Forecasting Practices In Accounting, Law, And Medical Professions

FORECASTING PRACTICES IN ACCOUNTING, LAW, AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONS By Robin Peterson and Minjoon Jun Accounting firms are more tuned to forecasting needs than law and medical doctor companies ... by and large, forecasts are prepared for the entire company and not for any specific unit ... most of these professionals use subjective techniques for preparing forecasts. Forecasting is, of course, a vital and extensively used tool in virtually all business firms today. It is normally employed as an essential component of all of the planning and control processes by manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, service firms, and others. Very few managers would attempt to conduct their businesses without the assistance of well conceived forecasts. A similar situation exists in professions such as accounting, law, medicine, architecture, dentistry, advertising agency practice, and related fields. In many cases, those who work in these fields lack training and experience in forecasting. Their education, background, and frame of reference is primarily in the profession — such as medicine — in which they work, rather than in business activities. Given this framework, how extensively do they use ...