will be used in explaining concepts, rules and principles of costing, cooperative learning will be employed to facilitate teamwork and problem solving, memorisation  will be used in  teaching formulas, questioning will also be employed to engage learners to participate actively. Other methods such as invitation of quest speakers from cooperate businesses to give talks to the trainees and use of experts for teaching different subject matters will also be used in cost accounting skills training  programme.  Furthermore,  field  trips,  excursions,  demonstration,  individualised  or group projects, pre-test and post-test, classroom discussions as well as reading assignments will  be  used.  The  teaching  method  selected  must  suit  and  effectively  use  the  learning experiences provided to facilitate learning.

Learning experiences make teaching and learning easier. It is the interaction of  the learner  and  external  conditions  in the environment  to  which  he  can react  (Tyler,  1949).

Learning takes place through the active behaviour of the learner and, therefore, the learning experiences  must  be  sequentially  arranged  and  be  in  congruent  with  the  objectives  of teaching.  That is, they will give the business operators the opportunity to practice the skills as they are related in the various components of cost accounting.   Learning experiences to be provided  in  cost  accounting  training  programme  will  include:  laying  emphasis  on  cost accounting  terminologies  to aid understanding  of  subject  matters,  entering  items in stock cards, bin cards and store ledger cards, ruling various forms of stock cards, performing simple mathematical operations, practising place value of numbers, participation in class discussion, entering  items  of  stock  from  source  documents,  working  on class  exercises  and  making presentations in the class by the trainees.  These will help in the attainment of the objectives of the programme.  To ensure that objectives have been attained, there is need to evaluate the learners’ achievement of the lesson contents.

Evaluation is an integral part of teaching and learning (Obi, 2006).  The author further explained  that evaluation is conductied  at each aspect of teaching to know what  has been learnt, how and corrections if any or reinforcement.  Tyler defines evaluation as a process of finding out how far the learning experiences developed and organised are actually producing the desired results. Thorpe in Kolawole (2009) defines evaluation as the collection of analysis and interpretation of information about any aspect of a programme of education or training as part of a recognised process of judging its effectiveness, its efficiency and any other outcome it may have. Evaluation, therefore, is a continuous process that is brought into play at any stage of teaching and in programme development. It is a cyclical process that concerns all the components  of  a  programme.  Various  types  of  evaluation  can  be  used  in  assessing  the learners’ achievement in education and training programme. The evaluation can be in form of the  use of oral questions and answers,  paper and pencil tests, multiple choice tests, short answer  tests,  practical  tests  and  collaborative   projects  development.     The   developed

programme was validated by the team of experts to check for suitability of the  objectives, contents, instructional methods, learning experiences and evaluation activities.

Validation  is  the  process  of  establishing  or  confirming  the  ability  of  a  research programme to solve the problem which it was designed to solve (UNESCO, 1999).Validation of a programme  by experts  in this study was to determine  the  suitability of the training programme  in   enhancing  the performance  of small business  operators.  The experts  here include accounting lecturers, chartered accountants and  curriculum planners. The choice of these experts was informed by the fact that they possess the needed knowledge and skills that will  help  in packaging  the  cost  accounting  skills  training  programme  for  small business operation,  and equally to  ensure that the development  follows the recommended  steps for programme development.

Accounting lecturers in this study refer to those lecturers who teach in the department of business education (accounting option) and accountancy in the seven public universities in South-East,  Nigeria.  Business  education  accounting  lecturers  are  trained  in  both  subject matter  and  pedagogy  and  therefore  possess  the  needed  knowledge  and  skills required  to respond  to issues  in this study.  They obtained, at  least,  Masters of Education  (M.Ed)  in Business  Education  accounting  and  are  currently  teaching  accounting  in their  respective institutions.     Those  who  teach  in  the  department  of  accountancy  in  the  seven  public universities who are professionally trained in accounting and also obtained at least M.Sc in accounting were also regarded as accounting lecturers in this study because they possess the knowledge  of  the  contents  to  be  used  in  packaging  the  cost  accounting  skills  training programme for small business operators.

The accounting lecturers were in ranks – Assistant lecturers, Lecturer II,  Lecturer  I, Readers or Associate Professors and Professors. They are all called  accounting lecturers in this study. However, the researcher grouped the lecturers into senior accounting lecturers and junior accounting lecturers. Senior lecturers, Readers/Associate professors and Professors are

regarded as senior accounting lecturers in this study while Assistant lecturers, lecturer II and lecturer I are regarded as the junior accounting lecturers. The essence of this grouping is to determine any difference in rating based on status.

Similarly,  the  chartered  accountants  are  also  referred  to  as  experts  in  this  study because  they obtained  in addition to M.Sc in accounting,  ACCA  which is a  professional qualification.    They  are  also,  practising  chartered  accountants.    They  also  help  in  the installation of accounting systems for various business enterprices. Again, curriculum experts that were involved for the programme validation were those  who specialised in curriculum studies and have obtained their Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in the field of curriculum studies. They possess the needed knowledge in curriculum development that will help in ensuring that the cost accounting skills training programme that was developed conforms to the process of curriculum   development.     These  curriculum   experts  are  currently  teaching  in  public universities in South-East, Nigeria.

