Evaluation of Several Phases in the Development of Management Accounting

This paper discusses three issues, raised by Relevance Lost （Johnson ＆ Kaplan, 1987）, about historical evaluation of the development of management accounting. The first issue is when management accounting system was formed; the second is how to evaluate its development in subsequent decades; the third is how to evaluate the development of practice and research of management accounting in almost twenty years after Relevance Lost was published. The role of Relevance Lost in practice and theoretical research of management accounting is widely recognized, and the disagreement with it in this paper is in the specific area of the development history of management accounting. The authors of this paper believe that the development, through having its ups and downs over time, is generally speaking a continuous process, not separated by disconnected phases, leaping from one to another. Along with the progress in practice and research, researchers and practitioners are deepening their understanding about the theoretical foundation and practical development of management accounting. The history of development of management accounting is consistent with the process people gradually understand it.

Evaluation of Several Phases in the Development of Management Accounting