Management accounting practices’ adoption among listed manufacturing companies in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study provides empirical evidence regarding the use of a wide range of management accounting practices in Sri Lanka's listed manufacturing companies. Data gathered from the google drive questionnaire from 96 accountants was used to enable the analysis. The finding shows that the listed manufacturing companies in Sri Lanka make extensive use of traditional MAPs such as budgeting, costing system, and capital budgeting techniques. The finding also suggests that the majority of the listed manufacturing companies widely use strategic planning and risk management which are advanced MAPs. Further, the results reveal that many listed manufacturing companies have taken one or more non-financial information-based MAPs, but the dependence on financial information-related MAPs is greater than non-financial information practices. Continuous improvement programs, value chain analysis, shareholder value analysis, and strategic planning are the most common non-financial information processes utilized by listed manufacturing organizations. Moreover, the newly evolved MAPs like activity-based costing, value creation techniques, long-term decision systems, and discounted cash flow techniques of capital budgeting are used to a lower extent by listed manufacturing companies. The study suggests due to some reasons, it is improbable for the listed manufacturing companies in Sri Lanka to implement wide-ranging MAPs.