In summary, for the first hypothesis (H1), from the positive correlation found between
SMEs entrepreneurs‟ perceptions and needs, it can be conjectured that the more the
entrepreneur perceives the importance and useful of management accounting, the
more they need it. Investigating the levels of perceptions and needs for the individual
components of management accounting (Table 1-6) supports the hypothesis as well.
For example, for planning, SE and ME perceived the importance of cash the highest
and perceived need for cash second highest. For controlling, the highest SE
entrepreneurs‟ perception of and needs for was cash and for ME entrepreneurs was
production cost. For decision making, the highest SE entrepreneurs‟ perception was
pricing whilst for ME entrepreneurs it was order accepting followed by pricing. So for
both, pricing was one of the highest needs. This indicated that entrepreneurs‟
perceptions of management accounting (based on their skills, knowledge and
education) were directly related to their needs. It is consistent with Pech and
Cameron‟s (2006) suggestion that if the entrepreneurs‟ sense of intuition (based on
skills, knowledge, and willingness to take risks) sends positive signals concerning the
information, the opportunity is then enacted through a high need for challenge and
excitatory stimulation. Finally, the finding of the correlation between entrepreneurs‟
perceptions of and needs for management accounting is of abundant benefit to SMEs
entrepreneurs in terms of enhancing their perceived knowledge in management
accounting through their needs (by training or educating). For SMEs entrepreneurs in
northern Thailand, according to this study, they should strengthen their management
accounting knowledge based on their needs (Table 4-6), which was sales volume,
profit and cash in the planning function; cash, cost of production and selling and
administrative expense in the controlling function; and pricing, break-even point
volume and order accepting in the decision-making function. The level of SMEs
perceptions (Table 1-3) implies that they lacked management accounting knowledge in
planning in the areas of income taxes, investment for expansion and short-term loan
solvency; investment expansion and sales for the controlling function; and
discontinuing or dropping production, investment expansion and make or buy things in
the decision-making function.