Management accounting system design and controllership output quality: evidence of a preparer-user perception gap

Our paper deals with the research question wether the association between management accounting system (MAS) design and controllership output quality is made by controllers, i.e. preparers of management accounting information, and managers, i.e. users of management accounting information, in a similar fashion. Based on date surveyed in 2007 with controllers and managers of German Top-1,500 firms we find empirical evidence for a preparer-user perception gap. For example, controllers significantly weaker fashion with controllership output quality than the managers. Underlying reasons for this perception gap might be found in the way management accounting information is used and hence demanded within the organization. Our paper contributes to literature on MAS design in three respects. First, the evidence provided in our paper supports the notion the MAS design cannot be evaluated independently from an institutional reference point. Second, the identified preparer-user perception gap sheds light on observed frictions between controllers and managers. Third, we give an exmaple on how a key-informant bias can be used as a source of research information....