Premium
MIND YOUR ACCRUALS: PERCEIVED USEFULNESS OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION IN THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SECTOR UNDER DIFFERENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS
Author(s) -
Kober Ralph,
Lee Janet,
Ng Juliana
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
financial accountability and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.661
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1468-0408
pISSN - 0267-4424
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0408.2010.00502.x
Subject(s) - accrual , accounting , accounting information system , business , perception , cash , accounting standard , government (linguistics) , public sector , financial accounting , economics , finance , psychology , earnings , linguistics , philosophy , economy , neuroscience
This study examines the usefulness of three accounting systems (cash, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) accrual, and Government Finance Statistics (GFS) accrual) for public sector decision‐making. From a survey of internal users, external users, and preparers in Australia, we find that GAAP accrual information is perceived to be relatively more useful and understandable than the other two systems for most decisions examined. The relatively higher ratings for GAAP accrual information differ from earlier studies and may reflect an experience or familiarity effect whereby perceptions of usefulness are enhanced because respondents have become more used to the system. This effect might also explain the lower ratings for GFS accrual.