Institutional agents missing in action?: Management accounting at non-governmental organisations

Abstract

• Finance managers at non-governmental organisations may be expected to act as institutional agents. • Case evidence suggests their management accounting role is primarily reporting on spending of specific donor grants. • By focusing on donor-compliance, finance managers do not act as ‘definers’ of management accounting. • This limits the social impact of accounting at international development non-governmental organisations. The objective of this paper is to establish the management accounting role of finance managers at international development non-governmental organisations and their role as institutional agents. Through empirical evidence from three case organisations, the management accounting role of finance managers is shown as primarily reporting on spending of specific donor grants, rather than providing insights which could help maximise the overall social impact of their organisation. This dynamic potentially limits the social impact of accounting in such organisations, and potentially in the wider sector. The findings suggest finance managers, by focusing on donor-compliance, do not act as ‘definers’ of institutional elements of management accounting.