Relationality anism to enable a smooth flow of data into the ERP. The

4.4. Relationality anism to enable a smooth flow of data into the ERP. The

TSC staff comprised four ERP specialists each with a pri-

Given that grants management practices had histori- mary area of concentration but all cross-trained so that they

cally been relatively autonomous at Ivy and faculty evolved could cover for one another. Two of the four specialists con-

technologies in distinct ways to meet their reporting

centrate on accounting functionality. One of them acts as a

needs, one solution would have been to decouple the liaison between Ivy’s old chart of accounts and the project-

grant accounting practices. However, with an integrated centric chart, speaking with science-based administrators

ERP platform, this independent evolution is unrealistic.

and clerical workers helping them to make the connec-

Instead, the period of negotiation described above led to tion between the legacy and ERP environments. The other

finding a sociomaterial assemblage that effectively comin- financial specialist is concerned with processing account-

gled practice logics within an integrated infrastructure.

ing transactions she receives from the departments. These

To remedy faculty resistance, the project team reorga-

entries include grants management and labour distribu-

nized post-installation development priorities and created tion transactions that are central to the new time-phased

ERP-based commitment functionality. The standardized budgeting approach. Despite the dismay of Central lead-

information architecture of the ERP was customized to

ership, this administrative support was well-received and

incorporate commensurate reports to the excel based com- used by the departments especially when the account- mitment accounting reports that were still being prepared ing information that was required was for those decisions

at the margins: that were infrequently made. Ivy’s wealthier professional

“ . . . Boom, boom, boom. All of a sudden it just happened schools such as Medicine chose not to use these administra- like

overnight. They had a working group that very tive support centres, but instead

designed their own, very

similar support mechanisms. The Medical School instituted quickly went into designing a customized system . . . We identified the issue, we got a very small group who a Business Center where staff are responsible for answering

questions, understanding and interpreting policies, proce- really knew what they wanted to design, we refined that design . . . and then got the resources targeted to work dures, and then interpreting the project-centric chart of

on it . . . and it’s a done deal within two months time . . . .I

accounts.

guess that’s a very good example of us starting to listen One central administrator called these administrative to end user needs – add-ons, Ivy’s “fully trained temp agency” [summer 2000]

realizing that we needed commit-

ments – I mean at first we talked to the faculty and staff designed to assist faculty support staff whose responsibil- ities had increased in the ERP-enabled environment. An and said ‘well what if we create a [time-phased budget-

ing] report where we massaged it here and massaged it academic manager involved

on the project describes the

there?’ and

finally [we] woke up and said ‘you know, creation of the TSC:

as much as we try, it’s really not going to work, we’re “So I recommended that there be some type of a support

trying to go around the issue rather than facing it head center for giving departments a crutch . . . We thought

on’. We finally did face it.” [Academic manager, spring modernization – it should be quicker. Well I think the

2000] question has to be asked, quicker for whom? . . . what

customized ERP application was added to used to be a faculty appointment form became Ivy’s 25 screens of entry . . . there was a real need for having this

The

financial management module and was internally mar-

place where they could just handle a lot of these trans-

keted as a user-friendly solution with a web-based

actions until we came up to speed. At least that was

interface. While the staff found the custom application

my argument ‘cause I knew [they] weren’t going to go

functionality to be clunky and frustrating as compared

for something on a permanent basis. So I said, let’s try

to their commitment accounting system, the web-based six months . . . we quickly went forward and brought the

interface was easy to navigate and they were glad to have [Center’s manager] on board and then we staffed

it

and

commitment data available through the ERP. Ivy’s manage- it’s really taken off.” [summer 2000]

ment accounting information had drifted back to the point

where it was imitating what it had been prior to the ERP In spite of agreeing to such modifications, and imple-

implementation. Staff began to download commitment menting them quickly, the project team was unsupportive

data from the ERP, importing the data into excel to repro- of the centres. The project team wanted to discourage fur-

duce what looked and felt like commitment accounting ther systems from being developed at the margins and

faculty reports. These material arrangements supported

avoid complexity at migration time. Second, they wanted

heterogeneous management accounting practices while

the support centres to be viewed as a temporary part of

still enabling central accounting to download, interpret and Ivy’s culture that would be disbanded when the team man-

use accounting data from within the ERP. aged to convince faculty of the value of fully migrating to

