Engaging SMEs in Sustainability: The Multimodal Work of Management Accounting Consultants

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generate substantial aggregate environmental and social impacts, yet they struggle to adopt sustainability accounting practices because of limited resources, weak technical competencies, informal structures, and interpretive barriers. Growing regulatory pressures, such as the CSRD and CSDDD, reach SMEs directly or indirectly through supply chains, heightening their need for external support. This study investigates how management accounting (MA) consultants construct and enact their role in sustainability-oriented engagements with SMEs, and how they mobilize multimodal practices to engage clients and foster sustainability sensemaking. Drawing on literatures on consulting, accounting change, and multimodality, it treats consultants as mediators and co-producers of accounting innovation rather than neutral technical experts. Methodologically, the work adopts a reflexive, qualitative design combining interviews with photo-elicitation and photo-interviewing of consultants experienced in SME sustainability projects. The study expects to advance research on SME sustainability accounting, on consultants' roles, and on multimodal engagement