The Impact of Business Intelligence Systems on Management Accounting Systems: The Consultant’s Perspective

Abstract

The use of Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Analytics for supporting decision-making is widespread in the world of praxis and their relevance for Management Accounting (MA) has been outlined in non-academic literature. Nonetheless, current research on Business Intelligence systems’ implications for the Management Accounting System is still limited. The purpose of this study is to contribute to understanding how BI system implementation and use affect MA techniques and Management Accountants’ role. An explorative field study, which involved BI consultants from Italian consulting companies, was carried out. We used the qualitative field study method since it permits dealing with complex “how” questions and, at the same time, taking into consideration multiple sites thus offering a comprehensive picture of the phenomenon. We found that BI implementation can affect Management Accountants’ expertise and can bring about not only incremental changes in existing Management Accounting techniques but also more relevant ones, by supporting the introduction of new and advanced MA techniques. By identifying changes in the Management Accounting System as well as factors which can prevent or favor a virtuous relationship between BI and Management Accounting Systems this research can be useful both for consultants and for client-companies in effectively managing BI projects.