The Digitalization Of Management Accounting

The deployment of digital technologies by companies affects their functioning in economic terms, and also causes social, institutional and organizational effects. This book examines the way in which management accounting systems structures, thinking and practices are being altered as a result.

Digital transformation has companies firmly in its grip. Digitalization has a multidimensional impact on the mangagement accounting function and is changing mangagement accounting processes, controlling methods and the role of the mangagement accountant. This edited work shows how the opportunities of digitalization can be used in a way that adds value to the mangagement accounting function. The authors describe individual dimensions of digitalization in mangagement accounting and convey the necessary fundamentals and concepts. Use cases from controlling practice complement the theoretical foundations and show cross-industry approaches to solutions.

This book analyzes the impact of digitization on management accounting in five manufacturing companies. It is one of the first in-depth empirical studies on the intersection of management accounting and digitization. The study suggests that there are two archetypes of digitization of the management accounting function. The first archetype emphasizes top-down-driven changes that aim to enhance efficiency, such as conducting tasks with a higher degree of automation in a leaner structure with fewer resources. The second archetype is strongly driven and initiated by employees in the management accounting function (bottom-up). The focus is on improving the use of data by applying innovative analytics methods, integrating additional sources of data, and benefiting from new technologies like artificial intelligence. The results of the study also indicate that digitization of the management accounting function is mostly in line with the overall company strategy.

This book analyzes the impact of digitization on management accounting in five manufacturing companies. It is one of the first in-depth empirical studies on the intersection of management accounting and digitization. The study suggests that there are two archetypes of digitization of the management accounting function. The first archetype emphasizes top-down-driven changes that aim to enhance efficiency, such as conducting tasks with a higher degree of automation in a leaner structure with fewer resources. The second archetype is strongly driven and initiated by employees in the management accounting function (bottom-up). The focus is on improving the use of data by applying innovative analytics methods, integrating additional sources of data, and benefiting from new technologies like artificial intelligence. The results of the study also indicate that digitization of the management accounting function is mostly in line with the overall company strategy.

Accounting Disrupted: How Digitalization is changing Finance delivers a powerful analysis of the new technological forces buffeting the accounting profession and identifies key pathways to responding to the challenges. Al Bhimani, distinguished accountant, academic, and author, shows readers how established business fundamentals are being eclipsed and that accounting has not been spared. You'll learn: How the new realities of digitalization, including big data and AI, are affecting audit work and financial management practices How learning fast about and from more diverse data sources is essential to the new accounting environment Why accounting information must start to speak to what will take place rather than about financial activities that have occurred What finance must do in a world of changing risks, data growth, fast digitization, and increased regulation The author makes a compelling case that accounting now faces a crunch: it needs to reshape itself from the core because conventional financial analysis is proving too cumbersome and slow for executives in digitalized organizations. In a straightforward and illustrated style packed with case studies and practical examples, he shows readers how big data, blockchain, robotic process automation, and artificial intelligence, can help accountants adapt to new realities. Perfect for finance leaders in both the private and public sectors, Accounting Disrupted also belongs on the bookshelves of accounting students who wish to better prepare for the technological and professional environment in which they’ll shortly find themselves.

There is mounting evidence that the deployment of digital technologies by enterprises affects not just their functioning in economic terms, but also mobilizes broader social, institutional, and organizational effects. At a technical level, digitization directly influences organizational processes. Notions of its potential also define managerial pursuits and the search for enhanced organizational performance. Inevitably, digitizatoin impacts the form, substance and provenance of internal accounting information with attendant consequences on the behaviour and actions of decision makers. Knowledge about the influence of digital technologies on management accounting thinking processes and practices is starting to emerge. A variety of issues relating to pricing strategies, cost management and control mechanisms are evident. But the implications for the field are far wider. Aspects of trust, organizational power, cultural shifts, strategization, convergence of product and information elements, and newly perceived contingencies between information dimensions and contextual factors are altering management accounting systems, structures, thinking, and practices. This book explores these and other issues along different planes of reference. The first part of the book consists of chapters that discuss accounting and management control systems and wider structural shifts connected with the advent of digital technologies. In the second section, the contributors analyse organizationally focused shifts occurring concomitantly alongside digital transformations in the economy. The final part of the book comprises chapters that consider avenues of accounting transformation that may be pursued in specific contexts both in terms of practice and as concepts that afford insights into possible management accounting futures. Broadly, the fourteen chapters of this book bring together practical commentaries, conceptual frameworks, and theoretical argumentation and explore wider narratives regarding the interface between management accounting and the digital economy. Management Accounting in the Digital Economy will be of interest to scholars, advanced students, and practitioners concerned with the management accounting and control implications of the growing ubiquity of digital technologies across organizational spaces and economic platforms.

Digital Transformation in Accounting is a critical guidebook for accountancy and digital business students and practitioners to navigate the effects of digital technology advancements, digital disruption, and digital transformation on the accounting profession. Drawing on the latest research, this book: Unpacks dozens of digital technology advancements, explaining what they are and how they could be used to improve accounting practice. Discusses the impact of digital disruption and digital transformation on different accounting functions, roles, and activities. Integrates traditional accounting information systems concepts and contemporary digital business and digital transformation concepts. Includes a rich array of real-world case studies, simulated problems, quizzes, group and individual exercises, as well as supplementary electronic resources. Provides a framework and a set of tools to prepare the future accounting workforce for the era of digital disruption. This book is an invaluable resource for students on accounting, accounting information systems, and digital business courses, as well as for accountants, accounting educators, and accreditation / advocacy bodies.