South-East, Nigeria is made up of five states, namely: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. South-east  Nigeria  was chosen for this study because there is  one public university   in  each  state.  They  all  offer  business   education   (accounting   option)   and accountancy programme. The lecturers in these universities were enough to  respond to the questionnaire items and other issues regarding the development of the cost accounting skills training programme.

The South- East States are all Igbo speaking and are characterised by the numerous small business activities going on in the states. Some popular big markets in Nigeria and West Africa are located in these states.  The markets include Ariara main market in Aba, Abia State where all sorts of clothing materials and shoes are produced and sold, even in other states of Nigeria and exported to other countries in West Africa.   Onitsha main market in Anambra state which is located near the river Niger and is also referred to as the biggest market in West Africa. Its location near the river Niger has also  contributed to high concentration of small business activities in the state because many goods are brought through the river in the area

and are traded on. Nkwo Nnewi main market known for trading in all types of motor  and motorcycle spare parts (otherwise referred to as Nigeria-Japan)  is also located in Anambra state; the Ogbete main market in Enugu state also known for high  concentration  of small business activities. The numerous small business operators found in these states justify the use of the area for the study and for the reason that the people of South-East are generally known to be business inclined.   However, the rate at which some of these businesses fail is quite alarming.

The incessant business failure may be attributed to poor knowledge and skills of the operators.  These poor knowledge  and skills was confirmed  by the need  assessment  study carried out by the researcher to determine the business operators’  cost accounting skills needs in recordkeeping, inventory control, inventory valuation and price determination (Umeji and Obi, 2014).  It was found that the expressed performance of the operators on the listed cost accounting  skills were significantly  low.   Therefore  any  attempt  to help  the operators  to reduce business failure and improve their  business  performance  is going to be a welcome development. It is in line with the need to help the operators to acquire the cost accounting skills  required  for business  operation  that  this  study was  conducted  to  develop  the  cost accounting skills training programme for small business operators in South-East Nigeria. Statement of the Problem

South-East Region of Nigeria is characterised with numerous small business activities going  on in the area.  The rate  at which small  businesses  spring up  in the  area  is quite encouraging because the people are generally known to be business inclined. However, the rate at which  some of these  businesses  fail  is also  alarming,  and  therefore  needs urgent attention. This is to enable these small business operators continue in their economic role for the growth and development of the South–East states and the Nigerian economy.

Small businesses contribute very much in the employment creation, poverty reduction, and mobilisation of domestic savings for investment and in income generation.  In recognition

of these important roles, Nigerian government has established agencies and made policies to cater for the financial needs of these small businesses. The government ensures their growth and survival through provision of soft loans and increased access to finances.

Despite  assistance  in  the  area  of  finance,  extension  and  advisory  services,  and provision  of  infrastructure,  the  potentials  of small  scale  businesses  in the  developmental processes  have not been fully realized.   This is because of the  incessant business  failure experienced  in the  sector.  The  researcher  therefore  believes  that other  factors  other  than finance might be contributing to the low level of  performance  and business failure of the operators. Such factors could include poor knowledge; skills and ability to prepare and keep accurate accounting books and information, especially cost accounting data.

The  observed  poor  accounting  skills  specifically  in  cost  accounting  skills  was confirmed by a need assessment study conducted by the researcher  in (2014) to determine cost accounting skills needs of small business operators in recordkeeping, inventory control, inventory valuation and price determination.  It was found from this study that the expressed performance of the operators on the listed cost accounting  skills were significantly low. It was, therefore, owing to these identified cost accounting skills gap that this study was carried out to develop  cost accounting  skills training  programme  for small business  operators  in South-East Nigeria.

Purpose of the Study

The  major  purpose  of  this  study  was  to  develop  cost  accounting  skills  training programme  for  small  business  operators  in  South-East  Nigeria.  Specifically,  the  study determined the:

1.    Objectives of the cost accounting skills training programme.

2.    Contents of the cost accounting skills training programme.

3.    Instructional methods required for the cost accounting skills training programme.

4.   Learning  experiences  necessary  for  the  attainment  of  the  objectives  of  the  cost accounting skills training programme.

5.   Evaluation activities for the cost accounting skills training programme. The study also:

6.   Prepared a draft of the cost accounting skills training programme,

7.   Validated the draft of the cost accounting skills training programme and

8.   Packaged the Cost Accounting Skills Training Programme

Significance of the study

The findings of this study are expected to be of immense benefit to small business operators,  agencies  that  were  created  to  see  to  the  growth  and  development  of  small businesses,  ministry of commerce  and industry,  educational  institutions  including teachers and students. Researchers will equally benefit immensely from the findings of this study

The findings of this study will be of assistance to both the present and potential small business  operators.    The  findings  will  help  to  create  awareness  and  knowledge  of  cost accounting skills they required for successful business operation.  The findings will help the operators to seek for requisite training on how to keep accurate,  timely  and relevant cost records  in  their  business  operations.     The  knowledge  of  inventory  control,  inventory valuation, and price determination skills gained from the findings of this study would serve to improve  the  business  performance  of  the  operators.    The  developed  programme  when published  will  be  used  for  training  business  operators  and  their  apprentices  in  the  cost accounting skills required for their business operation.

