Management accounting practices and financial performance of monetary services industry in Uganda; a case study of Dahabshiil money transfer, Kampala

Abstract

The study was carried out to establish the relationship between management accounting practices and financial performance of Dahabshiil Money Transfer. The study was carried out with the aim to understand how costing system affects Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s financial performance; examine whether budgetary control has an effect on Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s financial performance, and investigate its impact on strategic management accounting in relation to Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s financial performance. A cross-sectional research design was used in the study and a combination of research methods has been applied. A sample of 62 subjects was recruited from a population of 75 and data were collected through structured questionnaires and interview guides. Data were analyzed using content analysis techniques for qualitative and SPSS version 21 for quantitative data. The latter gave rise to descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics (correlations and regression analysis). According to this study, it has been observed that the cost system is a very important indicator of Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s financial performance. The results show that the variation of Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s financial performance was mainly caused by a costing system, amounting to about 74%. A significant indicator of Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s financial performance is noted to be its budgetary control. The results indicate that there is a strong relationship between budgeting control and actual financial performance of Dahabshiil Money Transfer and those budgeting control accounts for about 77.6% of the variation in financial performance. Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s strategic management accounting is considered to be an important indicator of the bank’s financial performance. The results show that for Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s strategic management accounting and financial performance are strongly linked, with 85.1% of variance in the bank’s financial performance explained by this accounting. It is concluded that management accounting practices such as cost system, budgeting control and strategic management accounting have affects financial performance of Dahabshiil Money Transfer. The study recommends that the Bank should increase its operating costs in order to continue having a material impact on Dahabshiil Money Transfer’s profitability. It is necessary to establish a very comprehensive process of budget checks that covers all departments and sections, thus allowing management to carry out effective controls. In order to deliver positive results for the business in highly competitive environments, the bank has significant resources and skills which are capable of supporting implementation of strategic management accounting