Based on over 20 years of information systems (IS) and management accounting literature, we present a critical review of IS chargeout research. The need for such a review derives from the conceptual difficulties and empirical limitations observed in past research, and from the management challenge of rapidly growing new information technologies (ITs). Our review systematizes the objectives and cost accounting methods underlying past developments in this area. We describe the features of successful chargeout systems, recognizing the current neglect of organizational-level objectives and follow this with a discussion of the advantages of chargeout systems, and the problems involved in their use. An investigation into the context of new ITs reveals a new surge of chargeout software products that require more organizationally oriented chargeout research. Finally, we present a model of chargeout systems evolution within a wider managerial and business context.
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