<![CDATA[This study aimed to synthesize empirical and conceptual evidence on the use of relevant costs in short-term tactical decision-making, particularly special-order and keep-or-drop decisions, and to identify implementation challenges across small businesses, manufacturing, services, and creative industries. The review covered ten primary studies supplied by the researcher and used a focused systematic literature review approach reported in line with the transparency principles of PRISMA 2020. The studies were mapped by business object, decision type, cost-analysis method, and decision outcome, followed by thematic synthesis. The findings showed a consistent pattern that special orders tended to be acceptable when incremental revenue exceeded relevant costs and idle capacity was available; however, decisions could not be based solely on normal selling prices or full costing. For keep-or-drop decisions, segment contribution and avoidable costs were central, while fixed-cost allocation and capacity effects required careful examination. The literature also indicated that tactical decision quality depended on management’s ability to distinguish relevant costs from sunk costs, identify opportunity costs, separate fixed and variable costs, and incorporate qualitative factors. The review concluded that tactical management accounting functions as a differential information system linking cost structures with alternative actions, while implementation in small businesses remained constrained by record-keeping, cost classification, and analytical capabilities]]>
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