Decision Usefulness of Cash and Accrual Information: Public Sector Managers’ Perceptions

This study examines the usefulness of accrual accounting information for internal decision‐making contexts in the Western Australian public sector. Based on questionnaire responses of public sector managers, it was found that accrual accounting is perceived to be more useful than cash accounting in 16 of the 19 decision situations. These results suggest that the perceived usefulness of the accrual accounting system has improved with the passage of time. It may well be that perceptions of the usefulness of information derived from an accounting system will change over time as users gain familiarity and experience with a system.     

中国公共预算改革的目标选择:近期目标与远期目标

本文运用凯顿的预算模式理论研究了中国公共预算改革的目标选择主要结论是,中国现阶段仍然应该以建立一种"控制取向"的现代公共预算体制为目标,中国预算改革的当务之急是将政治控制与行政控制纳入预算过程.最后,虽然新绩效预算是一种非常理想的预算模式,但是,中国目前并不具备实行的条件.即使对于实行新绩效预算来说,先实行一种"控制取向"的预算体制也是有帮助的.     

CANBERRA TO PORT MORESBY: GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING AND BUDGETING FOR THE EARLY STAGES OF DEVOLUTION

This paper examines changes which have occurred in government accounting and budgeting from the antecedent system of Treasury control in the colonial era of The Territory of Papua and New Guinea to the contemporary system of Finance control in the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. An exposition is provided of existing and proposed governmental accounting and budgeting issues during the early stages of devolution for indigenous control. Although self-government provided new legislation for government accounting and budgeting, the critical event in the formation of the present system was the Constitution which highlighted indigenous responsibility against a backdrop of national attainment criteria. The development of indigenous responsibility for the government accounting and budgeting system has been limited by: (i) overreliance on an expatriate model, and (ii) a fundamental dearth of qualified accountants at the professional level in the public sector. In the longer term, however, cultural rather than administrative issues will tend to influence and guide policy in this area.     

Core theory and uniformity in accounting: Rationalizing the accounting rulemaker

If there are serious constraints on investors' abilities to process information, as well as to syndicate and share information, a uniform accounting system may convey substantial benefits to investors. After describing the potential benefits of a uniform accounting equilibrium, this article examines, using core theory, whether an unconstrained competitive environment with unrestricted coalition-formation possibilities amongst firms is likely to yield a uniform accounting equilibrium, or whether an accounting rulemaker is necessary for obtaining uniformity. It shows that an unconstrained competitive system may not yield a uniform accounting equilibrium even though it may be in every firm's (and security holder's) interest to have a uniform system. First, the core of the negotiations game among firms to set up a uniform system may be empty. That is, there may be no allocation of gains among firms resulting from an overall uniform accounting system which satisfies both individual and group rationality. Second, a uniform accounting system may have public goods characteristics which make a competitive uniform accounting equilibrium less likely. Both reasons serve to rationalize the accounting rulemaker.     

Integrating human resource accounting into the public policy process: An illustration

Traditionally, public policy formulation has been accomplished through political compromise. In recent years, growing public pressure for austerity and accountability in the use of public resources has made the analytical approach to policy formulation and evaluation increasingly important. This exploratory study illustrates how the human resource accounting model can contribute to an objective and systematic evaluation of a complex public policy issue. The study considers the attrition of commissioned officers from the U.S. Army as a loss of human resources and examines the relative investment in human resources from two primary sources of commissioning. This type of systematic analysis provides valuable information for the policy maker in making logical decisions on human resource development.     

Moderating Role of Cost Accounting Information Quality on the Relationship Between the COVID-19 Pandemic and Budgeting in Public Hospitals

Based on new public management, information processing theory and contingency theory, this study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on budgeting in public hospitals, focusing on budget use. The research hypotheses were tested using a survey of 82 responses from hospital CFOs. The results show that the organisations that were most affected by the pandemic increased their use of budgets for planning, resource allocation and control, compared to those that were less affected. This study also highlights the moderating role of cost accounting information quality in the relationship between crises and budget use. We find that public hospitals that have been most affected by the pandemic and have simultaneously better cost accounting information have increased their use of budgets for planning, resource allocation and cost control more than those whose costing system does not provide superior cost data.     

A look at the public policy conflict regarding the discovery of accountants' tax accrual workpapers

This article focuses on the conflict in public policy between the need to provide the investing public with accurate information with regard to corporate financial statements and the need to provide the IRS with the necessary tools in order to assure corporate compliance with the tax laws of the country. The conflict arises because of the contention of the IRS that it is entitled to have access to an independent auditor's tax accrual workpapers on the one hand, and the contention by CPAs that such access will prevent adequate disclosure to the independent auditor. The article examines the policy questions on both sides of the issue and concludes that regardless of any decision by the Supreme Court in a pendingcase, Congress should pass legislation to resolve the conflict and clearly identify the scope of any previlage accorded with regard to tax accrual workpapers.     