Such  agencies  as  Nigerian  Association  of  Small  and  Medium  Scale  Enterprise (NASME),  Nigerian  Association  of  Small  Scale  Industrialists  (NASSI)  and  Small  and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) will also benefit from the findings of this study.  These agencies will see the findings of this research work as a useful

package for organizing seminars, conferences, and workshops for training and retraining of small business operators. The package will equally serve as a guide for identifying areas of needs in which  training should be organised for small business operators.

Similarly,  Ministries of Commerce  and Industry will also  benefit  greatly from  the findings  of  this  study.  The  findings  of  this  study  will  enable  the  Ministries  establish programmes for improving and developing the SME sub-sector.   The findings of this study will  also  enable  them  make  policies  that  will  guide  operators  in  the  preparation  and maintenance of accounting books for small scale businesses.

Furthermore, educational institutions offering accounting will not be left out from the benefits of the findings of this study.   Specifically, business education department offering cost accounting courses will use the findings to review their course contents to  give more attention to the cost accounting skills needed for small business operation. The lecturers will use the programme  when published  to teach students cost  accounting  skills necessary for small business  operation.   The students will find the  findings  useful in understanding  the relationship   of  record  keeping,  inventory  control   and  valuation  as  well  as  the  price determination skills in conducting  business. This is because the teachers will then use the developed package to teach the topics.

The findings  of the study will also provide  a database for further  research in  cost accounting.     At  present  not  many  authors  have  actually  researched  into  this  area  of accounting, maybe because researchers believe that there is not enough literature in the area. Therefore, the findings of this study will increase the interests of researchers and also provide them  with  information  needed  for further  research  work in cost  accounting  especially  in relation to small business operations.

Finally, the findings of this study will strengthen the belief and use of the theories in the teaching of cost accounting skills. The findings will provide theoretical significance for the theories and models on which this study is anchored. The theories and models in relation

to the findings will help the teachers in presenting the contents of the lessons in such a way that it could be easily understood by the learners.   The sequencing of the lesson contents, according to the learning theories will lead to the understanding of the next lesson, as teachers go from simple to complex,  known to unknown,  general to specific  and from concrete to abstract.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1.   What are the objectives of the cost accounting skills training programme  for  small business operators?

2.   What  are the contents  of the cost  accounting  skills  training  programme  for  small business operators?

3.   What  are the instructional  methods  suitable  for the cost accounting  skills  training programme?

4.   What are the learning experiences necessary for the attainment of the objectives of the cost accounting skills training programme?

5.   What are the evaluation activities to be used for the cost accounting skills  training programme?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses potulated to guide the study were tested at 0.05 level of significance:

Ho1        There  is  no  significant  difference  between  the  mean  ratings  of senior  and  junior accounting lecturers on the objectives of cost accounting skills training programme.

Ho2        There  is  no  significant  difference  between  the  mean  ratings  of senior  and  junior accounting lecturers on the contents of the cost accounting skills training programme.

Ho3        There  is  no  significant  difference  between  the  mean  ratings  of senior  and  junior accounting lecturers on the instructional methods to be used in the Cost Accounting Skills Training Programme.

Ho4        There  is  no  significant  difference  between  the  mean  ratings  of senior  and  junior accounting lecturers on the learning experiences necessary for achieving the objectives of the cost accounting skills training programme.

Ho5        There  is  no  significant  difference  between  the  mean  ratings  of senior  and  junior accounting  lecturers  on  the  evaluation  activities  that  will  be  used  for  the  cost accounting skills training programme.

Scope of the Study

The  study  was  delimited  to  the  development  of  cost  accounting  skills  training programme  for small business  operators  in South-East  Nigeria.  The study  focused on the objectives, contents, instructional method, learning experiences and evaluation activities that should be included in Cost accounting Skills Training Programme. The contents of the cost accounting skill training programme covered recordkeeping skills, inventory control skills,

inventory valuation skills and price determinations  skills for small business operation.  The study was carried out in five states in South-East, Nigeria.   The states are: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states. The opinions of the accounting lecturers in the seven public universities   in  these   states   that   offer   business   education   (Accounting   options)   and accountancy programme were sought for the  accomplishment  of the purpose of this study. The  universities  are  University  of  Nigeria,  Nsukka,  Nnamdi  Azikiwe  University  Awka, Enugu State University of Technology, Enugu, Ebonyi State University, Abakiliki, Abia State

University, Umuahia,Imo State University, Owerri, and Anambra State University of Science and Technology, Uli.

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