An Evaluation of the Changing Role of Management Accountants in Recent Years

This paper critically evaluates the role of management accountants in firms to examine if the use of emerging sophisticated management accounting tools and techniques since mid 1980s has prompted a change in their roles from what were traditionally perceived as cost recorders and controllers to broader strategic roles vitally important in planning and decision-making. Literature review: Literature review reveals that there are two types of suggestion from scholars (i) role has changed and (ii) role has not changed. This paper is a modest study of the existing literature to identify why some scholars suggest that the role of management accountants in firms have changed where as others suggest that it has remained the same, and it attempts to critically evaluate both sets of arguments to find which side has the greater weight. Methods: Existing literature on the activities, roles and skill requirements of management accountants have been investigated to arrive at the conclusion. Conclusion: It is concluded that their roles have widened in recent years but the role change is more pertinent to those firms adopting new MA techniques although it cannot be generalized for management accountants in all firms alike. Classification-D01;D02;D24;G31;G32;M40;M41;M42