The extent of the use of management accounting methods in small and medium enterprises in Libya. A field study on small and medium enterprises in Libya

A field study on small and medium enterprises operating in the city of Tobruk

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore and evaluate the application of management accounting techniques (MATs) by SMEs in Libya. The study is based on a descriptive and analytical approach, and the population consists of accountants, executive managers and financial managers of SMEs. For the purpose of collecting data, 40 questionnaires had been distributed while 37 of them were collected back. The study employs One-Sample T-test to evaluate the application and challenges of MATs in SMEs. In addition the study employs ANOVA analysis to measure the variances among the results based on SME characteristics. The findings of the study reveal that SMEs apply actual costing, budgeting and pricing policies, however; the results show no applications of standard costing, variance analyses, discounted cash-flaws, flexible budgeting, marginal costs, responsibility accounting and transfer prices. Furthermore the results point out a number of barriers that limit the adoption of MATs by SMEs. The results of ANOVA analysis suggest that there are no variances in the findings attributed to SMEs characteristics.