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Obwohl der Rollenwandel des Controllers zum betriebswirtschaftlichen Berater des Managements in Theorie und Praxis gefordert wird und auch empirisch zu beobachten ist, wurde der Zusammenhang einer integrierten Rechnungslegung mit der veränderten Controllerrolle bisher vernachlässigt. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Forschungslücke analysieren die Autoren im Rahmen einer empirischen Untersuchung die Wirkung einer erhöhten Integrationsintensität der Rechnungslegung auf die Ausübung unterschiedlicher Controllerrollen. Des Weiteren werden spezifische Bereiche im Kontext unterschiedlicher Aktionsfelder der Controllerarbeit identifiziert, die einen Rollenwandel maßgeblich begünstigen und deshalb in besonderer Weise gefördert werden sollten.

Die Integration des internen und externen Rechnungswesens ist ein Praxisphänomen, das im Laufe der letzten 15 Jahre – auch innerhalb der Wissenschaft – zunehmend an Bedeutung gewonnen hat. Um den bislang dennoch eingeschränkten empirischen Erkenntnisstand innerhalb dieses Themenfelds zu erweitern, werden die Ergebnisse einer unter den 1.500 umsatzstärksten Unternehmen Deutschlands durchgeführten Erhebung vorgestellt. Auf Basis einer umfassenden Ermittlung des Status quo der Integration des Rechnungswesens wird der Einfluss dieser Integration auf die rollenbezogene Ausgestaltung und den Erfolg der Controllerarbeit untersucht. Erstmals wird im Zuge der Analyse die Funktion von Finanzinformationen des Rechnungswesens als Sprache bzw. Kommunikationsmedium explizit berücksichtigt. Als Kernergebnis wird aufgezeigt, dass die Integration des Rechnungswesens die Entwicklung des Controllers zum Business Partner fördert und den Controllingerfolg auch aus Sicht des Managements steigert.

Our paper deals with the research question whether the association betweenmanagement accounting system (MAS) design and controllership output quality is made by controllers, i.e., preparers of management accounting information, and managers, i.e., users of management accounting information, in a similar fashion. Based on data surveyed in 2007 with controllers and managers of German Top-1,500 firms we find empirical evidence for a preparer-user perception gap. For example, controllers associate the consistency of the financial language provided by the MAS in a significantly weaker fashion with controllership output quality than the managers.Underlying reasons for this perception gap might be found in the way managementaccounting information is used and hence demanded within the organization.Our paper contributes to the literature on MAS design in three respects. First, the evidence provided in our paper supports the notion that MAS design cannot beevaluated independently from an institutional reference point. Second, the identified preparer-user perception gap sheds light on observed frictions between controllers and managers. Third, we give an example on how a key-informant bias can be used as a source of research information.

To provide accounting information for management control purposes, two fundamental options exist: (a) The financial records can be used as a database for management accounting (integrated accounting system design), or (b) the management accounting system used by controllers can be based upon a so-called third set of books besides the financial and tax accounting records. Whereas the latter approach had been typical for firms in German-speaking countries until the 1980s, since then an increasing number of them has been changing towards a (partially) integrated accounting system design.In accounting literature, a debate is still on whether this change is for the better or for the worse, especially as from a normative theory perspective no dominant standard exists that provides appropriate information for any given accounting problem which would support a separate accounting system design. Our paper adds to this debate by empirically analyzing the impact of an increasingly integrated accounting system design on controllership effectiveness. Our analysis is distinctive for two reasons. First, we usea dyadic research design surveying both controllers and representatives of general management which allows us to include management s perspective into our analysis in a valid fashion. Second, we do not restrict our model to the technical or supply-side characteristics of management accounting system design, but expand our approach to the user perspective of management accounting information as a financial language.By using structural equation modeling for a sample of 149 dyads surveyed from the German Top-1500 firms in 2007, we identify no statistically significant direct effect of the technical accounting system design, but a fully mediating influence of a unified financial language on controllership effectiveness. Our results imply amongst others that consistency of management accounting with financial reporting, which results from an integrated accounting system design, is an important property of management accounting information. Especially in the context of a financially oriented management control system, controllers therefore should take special care to align their internal reporting with the financial accounting reports provided to investors.