Framing public governance in Malaysia: Rhetorical appeals through accrual accounting

In government, the challenges of governance and anti-corruption are exacerbated by accounting not being fit for purpose. In developing countries, many governments adopt accrual accounting as a panacea. Drawing on Goffman's frame analysis, and rhetorical appeals to logic, credibility and emotion, this paper examines the adoption of accrual accounting in Malaysia. It was found accrual accounting has potential for keying governance and anti-corruption. However, rhetorical appeals that attempt to legitimate neo-liberalism and engender public support in the name of progress were hindered by perceptions of endemic corruption and relatively weak democratic institutions of ‘good’ governance common to developing countries.     

A theoretical basis for public sector accrual accounting research: current state and perspectives

ABSTRACT

Public sector or government accounting has been the subject of many research endeavors. However, scholars have repeatedly criticized the lack of a consistent and well-defined theoretical basis for international research. So far, most researchers have drawn from various streams of theoretical perspectives with often unsatisfactory results. The goal of this paper is to put forward the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board’s (IPSASB) Conceptual Framework as a point of reference for establishing a better-fitting theoretical basis for public sector accrual accounting research.     

New development: China promotes government financial accounting and management accounting

In late 2013, China's political leadership decided to require the government to practice accrual accounting and prepare whole-of-government financial reports. This decision was codified in the new budget law and followed up by a State Council directive endorsing the reform proposal of the Ministry of Finance. Some basic government accounting standards have been made public for comment. In the same timeframe, the ministry also decided to promote management accounting in order to raise the competency and contributions of China's millions of accounting personnel.     

Deadlines and software: disentangling local government accounting reforms in Brazil

ABSTRACT

This paper shows how ongoing accounting reforms in Brazilian local governments were affected by a shift from a universal to a gradual implementation approach. Deadlines being postponed led to a decrease in local governments’ willingness to reform. This effect varied according whether the accountants involved depended on commercial software to operate a particular accounting policy. An important finding from this research was that software providers are to some extent setting the IPSAS implementation agenda in Brazil.     

Setting consolidated reporting standards for local government

Under a corporatization trend, traditional financial reporting is generally considered unable to offer a complete view of the economic and financial activities of a group of public entities. Consequently, several reforms and standards have been introduced related to consolidated financial reports. Through interviews with key actors, the authors analysed the normativity process for issuing consolidated reporting standards for local governments in three European countries: Italy, Spain, and Sweden.     

Forensic accounting services in English local government and the counter-fraud agenda

ABSTRACT

Fraud is a growing challenge for English local government, yet the resources and support local authorities (LAs) have available to prevent, detect and investigate it are limited. Forensic accounting services (FAS) provided by external specialist private sector firms, particularly those undertaking mandatory external audit, might be one solution. Research reported in this paper suggests, however, that existing English LA users are not all convinced. Nevertheless, better awareness and understanding of what FAS have to offer, perhaps through case studies of successful implementation, would be a valuable contribution to helping local government enhance its counter-fraud capabilities and make informed decisions about how best to meet the increasingly complex fraud challenge.     

Rethinking the relationship between local government and financial markets

In the past 20 years local governments have increasingly looked to financial markets for capital financing. The markets want local governments to change their accounting systems and become more transparent, in order to offer information that is more appropriate to private sector investors. The authors argue that this approach is only a partial solution, and that local government and financial institutions would both benefit from changes in their relationships. The article identifies a double knowledge gap that needs to be filled if the public and private sectors want to work together as long-term financial partners.     

Harmonizing public sector accounting in Europe: thinking out of the box

A broad debate about the harmonization of public sector accounting standards in Europe is underway. The authors provide arguments in favour of harmonization, but they also acknowledge the existing pluralism and diversity by taking stock of the state of play in 14 European countries. The paper makes a proposal for a way forward for policy-makers and standard-setters, in which the benefits of harmonization can be obtained without obliging EU member countries to necessarily abandon their current public sector accounting systems.     

Implementation of accrual accounting in Thailand’s central government

This paper evaluates the outcomes of accrual accounting implementation in Thailand’s central government. A new conceptual framework was used to study transition barriers and their effects. Financial transparency and accountability were shown to have improved. Significant barriers to the transition to accrual accounting include a lack of incentives, a management culture, a lack of accounting manuals, and a failure to understand accrual information.

IMPACT

This paper explains the transition barriers Thailand has faced in adopting accrual accounting in its central government and how these barriers are affecting financial reporting in the public sector. The results in this paper can be applied to other countries in terms of evaluating outcomes or planning transition processes.     

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.     

Government accounting with Chinese characteristics and challenges

This paper explains the Chinese government's decision to adopt accrual accounting by referring to an ancient Chinese strategy of governing. It also provides a rationale for whole-of-government financial reports in China's current fiscal context. The nature of the existing government accounting system is described and the technical and implementation challenges in achieving the goals of the ambitious reform agenda are identified. The country's unique institutional structure makes it necessary to craft a system of government accounting and reporting with Chinese characteristics.     

