Cost Accounting Systems in Germany and the USA: A Cross-National Comparison and Empirical Evidence

This chapter analyzes cross-national differences in the design of cost accounting systems between Germany and the USA—two countries that have a distinct cost accounting tradition. The comparison explores and summarizes several characteristics that make German cost accounting systems more detailed than US ones. It provides insights into national particularities and discusses mutual influences in the conceptual evolution of German and US cost accounting practices. Using empirical evidence from subsidiaries of anglophone multinational firms operating in Germany, the chapter identifies German cost center accounting as an interesting lever to improve the decision usefulness of US cost accounting.