Management accounting innovations for rationalizing the cost of services: The reassessment of cash and accrual accounting

ABSTRACT

Management accounting can be a useful tool in austerity government because it produces information about the costs of public services and can be used for informed decision-making. Spanish local governments are required to submit data on the cost of their services to central government, which publishes this information online. The calculation of costs is based on budgetary cash accounting instead of accrual accounting; therefore cash accounting is being used for decision-making and accrual accounting has no role in this process. This paper critically analyses the innovation from three perspectives: the use assigned to the cost information in the legal framework; the opinion of academics and experts; and the perception of professionals about the usefulness of the information produced with the new system.     

Fabricating budgets: A study of the production of management budgeting in the national health service

This paper examines the processes by which a form of responsibility accounting system emerges in an organizational context. The paper utilizes recent approaches to the understanding of how science and technology is created (Latour, Science in Action, Harvard University Press, 1987) to investigate the processes by which a management budgeting initiative in the U.K. hospital system takes hold (or not) in specific hospitals. The approach is critical of the notion that accounting systems are well-defined technologies which are designed and then implemented (or face resistance). Instead, the study shows that management budgeting is fabricated, put together in a changing and fragile manner. Emerging accounting systems are not fixed technologies with well-defined purposes which reflect patterns of responsibility but changing constructions. Management budgeting systems are initiated with loose characteristics, purposes and uses. In the process of their design and implementation, new possibilities for decision making and definitions of responsibility emerge. Through this study of accounting in action, the paper explores the processes by which accounting and budgeting systems bring economic logic into hospital management. It is also relevant to debates about the role of budgeting and accounting in health care organizations in many countries.     

The role of generally accepted reporting methods in the public sector: An empirical test

This study explores the role of standard or generally accepted accounting and reporting methods in the public sector. It differs from prior studies that address public sector accounting issues in that it considers more directly how the political process influences decisions to report financial information. The primary contention is that adopting standard reporting methods reduces costs to public officials that arise from factors that characterize political markets. Empirical evidence based on data from the state governments is consistent with this contention, but theoretical and methodological problems restrict our ability to ascertain which specific factors are relevant.     

区块链技术在地方财政管理改革中的运用探究

区块链作为融合了分布式数据存储、点对点传输、共识机制、加密算法、智能合约等计算机技术的新兴应用模式,具有去中心化、数据不可篡改或重复、交易信息易于追踪和监督、交易流程公开透明等特征,为数字化时代下的财政管理改革和发展提供了新的思路和方向。本文在分析区块链技术特征的基础上,探究其在地方财政管理改革中的运用,为优化地方财政会计信息质量和预算编制流程、提高财政资金的使用效率、确保财政资金的合理合规使用和全流程可控、增加财政预决算信息公开透明度提出相关方案和建议。     

The Usefulness of Accrual Information in Non‐mandatory Environments: The Case of Japanese Local Government

This study investigates how accrual accounting is used in a system in which it co‐exists with cash accounting. It uses a survey methodology to explore the factors that influence the extent to which accrual information is useful for decision making, when used in a dual system. The results show that although accrual information was used less for budgeting, evaluation, asset management or debt management, officials found accrual information useful for performance management. Moreover, neither experience nor leadership significantly contributed to decision‐making effectiveness. The study also found that the central government was the most influential promoter of accrual accounting in Japan. Of particular interest is the link between performance measurement and accrual information.     

Implementing budgetary control in the performing arts: games in the organizational theatre

When administrators or political bodies try to enforce implementation of new management control systems on organizations, various forms of conflicts and games may be observed in the implementation process. Different rationalities are brought face-to-face in the discourse on implementation, and the process will be influenced by some form of political behaviour. A political perspective will call attention to such issues as the players, power and games. By adopting the concept of budget games in an analysis of the actions related to the implementation process we try to show how we can gain a better understanding of the behaviour exhibited by the various groups involved and of the outcome of the process. Observations from a case study of the Royal Danish Theatre show how different budget games emerge in a process in which the Theatre, the Danish Treasury Department, and various actors inside and outside the theatre have been engaged over a period of 15 years, in an attempt to implement a new management control system at the theatre. The management control system being implemented is a combination of a new accounting system and a new planning and budget system. First, we will discuss the strengths of the concept of budget games and the possibilities that it offers for a better understanding of organizational actions related to the implementation of budgeting systems. In addition, we will look at reforms in the public sector with a special view to the role of budgetary control systems. A framework for using budget games as an analytical tool in understanding implementation processes is developed and applied to the case. The analysis shows how various budget games emerge in the organizational field. The budget games start when an individual or a group wants to address an issue and encounters opponents. The analysis also demonstrates how one budget game may create a counter-game. Finally, the findings and their implications are discussed. The analysis demonstrates the usefulness of the budget game perspective in understanding the implementation of accounting systems and the behaviour of the various groups involved or af fected by the system.     

