Management accounting change and information systems: key themes from the literature

One of the oft-cited factors driving management accounting change is information technology and systems. This chapter is in essence a literature review. It first reviews how management accounting change in general has been studied, highlighting how information systems and technologies have been a driver for change for some decades now. The chapter then reviews the accounting and accounting information systems literature to explore contemporary technologies, which arguably are having and/or are likely to have a more profound effect on management accounting and the role of management accountants. This review highlights a relatively scarce body of research which examines contemporary technologies as a driver of management accounting change, and calls for specific research in this important area.