While management accounting (MA) implies potential benefits for large established companies, its usefulness for young and small companies is less clear. This review analyzes and partially resolves the paradox and provides a structured overview of present knowledge. A systematic literature search yielded 67 empirical papers in 25 journals. Drawing on the results of a two‐step coding process, this study proposes 20 novel second‐level constructs expressing the types of MA, their antecedents and their consequences in young and small companies. The main results show that, in discussing MA, the literature refers mainly to business planning, accounting‐based management control activities and financial accounting. Most studies find MA to be helpful for young and small companies because it provides tools to overcome difficulties arising from company growth and reduces information asymmetry with external partners. Overall, however, the empirical literature on this topic is highly concentrated, offers theoretical construct definitions of poor quality, and lacks a clear statement of what MA really does in young and small companies. Therefore, future research and theory development are warranted.

中文翻译：

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管理会计能对年轻人和小公司有所帮助吗？悖论的系统评价

尽管管理会计（MA）隐含着大型老牌公司的潜在收益，但它对于年轻和小型公司的用处尚不十分清楚。这篇评论分析并部分解决了这一悖论，并提供了对当前知识的结构化概述。系统的文献检索在25种期刊中获得67篇经验论文。利用两步编码过程的结果，本研究提出了20种新颖的二级结构，它们表达了MA的类型，其先行条件以及它们对年轻和小型公司的影响。主要结果表明，在讨论MA时，文献主要涉及业务计划，基于会计的管理控制活动和财务会计。大多数研究发现，MA对新兴公司和小型公司都是有帮助的，因为它提供了克服公司发展中出现的困难并减少与外部合作伙伴之间信息不对称的工具。但是，总体而言，有关该主题的经验文献高度集中，提供了质量较差的理论构造定义，并且对MA在年轻和小型公司中的真正作用缺乏清晰的陈述。因此，未来的研究和理论发展是必要的。