Application of management accounting techniques in Indian small and medium hospitality enterprises: an empirical study

Indian small and medium size hospitality enterprises (SMHEs) are an important factor for the socio-economic development in terms of GDP and employment generation in the country. However, economic reforms initiated since 1990s have created both opportunities and threats for the local entrepreneurs. Many multi-level transformations were needed, so they will be able to adapt in the new era. In most cases these transformations had several difficulties to be accepted by Indian SMHEs. The aim of this paper is to investigate and report the importance and usage of management accounting techniques in Indian SMHEs, and to identify the major barriers that are experienced by Indian SMEs in the hospitality industry in their efforts to implement management accounting techniques in their businesses. Empirical data were collected through a structured questionnaire over 429 Indian hospitality small and medium enterprises. The findings suggested that management accounting techniques have a great impact on different firm's aspects especially on cost reduction and quality improvement. Further results indicate the major obstacles for application of management accounting techniques in Indian SMHEs relating to ownership and size characteristics and extensive high cost.