What Is Lean Accounting?

Lean Accounting is the application of lean thinking to all accounting and finance processes and systems and is an essential component of a successful lean transformation for any organization.

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Lean Accounting Certification Program

Lean Accounting Certification Program

BMA’s online, self-paced certification courses are designed to demonstrate individual competency and knowledge in understanding the principles, practices and tools of a lean accounting system. You will validate your knowledge by taking quizzes at the end of each class. These certification courses are based on BMA’s proven approach to implementing lean accounting in all types of companies in any industry.

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Our Current Books on Lean Accounting

The Lean CFO is the best lean book I have read, and I have read them all.  It is perfect for management teams looking to make a huge immediate impact.

-Steven Vitale – President, Midwest Industrial Supply, Inc. -

Nick explains The Lean CFO from direct experience.  Experience as an accountant, as a practicing CFO, as a leading lean accounting thought leader and pioneer, and as a guide and coach to business executives leading their organizations to successful change.  Nick has been there and done that for the lean organization and The Lean CFO is the guidebook and plan.

-Jim Huntzinger – President and Founder, Lean Frontiers -

Lean accounting is the essential backbone of a company’s lean management system because it provides useable and understandable information that aligns lean operations with financial performance.  Classical management accounting and cost management simply cannot meet the instant and immediate information requirements of a lean company. The Turkish Lean İnstitute has worked with Nick has worked several years and translated the first edition of The Lean CFO into Turkish.  We highly endorse the second edition of this book.

-Yalçın İpbüken – President, Lean İnstitute Turkey -

This book takes you on a journey which many would like to travel, and many may have started but not transitioned. Based on practical examples and case studies we get insights into how accounting can progress from transactional processing to a value added function for a lean company by bringing in the analytical skills of your accounting team to support the improvement journey.

-Kevin Bennett – Facilitator, Best Practice Network NSW and QLD, Australia -

As a long-time lean practitioner, I am consistently frustrated with my inability to effectively communicate the wonders and benefits of lean to my financial counterparts.  Low volume, high mix, flexible production seems to constantly conflict with standard cost accounting tools and processes. Enter the Lean CFO. Nick unlocks this disconnect and shows how the benefits of lean flow directly from the shop floor into clear and actionable financial statements.  His writing is concise and makes these concepts simple and easy for the most skeptical finance professional to understand.   The Lean CFO is required reading for our entire management team!

-Jud Barr – CEO, JTB Custom -

The Lean CFO informs us of the holistic approach we must take to achieve the greatest gains from Lean practices. Lean companies require a Lean management accounting system that focuses on flow and maximizing capacity. Nick offers executives a blueprint that is easy to understand and champion.

-Johnson McKnight – CEO, M&M International -

Would you like to introduce lean management accounting to your company? Are you a lean practitioner and you would like to explain lean management accounting to your clients? Now you can with BMA’s FREE Lean CFO Toolkit – Explaining Lean Management Accounting.

Upcoming Events

January 14, 2025, 12:00 pm
Connecting Continuous Improvement to the Bottom Line with Lean Accounting - a 2.5 hour online workshop presented by the Gemba Academy

Connecting Continuous Improvement to the Bottom Line with Lean Accounting – a 2.5 hour online workshop presented by the Gemba Academy

Lean is a multi-faceted business strategy, with a primary focus on employees and learning. Through continuous improvement activities, people learn ...

Satisfied Customers

BMA has been a tremendous help to us. Their experience and knowledge of lean is outstanding, and essential to the success with Lean Accounting. BMA does an excellent job in continuously linking these two together. Lean Accounting does not make sense without lean and vice versa. In facing the complexity of a global business, with numerous plants and divisions, BMA’s insight into systems and IT issues has also been crucial. Discussions tend to accelerate in the wrong direction, especially when it comes to this critical area. These unfruitful discussions disappear as BMA guides the improvement processes with great professionalism

-International Manufacturing Company -

Lean accounting has helped us in decision support. We perform our analysis quicker and justify assumptions as financially beneficial that we used to reject.

-Altra Industrial Motion -

We transitioned to lean accounting to support our lean transformation and it has simplified our ability to understand the results of our actions and allowed us to make better decisions

-Watlow -

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How Lean Thinking Improves Financial Results While Avoiding Traditional Cost Cutting

This blog is an article Mike De Luca wrote for the LEI Lean Accounting Newsletter. In July, Nick Katko and ...

Improving Accounting: Error Proofing

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