New development: Is there a management accountants’ expectation gap?

Abstract

Whereas there are numerous articles about the extent to which auditors meet the expectations of others regarding the way in which they carry out their tasks (i.e. the audit expectation gap), no literature is available on this same question regarding management accountants. Analysing survey data from management accountants and their managers working in public and not-for-profit organizations, this article shows that such a ‘management accountants’ expectation gap’ does exist as there is, on certain aspects, a difference between the expectations of managers regarding the role of the management accountant and the extent to which these expectations are met. IMPACT The management accountant in the public and the not-for-profit sector advises the organization and its management on formulating, realizing and evaluating social and financial results, the organization and functioning of the management control system and accountability. Research shows that there are differences between public managers’ expectations regarding the role of management accountants in the public sector and the extent to which these expectations are met. The effectiveness of management accountants partly depends on the extent to which they meet management’s expectations with respect to their role. This article shows that managers want their management accountants to give more advice without being asked to do so, but the independent attitude, that inevitably plays a role in this, is less appreciated.