The Teaching of Management Accounting in Brazilian Accounting Undergraduate Courses: an study about the best brazilian universities

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a qualitative and exploratory research that aimed at verifying if the topics defined by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) as essential abilities for the management accountants are encompassed in the syllabuses of the accounting undergraduate courses offered by the best Brazilian universities. It was possible to conclude that several topics indicated by IMA are present in a limited manner in the studied courses; and that some topics are virtually not present in some of the courses. Some others topics, on the other hand, are well covered in the studied courses. It can be concluded that many of the topics defined by IMA are liked to be developed under the perspective of Financial Accounting. It was also verified that some topics defined by IMA and that seem to be very important in the present globalization and technological innovation process are at least in part omitted in the studied courses. It is important to note that the research described in this paper presents some limitations, such as the different levels of detail in the syllabuses available in the internet, and the possible differences between corporate environment contemplated by IMA and the Brazilian one.