Management Accounting Practices and Their Role in Enhancing Decision-Making and Firm Competitiveness

Abstract

Management accounting practices are essential for converting financial information into managerial knowledge that supports planning, control, decision-making, and competitiveness. This study examined the relationship between management accounting practices, decision-making capacity, and firm competitiveness among firms operating under partial financial reporting standards. A quantitative explanatory design was used based on a publicly available secondary dataset covering 1,500 firm-level observations from 2022 to 2024, converted into 4,500 firm-year observations. Professional accounting involvement and financial reporting quality were used as indicators of management accounting practices, while decision-making capacity was reflected through accounting information reliability, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and usefulness. Firm competitiveness was measured using proxy indicators, including taxpayer classification, tax compliance status, reporting discipline, and absence of enforced collection. Descriptive statistics, reliability testing, group comparisons, correlation analysis, and regression models were applied. Professional accounting involvement increased from 42.93% in 2022 to 48.20% in 2024, while financial reporting quality and compliance-related outcomes remained relatively stable. Regression and group comparison results did not show statistically significant associations between professional accounting involvement, financial reporting quality, decision-making capacity, and competitiveness proxies. The findings suggest that accounting involvement alone may not enhance competitiveness unless accounting information is actively integrated into planning, control, and managerial decision-making systems.