It took a few days (alright… quite a few days), but now my accounting software (great company-versatile software) collects accounting data in the standard cost accounting  manner, yet reports it in a Throughput Accounting or Activity-based Accounting way so that it correlates with the results from my systems engineered scheduling system.

The CFO can look at daily reports and see the effects of non-efficient scheduling vs lean scheduling  vs throughput scheduling (TOC) in the OR (and elsewhere).  It’s a bit like a Rosetta Stone between the accounting department and systems engineering.

I suspect that it would take the accounting department a while to become accustomed to the different groupings of their costs and revenue, but the systems engineers should be able to immediately understand and use the reports.

It should also be possible to compare the different accounting system reports to ‘reality’ and wise decision making with the goal to eventually stop using the misleading accounting systems.  Who knows?—maybe different accounting systems will work better in different departments.  Time (and throughput) will tell.