Accounting information consists of the components and elements of an organization that process financial events to generate meaningful information ( Tunji, 2012 ). Accounting information thus produced is of use to all stakeholders of the company, namely the employees, shareholders, suppliers, banks as well as other lenders, regulatory authorities, etc. The accounting and finance department of a company is the primary and prime repository for accounting data since it is tasked with consistently collecting, evaluating, and interpreting both financial and non-financial data ( Srivastava and Lognathan, 2016 ). Accounting information usually provides insights into current business operations such as performance management, budgeting, business decisions, investment decisions, etc. ( Chassot, Klöckner, & Wüstenhagen, 2015 ). Accounting information is the composition of quantitative and non-quantitative evidence relating to economic events which are processed and reported by the information system in the form of financial statements for external and internal users. According to IFRS (2010) , the qualitative characteristics of accounting information are relevance (need to report all information items); reliability (faithful representation); comparability (information measured and presented in a similar way for various companies); verifiability (testable information); timeliness (information must be available at the right time) and understandability (comprehensibility). Quality accounting information decreases information irregularity and improves the performance of businesses ( Alsmady, 2022 ).

To produce effective and adequate decisions, accounting information is used in the formulation of product marketing, advertising, and promotional policies, as well as the development of new products and markets ( Kariyawasam, 2016 ). Particularly at the intersections of several organizational tasks, accounting information provides a means of aiding collaborative sense-making and communication. One of their vital functions is assisting managers in decision-making ( Saukkonen, Laine, & Suomala, 2018 ). Accounting tools support selecting, creating, describing, and presenting accounting figures to existing and potential users ( Laine, Korhonen, Suomala, & Rantamaa, 2016 ). The organization’s management, or decision-makers, communicate the accounting data, the possibilities generated from them, and the rationale applied to the development of the information ( Nørreklit, Nørreklit, & Mitchell, 2010 ). Al-Refiay, Abdulhussein, & Al-Shaikh (2022) found that accounting information helps in analyzing the factors that are considered in the early stage of business establishment as well as the competitors.

Management cannot make decisions unless there is reasonable information. Accounting information facilitates the process of determining decisions and is mainly used for coordination inside the company ( Kren, 1992 ). The primary purpose of accounting information is to aid in decision-making since better decisions result from a comprehension of accounting information ( Horngren, Sundemet, & Stratton, 2002 ). Srivastava and Lognathan (2016) describe accounting information as a tool for managerial decision-making that has a substantial influence. A significant link between accounting data and management decision-making was discovered by Saha, Sil, & Sayaduzzaman (2021) . According to Nnenna (2012) , accounting information upgrades the method of determining decisions. They also concluded that the usage of accounting evidence and organizational managerial effectiveness are strongly correlated. Corporate strategic decisions are significantly influenced by accounting information and strategic decisions that cover basic decisions, manufacturing, human resource, marketing, and long-term investment-related decisions ( Ullah, Khonadakar, & Tamanna, 2014 ). Information about financial accounting helps management to know what happened in the past and how is the company currently operating. It also makes visible those events that cannot be traced through routine business operations, offers a quantitative overview of the business, and aids the business authority in creating a future roadmap and making the right decisions ( Socea, 2012 ). Moreover, accounting information strengthens corporate control mechanisms to alleviate corporate corruption ( Virginia, Eleni, Dimitrios, & Chrysoula, 2014 ). Finally, it can be said that accounting information plays a vital role in the decision-making of business management, controlling cost, increasing the quality of the product as well as improving efficiency and enhancement performance.

The study is descriptive, and a quantitative approach has been applied to attain the study objectives. A non-probability sampling technique and a convenience sampling plan have been considered for data collection. In 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, 4.62 thousand textile companies (garment factories) were in operation in Bangladesh ( Statista, 2022 ). The target population for this study is the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) listed textile companies. It is found that there are 55 textile companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange ( DSE, 2019 ). Sample unit selections were made from the companies that are in Dhaka, Gazipur, and Narayanganj districts. Thus, a total of 50 DSE-listed textile companies were selected for the study. For descriptive studies, a minimum acceptable sample size is regarded as 10% of the population, depending on the type of research ( Gay and Diehl, 1992 ). So, the study sample size of 50 out of 55 (more than 90% of the target population) is widely acceptable. The chief executive of the accounts and finance division in each selected company has been included in the study respondents.

The primary data for this study has been collected through a questionnaire survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire has been developed to gather data/information from the respondents. The relevant literature and expert suggestions have been used to prepare the questionnaire (for instance, Hall, 2010 ; Ullah, Khonadakar, & Tamanna, 2014 ; Kariyawasam, 2016 ; Adenike, 2017 ). The prepared questionnaire has been pretested with a small sample and finalized after necessary modifications. The finalized questionnaire has two parts. Part-I consists of the demographic information of respondents and Part-II contains the information to deal with the research problem directly. 25 statements have been developed to know respondents’ agreement level for the use of accounting information with five aspects of the decision-making area such as strategic decisions, manufacturing decisions, human resource management decisions, investment decisions, and marketing decisions. The respondents were requested to react to their level of agreement on the five-point Likert scale which has five categories: strongly agree (5), agree (4), neutral (3), disagree (2), and strongly disagree (1). The questionnaires were delivered to respondents in the workplace physically and later collected with their responses.

Statistical measures, for instance, the mean and standard deviation have been used for data analysis. A conventional one-sided t-test has also been performed to investigate the mean agreement. A cut point of mean agreement of 3.5 has been considered and the study investigates whether the mean agreement is greater than 3.5. The procedure for such a formal test is:

H₀: µ = µ₀, Vs.

Ha: µ > µ₀.