The influence of the nature of government accounting and reporting in decision-making: evidence from Switzerland

A key objective of government accounting and reporting has been to achieve accountability and its use in that respect has been well documented, however its use for decision-making has had less coverage. This article addresses the latter issue, providing evidence from Switzerland that the accounting basis used (accrual versus cash) influences decision-making. This is the result of the effect that the different approaches have on the nature of the information used for decision-making. Switzerland was among the first western democracies to adopt accrual accounting at both state (canton) and local levels of government in the 1980s. The Swiss federal government followed in 2007. The main examples of the use of accrual information in decision-making are: the focus on self-financing of investments in order to control borrowing, as well as the fiscal policy targets of debt reduction and maintenance of capital. All three require accrual basis information. Therefore accrual basis information is key in fiscal decision-making in Switzerland.     

Environmental management accounting in local government: Functional and institutional imperatives

The challenge of using environmental management accounting (EMA) tools such as full‐cost accounting to improve waste and recycling management has been acknowledged for over a decade. However, research on assessing and understanding local government use of EMA, especially broader levels of EMA, is lacking. This study investigates the link between the nature and drivers of EMA practice for waste and recycling services based on a survey conducted with local governments in New South Wales, Australia. The study finds that although social and organisational factors are related to the uptake of EMA, local governments are subject to stronger functional demands than institutional pressures in their use of more expansive EMA such as indirect and external costs and impacts. This implies that the use of EMA in local government is viewed more as an adaptive activity to cope with functional challenges and achieve efficiency, than as an institutional imperative to achieve social acceptance.     

Management accounting,performance measurement and strategy in English local authorities

This paper analyses the results of an extensive survey of UK local government which explored the relationship between strategy, management accounting practices (MAPs), and performance measurement techniques (PMTs). The research investigated a resource-based view of strategic capabilities and Porter’s strategic typologies. PMTs and MAPs were shown to be associated with strategic capabilities. Strategic typologies, however, were found to be only weakly associated with the use of PMTs and MAPs.     

New development: Integration of budget and governmental accounting in Mexican states

ABSTRACT

Mexico recently introduced an accounting–budgeting framework compatible with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). This article discusses the implementation of this framework, including the harmonization of information for the functional, administrative and economic budget categories for all Mexican states and for Mexico City. The author analysed public accounts and budgets prepared under the framework’s information requirements, as well as assessing the harmonization of accounts between the local, state and national levels of government. The results show an increase in both the amount and the harmonization of the public expenditure information being reported. This paper contributes to the literature of harmonization between financial reporting and budgeting processes (Dabbicco, G., & Mattei, G. (2020 Dabbicco, G. , & Mattei, G. (2020). The reconciliation of budgeting with financial reporting: A comparative study of Italy and the UK. Public Money & Management , 1–11. doi: 10.1080/09540962.2019.1708059 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The reconciliation of budgeting with financial reporting: A comparative study of Italy and the UK. Public Money & Management, 1–11).     

Multiple logics and accounting mutations in the Italian National Health Service

Traditional public administration (PA) relied on cash- or commitment-based budgets, while NPM advocated accruals accounting. Currently, Continental Europe is witnessing the re-emergence of the PA logic, but the relevant accounting implications have been insufficiently investigated. We focus on the Italian National Health Service. Our findings suggest that accruals accounting will not be repealed. However, accounting mutations will be introduced to increase consistency with the PA logic and budgetary accounting. Accruals accounting numbers will be interpreted and used accordingly. Great attention will be paid to nation-wide consolidated statements for the control of public finances, while faithful representation of individual organisations will be overshadowed.     

Participatory and incremental development in an African local government accounting reform

Despite significant donor funding, government accounting reforms seeking transparent and effective management of public resources often fail or have limited success, especially in Africa, prompting questions about donors’ implementation approach and calls for studies of successful reforms. This paper investigates a local government accounting reform in Benin supported by a German development agency–perceived as successful due to the participatory, pragmatic, and incremental approach reinforced by conditionalities in the face of neo‐patrimonial leadership.     

Legitimating the standard-setter of public sector accounting reforms

ABSTRACT

This paper shows how the Brazilian Treasury has developed strategies to build legitimacy in a civil law context where the legislature left a vacuum regarding the accrual accounting standard-setting mandate. While the accounting ‘rule-enforcers’ neglected to require compliance with the rules, the ‘rule-makers’ co-operated with each other to build normativity for accounting rules and eventually attempted to develop new forms of enforcement, which the ‘rule-appliers’ lobbied against.     

The Usefulness of Financial Reporting in Spanish Local Governments

Since 1992, accounting for Spanish local governments has been undergoing substantial change. The application of a new regulation has introduced the double entry system, an approximation to the accounting terminology used in the private sector and the presentation of financial statements beyond the purely budgetary reporting. In this context, the paper attempts to examine the extent to which the new regulation has achieved the objectives of financial reporting, who the users of the information could be, what the usefulness of the financial statements is and what they are used for in local governments. The results prove that the financial reporting of local governments can be useful for potential users like audit institutions, financial institutions or creditors. However, there is a long way to go before we can say that the information is used to the maximum. This implies that further progress is necessary in the use of financial information in local governments, and fundamentally it is necessary to introduce techniques of financial analysis traditionally used in business entities.