The Impact of Accounting Acumen of Lean Accounting Users on Achieving Financial Balance: A Field Study

The present study aims to measure the impact of the Accounting Acumen of Lean Accounting (LA) Users, represented by Target Costing, Continuous Improvement, Value Stream Mapping, and Scorecard, on achieving Financial Balance (FB), specifically Financial Resilience and Financial Profitability, among employees at Al-Kufa Cement Plant. This aim emerged to address the research problem which states: "What is the effect of the Accounting Acumen of LAUsers in achieving FB among staffs at Al-Kufa Cement Plant?" To address the research problem, the descriptive-analytical method was adopted through a questionnaire, and the research sample included employees at Al-Kufa Cement Plant. A total of 175 questionnaires were distributed to measure the level of LA and FB at Al-Kufa Cement Factory, of which 151 were returned, including 12 damaged questionnaires and 163 valid for analysis, resulting in a sample response rate of 93.14%. For analysis and to achieve the best results, two software packages, SPSS and AMOS V.29, were used for data analysis. Consequently, the study produced several findings, foremost of which is the existence of a significant correlation between the Accounting Acumen of LA Users and FB. This indicates the factory management's interest in improving employees' accounting acumen by accurately prioritising financial reports, contributing to informed financial decision-making that supports FB. Additionally, factory management works on implementing LA practices through reducing waste and increasing the efficiency of its production processes by investing and utilising financial and human resources to achieve positive financial and economic outcomes. The research also proposed several recommendations, the most important of which is the need for the laboratory management to adopt advanced training programmes to enhance the accounting skills of LA users in order to ensure the improvement of employees' financial performance, which in turn leads to the development of employees' skills in financial analysis and financial planning to achieve FB. In addition, the laboratory management should implement agile accounting strategies that contribute to reducing waste, increasing efficiency and effectiveness of operations, which positively reflects on achieving FB in the laboratory.