The Impact of Management Accounting Information System Characteristics on the Quality of Cost Accounting Information: A Field Study at Al-Joud Company for Modern Industrial and Agricultural Technology

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the characteristics of the management accounting information system (MAIS) on the quality of the information of cost accounting in Al-Joud Company for Modern Industrial and Agricultural Technology. This is very important since accounting information is critical to assisting managerial decisions and improving cost planning and control processes. The study is descriptive-analytical and data collection is carried out through a questionnaire to the employees of accounting, financial and administrative jobs in a company. A total of 225 questionnaires were distributed and 206 questionnaires were returned and considered valid for statistical analysis (91.56% response rate). The independent variable, operationalized in this study, is the characteristics of the MAIS in four aspects, namely information scope, timeliness, aggregation and integration. Information quality of cost accounting is the dependent variable, which is assessed by eight items based on the existing accounting literature. The study is of practical value in offering an analytical tool to evaluate the contribution MAIS characteristics can make towards enhancing the quality of cost information accessible to management. The study highlights the need for improvement in the features of MAIS (integration of accounting information, timely delivery of information and tailoring of information, depending on the managerial level) so as to increase the reliability of cost information and its usefulness for planning, control and decision making.

Keywords: characteristics of management accounting information systems, quality of cost accounting information, information scope, information timeliness, information aggregation, information integration.