Cost Efficiency and Cost Control in Indonesian Food and Beverage MSMEs: A Narrative Literature Review from a Managerial Accounting Perspective

Abstract

Food and beverage micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are important to the Indonesian economy, yet many of them still struggle to control costs and keep profits stable. This study reviews how managerial accounting supports cost efficiency and cost control in these businesses. We conducted a narrative literature review of seven core empirical studies on culinary and processed food MSMEs in Indonesia, published between 2024 and 2026, and supported the analysis with five additional studies for background and corroboration. The literature was searched in Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and the Garuda Portal, then compared across three themes: managerial accounting practices, efficiency outcomes, and barriers to implementation. The evidence shows that managerial accounting in these MSMEs is still basic and often partial. Even so, consistent daily recording allowed one business to detect an 18% rise in raw material cost, collective purchasing saved 12 of 15 processed food MSMEs between 15% and 20% of their main raw material cost, and full costing revealed costs that had been hidden, such as equipment depreciation. The main barriers are low accounting literacy, unstructured bookkeeping, unallocated overhead, and limited mentoring. We propose a six-step cost control framework that links each practice to a managerial accounting function. We also identify research gaps, including the concentration of evidence in Medan and the lack of longitudinal and intervention studies. The findings are useful for MSME owners, training providers, and financial institutions that support small food businesses.