The economic rationale for the nature and extent of corporate financial disclosure regulation: A critical assessment

The regulatory framework for corporate financial disclosure has been the subject of a large literature, most of which has focused on the economic rationale for disclosure requirements. This extant economic analysis has not led to any definitive conclusions regarding the necessity for disclosure regulation nor has it provided public policy guidance as to the nature and extent of required corporate financial disclosure. It is evident that broader-based analysis and research incorporating relevant social and political (as well as economic) factors is necessary to gauge appropriate public policy for financial information disclosure.     

Suggestion and Assumption on Perfecting Budget Control System

预算管理体制是我国财税体制中的重要组成部分,预算管理的规范与完善直接影响着我国财税体制改革的进程。我国目前的预算管理体制存在诸多的不足,可以从完善立法、规范预算编制内容、采用科学的方法测算预算收支、提高预算的完整性和透明度、加强预算执行情况的信息反馈、增强预算的严肃性、强化公开信息等方面进行完善。     

Aggregate accounting research and development expenditures and the prediction of real gross domestic product

The role of accounting information for public policy making has received increased attention in recent years. Konchitchki and Patatoukas, 2014a, Konchitchki and Patatoukas, 2014b demonstrate that growth in aggregate accounting earnings can predict future growth in nominal and real Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We extend the micro to macro literature by decomposing earnings into the R&D and pre-R&D components. Using the Almon (1965) finite distributed lag model, we find that both components can predict future real GDP growth with different lead-lag structures. Importantly, this decomposition significantly increases the explanatory power of the predictive model using accounting information. Aggregate accounting R&D can predict real GDP through the personal consumption, business investment, and net export channels of GDP. Our study extends prior research on the forecasting usefulness of accounting information at the aggregate level and has practical implications for macro forecasting and for public policy making regarding innovative activities of publicly listed firms.     

New development: Budgetary accounting in Colombia—arguments for a much-needed reform

ABSTRACT

Public financial management reforms are needed in Colombia to integrate the accrual-based accounting system with budgets. This would remove the need to make accounting variations through deficit measurement and would supply better information about the impact of public policies on the country’s financial situation. This article briefly explains why Colombia needs to integrate its accounting and budgeting systems.     

组织文化、环境不确定性与管理会计信息认知

管理会计是一门应用性学科,它围绕组织的价值创造服务于企业实践。组织文化在其核心价值观的传递与解释过程中会对管理会计信息的认知程度产生影响,也会改变人们对环境不确定性的态度。管理会计信息支持系统通过对信息有用性的甄别与分析,提高人们对管理会计信息的认知能力,进一步使管理会计控制系统发挥更大的作用,提高管理会计的效率与效果。     

IPSAS in Latin America: innovation,isomorphism or rhetoric?

ABSTRACT

Over the past 30 years, many initiatives have been undertaken to reform public administration in Latin American countries. Among other aspects, the reforms seek to improve the transparency and accountability of the public sector by modernizing public accounting and budgeting systems. The adoption of accrual accounting in the public sector has been seen as an innovation and it is driven by the implementation of IPSAS. This paper sheds light on the process of reform of public financial management in Latin America and the state of implementation of IPSAS. The paper analyses the driving forces for adopting or adapting IPSAS, as well as the obstacles and challenges in doing so.     

Public Policy and Accounting Research: What Is to Be Done?

Abstract

Singleton-Green [2010. The communication gap: Why doesn't accounting research make a greater contribution to debates on accounting policy? Accounting in Europe, 7(2), 129–145] argues that a communication gap between researchers and those involved in public debates on accounting problems significantly reduces the impact of accounting research. A new ICAEW report, The Effects of Mandatory IFRS Adoption in the EU: a Review of Empirical Research, tries to bridge the communication gap on the subject that it covers. The report found not only a significant amount of relevant research, but also that its usefulness was limited in various ways. The paper makes a number of recommendations to researchers: they should point out any biases in the data they use, address some issues through field work, not assume that surrounding institutions are unchanged, be careful to understand the specific features of the countries they cover, investigate differences in previous research, and state the economic significance of their findings. The paper also makes recommendations for non-academic participants in public policy debates, including: they should actively promote relevant research, help researchers get access to information, and help ensure that researchers have the incentives to do what is needed to benefit public policy.