The Role of Digital Technologies in Shaping SME Management Accounting: Evidence and Implications from South Africa

Dickson Mdhlalose

EconStor Preprints from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics

Abstract: South African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for around 34% of national GDP and generate around 60% of employment; however, they continue to be disproportionately impacted by financial management inadequacies. This paper investigates whether the expansion of accessible digital accounting technologies such as cloud-based accounting software, mobile financial applications, and artificial intelligence-assisted analytics is significantly altering the adoption and utility of management accounting information among South African SME owners and managers, or if it simply automates non-value-added compliance tasks. This study synthesises evidence from an integrative review of 60 peer-reviewed sources published between 2020 and 2026, focusing on four thematic domains: digital transformation in the accounting profession; cloud software adoption by SMEs; the evolving advisory role of external accountants; and the triangular relationship among technology use, financial literacy, and decision-making quality. The study contends that digital technologies establish a legitimate yet contingent avenue for improved management accounting participation; their transformative potential is realised solely when supported by sufficient financial literacy, the development of digital skills, and contextually suitable software design. Essential recommendations are aimed at small and medium-sized enterprise owners, accounting practitioners, software developers, and policymakers in South Africa.

Keywords: Cloud-based accounting software; Financial literacy; Decision-making quality; Compliance versus advisory; South African SMEs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L26 M15 M41 O33 O55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/341046/1/R ... Technologies-SME.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:esprep:341046

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in EconStor Preprints from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics ().