Technology Readiness Level (TRL) as a Tool for Aligning the Innovation Process and the Enterprise’s Accounting Decisions

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the indicator of «technology readiness level» and the necessity of its application within the accounting and analytical system of an enterprise when reflecting the firm’s innovation activities. Defining this indicator makes it possible to minimize technical, financial, and market risks, optimize the structure of investments, and ensure the achievement of strategic development goals. The significance of technology readiness level goes beyond a purely technical dimension. This concept serves as a systemic indicator that integrates engineering characteristics, market attractiveness, economic feasibility, managerial priorities, and accounting-analytical criteria. In the context of digitalization, accelerated innovation dynamics, and the growing share of intangible assets in the capital structure of enterprises, technological maturity becomes one of the key benchmarks of strategic planning.

The article identifies and characterizes the stages of the formation of the concept of «technological maturity» as this is essential for understanding the evolution of approaches to innovation assessment and the development of modern methods of managing technological risks. The analysis of these stages makes it possible not only to reconstruct the patterns underlying the development of technology readiness levels as a scientific category but also to substantiate its potential for application in economic, managerial, and accounting domains. The concept of Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) is examined. This is a scale consisting of nine sequential levels, each associated with clearly defined technical criteria, experimental evidence, and documented confirmation of innovation progress. Such an approach ensures unification of the evaluation process for the stages of innovation activity, allows the standardization of reporting, synchronizes engineering, managerial, and financial decisions, and significantly reduces technological risks.

Proposals are formulated regarding the integration of technology readiness level indicators into the regulatory framework of accounting. This would make it possible to objectively determine the stage of technological development and eliminate subjectivity in decisions related to distinguishing between research and development costs, capitalizing expenditures, and recognizing intangible assets.