International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 3 No. 12 [Special Issue – June 2012] 105 An Examination of the Effects of Information Technology on Managerial Accounting in the Turkish Iron and Steel Industry Assoc. Prof. Dr.Metin Saban Department of Business Administration Faculty of Economics andAdministrative Sciences Bartın University 74100 Bartın, Turkey Zekai Efeoğlu Ereğli Demir ve Çelik Fabrikaları T.A.Ş. Uzunkum No:7 Kdz. Ereğli 67330 Zonguldak Turkey Abstract Economic and technological changes and especially the developments in information technologies have significantly changed work environments and the management of businesses. The objective of this study was to examine the effect upon managerial accounting and managerial accountants in the iron and steel businesses, which closely follow and adopt the information technologies and operate in Turkey. The study examined the technological developments that have led to changes in managerial accounting and the extent of these changes. Examining the effects upon the managerial accounting applications and managerial accountants theoretically, a field work was performed using the survey method. These changes were determined using the responses to surveys that had been administered to managerial accountants in Turkish iron and steel production.companies. Keywords: Information Technologies, Managerial Accounting, Managerial Accountants, Iron and Steel Industry JEL Classification: M41, L61 1. Introduction The developments, which occurred especially in science and technology during the previous century continue at an increasing rate today. These developments have significantly affected and are still continuing to affect not only the whole life, but also the science of business administration and management. All these developments and the progress made have created a much more competitive environment for the business world. In this environment of ever-increasing competition, accounting systems have also had to keep pace with this change. Integrated information systems, which accurately and simultaneously present information using current technology, and advanced reporting devices which support management, have led to more realistic costs in advanced production systems and thus advanced budgeting has caused significant changes to managerial accounting applications and managerial accountants. Managerial accounting has been affected by technological developments in many respects, either directy or indirectly. The primary changes include the change of financial structures as a result of the effect of developing technologies upon the production systems and consequently, the change of financial systems. Especially, the changes which have occurred in information technologies (IT) within the last twenty years, have significantly decreased the costs of information collecting and processing. Another effect is that integrated systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) affect managerial accounting applications. ERP systems have radically changed the nature of managerial accounting. The need for employed managerial accountants has dramatically decreased together with collecting and processing the data and preparing the reports with the automation and regression structure, which constitutes the ERP systems. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of changes in information technologies upon managerial accounting and managerial accountants in iron and steel businesses that operate in Turkey.