Use of Management Accounting Under a Grant Administrated Project

Abstract: Background – Covid-19 pandemic has triggered responses for financial supports, governmental actions, and subsidies directed to specific industries in several countries inferring administration of projects under non-routine situations, including actors of various organisational structures. The aim of this thesis was to learn more about the use of management accounting under a new, non-usual situation from two interlinked levels, namely the societal and firm under a public grant administrated project context. Purpose - The purpose was to study the use of management accounting under a public grant administrated project for the tourism industry on Svalbard, initiated as a public budget response for the Covid-19 pandemic. The societal level through a public organisation, and the firm level through private firms that received grants to perform projects. Frame of reference – The study relies on traditional research for management accounting practices for public organisations and private firms. Thereafter situations of use of management accounting and design of management accounting investigated by summarizing into a framework of the categories and findings within the field of management accounting for a project context as two conventional dimensions: use, and design. Methodology - The study was based on qualitative semi-structured interviews. The sample consisted of seven private small and medium sized firms and one public organisation. Findings - Our results indicate that management accounting was used by small firms and a public organisation to the required extent (i.e., based on the design of the grant), for decision-making, controlling and reporting under a public grant administrated project. Both for the private firms, operating within the same industry but from different initial core operations and different initiated projects due to the grant. For the public organisation, conventional use of management accounting practices was identified, also to the required extent according to the external requirements set in the ordinance of the grant. The study contributes to the research field as a first study exploring a project of similar kind, from two actors according to the best knowledge of the authors. A public, grant administrated project triggered by the Covid-19 crisis whereas the study provides insights to the importance of the importance of project design for how management accounting is used under a non-routine setting.