How can management accounting and control systems facilitate compliance with sustainability reporting regulations?

Purpose – Sustainability reporting has become essential for organisational transparency and accountability. However, regulatory compliance poses challenges, particularly in ensuring consistency and coherence in reporting practices. Management accounting and control systems (MACSs), designed to help organisations achieve their goals, may support efforts to meet these challenges. This paper explores how MACSs can facilitate compliance with sustainability reporting regulations, drawing on a case study of a leading French energy industry company. Design/Methodology/Approach – Grounded in the management accounting and control literature and informed by an institutional theoretical lens, this qualitative study relies on semi-structured interviews and analysis of official sustainability documents from the case study, spanning the period 2021–2023. Findings –This study sheds lights on how traditional MACSs facilitate compliance with sustainability reporting regulations. Particularly, planning, cultural, and administrative controls contribute as a strategic response to regulatory reporting demands. Within the case-study, MACSs are actively shaped to address sustainability reporting challenges, such as resource allocation, interdepartmental coordination, and system adaptation. This involves defining, educating, and vesting strategies for institutionalising MACSs to address sustainability reporting challenges. Originality/Value – This research provides insights into how MACSs support compliance with sustainability reporting regulations. By focusing on a French energy sector leader, it provides a nuanced understanding of how organisations manage the complexity of sustainability reporting in a tightly regulated environment. It also contributes to the academic discourse by examining how MACSs support organisations in meeting sustainability reporting regulations– even though recent literature often emphasises the need for more innovative approaches.