Title: Management accounting system implementation success: is reporting useful information sufficient?

Authors: Alnoor Bhimani

Addresses: London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE, London, UK

Abstract: The paper extends our knowledge of factors affecting management accounting system (MAS) implementation success. The investigation considers the link between system implementation success and the attainment of MAS objectives in a context where the system was designed by its intended users. The information collected for the study includes interviews, internal documents and accounting reports as well as data from questionnaires administered prior to and following the MAS implementation within a large global organisation. The study reveals that users identified objectives of the system in terms of both accounting information output and managerial impact based on use of the information. The accounting information output objectives were found to have been achieved. However, significant variances existed in the attainment of several managerial impact objectives. The study indicates that the existence of both information output as well as managerial outcomes can be regarded as objectives of a MAS and that these affect perceived implementation success.

Keywords: accounting information systems; system design; user input; management accounting systems; managerial impact objectives; information systems implementation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAAPE.2012.046612

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2012 Vol.8 No.2, pp.115 - 136

Received: 26 Apr 2011
Accepted: 17 Oct 2011
Published online: 30 Jul 2014 *

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