In addition to software modifications, two local

the standard ERP. Despite the contentious nature of the

administrative support centres were created by Central Centres, their staff were regularly praised by a coalition

Leadership to help solve problems faculty were facing

of faculty and their support staff and their responsibilities

including a Business Support Center (BSC), and a Trans- increased. These organizational changes were instrumen-

E.L. Wagner et al. / Management Accounting Research 22 (2011) 181– 197

tal in legitimizing faculty interests because the structures their opinions of this form of accounting as the following

enabled the more time-consuming process of ERP-based quote from the Director of Financial Planning suggests:

grants management to be viable for academic constituen- “We’re still struggling with the commitment vs. pro-

cies. jection [time-phased budgeting] approach . . . We have

in having them pull the automated vince the academic constituencies of the long-term value

been successful

Meanwhile, the project team was still trying to con- . . .

commitments from the system on the last day of the of the time-phased budgeting logic, which was a prereq- month, and combine those with actuals and projections.

take advantage the [ERP]

of

uisite for acceptance of the standard configuration and That way they can at least

the subsequent creation of their preferred integrated bud- system functionality related to budgeting and plan-

ning. Many departments are doing

get and planning environment. In an attempt to do this,

this, but I think they

three central administrative units merged and formed often manually supplement the information with other

commitments they

the Accounting & Budget Department, which integrated can’t get automatically and create

the Controller’s

office (including accounting and finance Excel reports for their faculty. As far as the time-phased

offices) with the Budget and Planning department. This

approach goes, that is pretty much a non-starter here. I

consolidation was considered long overdue and it was don’t even support it myself.”

hoped that by breaking down silos of central adminis-

trative practice, faculty might finally hear a unified voice Administrators have taken on the responsibility of espousing the virtues of time-phased budgeting practices. downloading the commitment data for each PI and they

This department issued a procedure for academic staff con- import this into excel to create custom PI reports. This ducting monthly financial reconciliations that was focused process means the financial transactions are recorded on high-level financial review rather than detailed book in duplicate in two systems: the ERP and their shadow

keeping activities that comprised commitment accounting. systems. The expected cost savings of transferring the own-

During this time many departments did begin to use the ership of grants management to faculty did not occur.

ERP more regularly: Instead Ivy has incurred additional costs to support the

newly created Centres. Furthermore, since going live the

“So in terms of what’s happened between April and

ERP has been upgraded on several occasions and while now? We’ve worked a lot with departments – they’ve this has been a somewhat more costly exercise than was

cleaned up a lot of problems that were persistent for anticipated in purchasing the system because of the bolt-

the first 6 months . . . I think most departments would on nature of the ERP reconfiguration, Ivy budgeted for the

additional expense and time that was necessary:

tell you that they pretty much know where they are

told you

with their funds now and they wouldn’t have

that at the beginning of April. But they’d probably also “The only impact for an upgrade is to do testing of the

tell you that they wouldn’t like to do a year like this

processes. In general I don’t recall any changes intro-

again . . . most of them are not interested in complaining duced during an upgrade that created any problems for the sake of complaining, they’re interested in making with these processes. We have to perform impact anal-

things better.” [Project leader, summer 2000] ysis and testing for all of the major processes in the system, so this is just part of that mix.” [Spring 2010]

The recursive relationship between accounting prac-

tices, technologies and human agency exhibited above

In 2010 senior management reported that time-phased

demonstrates a story of re-configuring, or better re-

budgeting had been adopted at Ivy:

“Finally,

after 10+ years, time-phased is

budgeting now

figuring, ERP, which we argue is not the exception to

the rule but rather an accurate reflection of

technol-

the

being done. We just started [reinstating the approach]

when the US financial crisis began and we needed to cut ERP may scaffold practice, but drift

ogy drifting and inevitable inconsistencies in management

accounting practice. An

expenses across the board and more carefully monitor

will still exist within organizations. spending. The administration used this financial situ-

ation to leverage time-phased budgeting. They argued