The test statistics, $t=\frac{\bar{x}-{\text{μ}}_0}{s/\sqrt{n}}\sim t_{\text{α},\text{δ}df}$

where, $\bar{x}$ = sample mean, µ₀ = 3.5, s = sample standard deviation, n = sample size, df = degree of freedom.

The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 has been used to analyze the data.

A demographic profile provides a quantitative portrayal of the basic characteristics of a population. Some of such characteristics include the gender, age, educational and professional qualifications, work experience, and work position of the selected company respondents. A demographic overview of respondents is presented in Table 1 .

From the observed results in Table 1 , it is evident that male (86%) respondents are dominant in the accounts and finance division of the textile industry in Bangladesh. It is also observed that most of the respondents (70%) are post-graduates, and some (24%) have professional degrees (CA or CMA). Among the respondents, 86% have work experience of ten years or more, and the majority (72%) of the respondents are working in managerial positions.

Strategic decisions are those that take into account the organization’s whole operating environment, its entire resource base, its workforce, and its interface. To examine the role of accounting information in making strategic decisions, five structured items/statements were included in the questionnaire.

It is evident from the following Table 2 that the highest mean of 4.20 is observed for the use of accounting knowledge in core skill and competitive advantage followed by corporate objective (mean = 4.12), corporate vision (mean = 4.02), and corporate growth strategies (mean = 4.02). Table 2 also presents the t-test results for checking whether the observed mean scores imply agreement for the population. The p-value (p < 0.01) of corporate vision, objectives, and growth as well as core competencies and competitive advantage indicates that the observed mean agreement is significantly greater than the considered cut point of 3.5.

***p < 0.01.

Therefore, it can be proposed that accounting information is significantly used for making strategic related decisions in the textile industry of Bangladesh. The result stays in line with the findings of Pitcher (2014) and Citroen (2011) that accounting information is utilized to support strategic decision-making.

Manufacturing decisions are so important and have long-term significance for the manufacturing industry, especially the textile industry. The roles of accounting information in manufacturing-related decisions are illustrated in Table 3 .

The findings in Table 3 above demonstrate the consensus regarding the use of accounting data in manufacturing decisions. The highest mean agreement of 4.06 is observed for the use of accounting information in the decision-making process for products such as production planning and control followed by production equipment (mean = 3.94), cost controlling and product quality (mean = 3.90), and facilities (mean = 3.84). The lowest mean agreement is 3.30 for the use of accounting evidence in decisions relating to vertical integration. The overall mean

***p < 0.01.

agreement of 3.80 indicates that respondents agreed that they are using accounting information for manufacturing decisions. The t-test results revealed that almost all manufacturing-related decisions are statistically significant (p < 0.01), except vertical integration (i.e. make vs. buy, supplier policies, dependence on suppliers). Therefore, the study results confirmed that accounting data plays a crucial role in making manufacturing-related decisions such as production equipment, facilities, planning and controlling, cost control, and quality trade-offs. Hall (2010) also found a similar finding in using accounting information for making manufacturing-related decisions.

The questionnaire included five structured statements/items to assess the respondents’ attitudes and level of agreement for using accounting data to make choices about human resource management.

***p < 0.01.

Results in Table 4 show that the highest mean of 4.44 is observed for the application of accounting data/information to decisions relating to human resource policies followed by promotion and transfer (mean = 4.14), training and development (mean = 3.88), and organization culture and management style (mean = 3.50). The lowest mean of 3.38 is found for the utilization of accounting information in determining obligations, evaluating performance, and rewards/penalties-related decisions. The overall mean of 3.87 indicates that respondents agree with the statement that they are using accounting information for making human resource management-related decisions. Table 4 also presents the results for the statistical significance of the mean agreement of respondents. The results revealed that for making human resources policies, promotion; transfer, retirement; training, and development decisions, the role of accounting information is highly significant (p < 0.01). Previous studies Emmanuel (2015) and Winkel (2004) also confirmed accounting information is a vital part in making appropriate and effective human resources related decisions.

Five structured statements have been included to investigate the respondent’s attitudes and their overall agreement level of using accounting information in investment decisions.

***p < 0.01.

The findings of the mean agreement on using accounting information to make investment-related decisions are shown in Table 5 . The highest mean of 4.24 is found for decisions involving investments in fixed assets (lease or purchase) followed by borrowings from banks and other financial entities (mean = 3.96), capital raising (mean = 3.86), and dividend payment (mean = 3.86). The lowest mean of 3.52 is found for the utilization of accounting data in liquidation-related decisions. The overall mean of 3.88 indicates that respondents agreed with the statement that they are using accounting information in making investment decisions. The t-test result on the mean agreement of respondents revealed that accounting information is significantly (p < 0.01) used in making investment decisions such as capital raising, borrowings, dividend payout, and investment in fixed assets. The observed results mimic some of the previous studies, for instance, Ullah, Khonadakar, & Tamanna (2014) .

Five statements were included in the questionnaire to investigate the respondent’s attitudes and overall agreement on using accounting information in marketing-related decisions.

**p < 0.05, ***p < 0.01.

Table 6 provides the results of the mean agreement on using information about accounting in making considerations relating to marketing. The largest mean of 3.98 is found in making sales commission-related decisions followed by decisions about own-sale, agent, or dealer appointments in sales and marketing (mean = 3.80), market research (mean = 3.76), and market segmentation (mean = 3.74). The lowest mean is 3.56 for the promotional policies-related decision. The overall mean of 3.76 indicates that respondents agreed with the statement that business management is using accounting information in making marketing-related decisions. Furthermore, the t-test results revealed that accounting information is crucial for marketing decisions. {sales commission (p < 0.01), own-sale, agent, or dealer appointments in sales and marketing (p < 0.05), and marketing research (p < 0.05)} related decisions. Previous study, Kariyawasam (2016) also noted comparable results.