Process Mining and the Transformation of Management Accounting: A Maturity Model for a Holistic Process Performance Measurement System

Traditionally, Performance Management (PM) is considered one of the core functions of management accounting, focused on the results of business units and primarily based on financial measures. However, with the growing emphasis on process orientation and the implementation of Business Process Management (BPM), traditional PM needs to be adapted to measure what is managed, i. e. business processes. To achieve this, process-oriented organizations rely on a Process Performance Measurement System (PPMS), with Process Mining as the state-of-the-art tool for monitoring and improving processes. In theory, the ProcessMining-supported PPMS should be well integrated into the PMSystem (PMS), and process performance should be measured holistically, i.e. by both quantitative and qualitative figures. However, in practice it remains unclear whether these criteria are being met and whether management accounting is involved in the utilization of Process Mining and the development of a holistic PPMS. To address this research gap, a multiple case study within the German energy industry was conducted. Drawing on data from 33 semi-structured interviews, this paper presents a five-stage maturity model for the implementation of a holistic, Process Mining-supported PPMS and examines how management accounting can promote progression along this path. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, this study further contributes to research by demonstrating that the involvement of management accounting is not only beneficial to the success of Process Mining and BPM, but also crucial to the management accounting profession itself.