Possibilities of Digitalization and "Big Data" Technologies in Management Accounting

Abstract

The past decade, and especially the past year, has been marked by the presence of digital technologies in every aspect of the business of organizations and the business environment. The main influential technologies of modern business, such as mobile applications, social media, cloud computing and big data technologies, influence the collection, processing, storage, use of data and business decisions. These circumstances affect the change of the accounting information system and the management control system and supply chains of organizations.

Management accounting is organized to support timely and relevant business decisions in the organization. Specific and complex incentives of digital technologies are very important for the development of adequate techniques and methods of management accounting in the function of improving data collection and processing and business decision making.

The paper gives a brief overview of savings in time and costs in relation to the quantitative and qualitative growth of information capabilities of management accounting. Circumstances and incentives of digital technologies and "big data" technologies in the most important tasks for management accounting such as performance measurement, operational budgeting and cost control, capital budgeting and investment measurement, implementation of strategies and improvement of the accounting information system are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the advantages and challenges of applying digital technologies for the theory and practice of management accounting because they represent the imperative of sustainable business. The application of modern technologies is a necessity for training qualified management accountants in acquiring new skills and competencies, especially for researchers in management accounting.