The roles and qualities of management accountants in organizations - evidence from the field

The research purpose is to analyze the role and qualities of management accountants in Polish companies. Survey method has been selected for the research. The survey was based on 208 questionnaires. The study has shown that the most important tasks performed by the management accountants are budgeting, cost control and performance measurement. According to the respondents on the formation of these tasks, the greatest impact have: a) external factors such as orientation to the customers' needs and development of information technology as well as b) internal factors: recommendations from the company headquarters and implementation of IT system. Respondents also pointed to a number of important features which must distinguish management accountants in terms of knowledge, skills and the personality characteristics. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.