Abstract

The paper aims to make a contribution to existing management accounting literature from the perspective of a transition economy by exploring the design of the management accounting system (MAS) in the decision making process within Slovene medium-size and large companies. The study was performed on the basis of a questionnaire which was distributed in 1995, 2001 and 2006, focusing on information received by top and middle management. The findings of our study confirmed the results of present day studies, which claim that MASs in transition countries are not fully integrated into the decision making process. The extent of MASs information provided to top and middle management in the transition process was poor and, moreover, we demonstrate that MASs in Slovenia do not meet the attributes of developed MASs which is derived from the literature. Our findings demonstrate that top management received a broader extent of MAS information on a more frequent basis than did middle management, which is inconsistent with the current literature and best practice.

Key words: Management accounting system, performance measurement, development of management accounting system (MAS).