This research aims to contribute to the literature on management accounting and organizational change through the lens of an important corporate event,the initial public offering(IPO).It explores to what extent and how IPOs may trigger management accounting and other organizational changes in two listed state-owned enterprises(SOEs)and one listed non-SOE in China.As informed by the organizational change framework developed by Laughlin(1991),it is found that due to IPOs,changes have occurred in the actual management accounting systems deployed,the way in which existing mechanisms are adopted,the personnel involved in exercising control,or the significance attached to certain systems.Following IPOs,management accounting and control has become more formal,tighter,and geared more toward providing accountability to shareholders.However,IPOs tend to take through different organizations differently,and shape management accounting and control practices and other organizational arrangements of the listed firms in different ways.