ACMAR 2026 – Meeting the Community at WHU

On March 5–6, the Institute for Management Accounting & Control (IMC) hosted the 23^rd Annual Conference for Management Accounting Research (ACMAR) on the WHU campus in Vallendar. The event welcomed over 150 researchers to discuss their exciting papers, exchange ideas, and network with colleagues across the field. 54 selected research papers were discussed and critiqued in parallel sessions and roundtables. Once again, the agenda included three high-profile keynote speeches.

The IMC Faculty opened the conference. Their welcome address was followed by the first keynote by Professor Pablo Casas-Arce (Arizona State University), who highlighted how leaders can enhance performance and decision-making by managing team performance. In his view, it is crucial that managers play a significant role in control systems, motivating the team by actively communicating the importance of their work and helping them finding meaning in it. 

The evening’s practitioner keynote was held by Lukas Deutsch, Chief Controlling Officer at SAP, on how the broader AI context drives the controlling transformation at SAP. The key aspects, according to him, were automated reporting, data democratization, and data products to create an AI-empowered workforce, real-time transparency, and end-to-end agentic finance processes. 

On the second day of the conference, Professor Martin Kornberger (Vienna University of Economics and Business) and Professor Anette Mikes (Oxford Saïd Business School) initiated a conversation about ethics in accounting. They offered an interdisciplinary perspective to create visibility for the fact that accounting is much more than just numbers. Ethics could play a role in better decision-making by helping to establish consensus on values.

For the second time, the conference organizers awarded the Best Paper Award, represented by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants(AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants(CIMA). The winner was Professor Matthias Mahlendorf (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management) with his single-authored paper on “AI Agents and Management Control: Aligning the Digital Workforce with Organizational Objectives”. The panel of judges praised the researcher in particular for his innovative approach, which helps to advance important discussions. 

The conference was preceded by the ACMAR Doctoral Colloquium, allowing ten doctoral candidates to receive feedback from their peers and experienced faculty and to discuss their latest research findings. 

Overall, the conference provided the perfect atmosphere for researchers to network and exchange ideas about their latest research. “The conference has once again been a complete success”, concluded Professor Lukas Löhlein, Director of IMC, “and we’re already looking forward to the next ACMAR, which will take place from March 4–5, 2027 in Vallendar.”