Management Accounting Practices in the Hospitality Industry: A Systematic Review and Critical Approach

Abstract

The hospitality industry has been making a remarkable contribution to the growth of several countries’ economies. From a business perspective, the best management accounting (MA) techniques and practices are fundamental to the success of companies. However, studies in this specific area in the hotel industry are scattered in the scientific literature in different types of documents and different languages, and with an irregular distribution throughout the years (2000–2020). To fill this gap, a thorough analysis of the global performance of management accounting practices in hospitality is crucial. This study accessed the Web of Science database in three different languages and systematized the articles to be included in this research through the PRISMA guidelines, which allowed an empirical basis for the critical approach to this topic. The greatest relevance of the study is the fact that it presents a systematic review of the literature on hotel management accounting practices, for which these results were enriched with a critical approach. The innovative character of the study focuses on evidence of the increasing implementation of some hotel management accounting practices over the years, such as some operating ratios and the USALI. In practical terms, the results of this study explain the overall performance of management accounting practices in the lodging industry and which ones are most widely used. The importance of the practices to support the decision-making of hoteliers and the challenges that they need to face in their implementation are also shown.

Keywords

• management accounting techniques and practices
• hospitality industry
• systematic review
• ratios and indicators
• USALI