ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we show that the 2008 economic crisis had a twofold impact on management accountants (MAs). Based on previous studies, interviews, and a content analysis of practitioner articles, we find, on the one hand, that the unfavourable downward shift and greater uncertainty caused by the economic crisis changed the tasks of MAs. This was manifested as an increase in future-oriented tasks or more tasks related to cash management for example. On the other hand, these changes also influenced the roles of MAs in their organizations. MAs gained greater intra-organizational exposure, moved closer to management, and supported managers’ decision-making more than they did before the crisis. Therefore, the economic crisis may have facilitated their often purported and aspired role change to becoming business partners.
