Pub Date : 2018-07-17DOI: 10.4324/9781315121727-12
Robyn Pilcher
{"title":"Conclusion and globalising accounting, accountability and governance","authors":"Robyn Pilcher","doi":"10.4324/9781315121727-12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315121727-12","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":315824,"journal":{"name":"Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Governance","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117030142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There has been a recent trend towards the use of performance indicators – often predicated on financial data – to enhance accountability and transparency of local government both in Australia and abroad. However, performance management also brings with it a range of risks including inter alia unintended performance distortion, synecdochal gap and intended distortions. This chapter reviews the substantial scholarly literature on government performance management before applying the concepts to a particular instance of high stakes performance management: the New South Wales Fit for the Future program. Fit for the Future required councils to self-assess against seven ratios drawn from financial statement data. Councils which failed to achieve the prescribed benchmarks were subject to forced amalgamations. Empirical evidence is provided which suggests significant levels of distortion in the performance management data. It is argued that careful design and testing of ratios – in order to avoid deleterious outcomes – is extremely important in any performance management regime, irrespective of whether accounting data from audited financial statements is used.
{"title":"Just do it? A cautionary tale on implementing performance management regimes","authors":"J. Drew, S. Gamage","doi":"10.4324/9781315121727-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315121727-9","url":null,"abstract":"There has been a recent trend towards the use of performance indicators – often predicated on financial data – to enhance accountability and transparency of local government both in Australia and abroad. However, performance management also brings with it a range of risks including inter alia unintended performance distortion, synecdochal gap and intended distortions. This chapter reviews the substantial scholarly literature on government performance management before applying the concepts to a particular instance of high stakes performance management: the New South Wales Fit for the Future program. Fit for the Future required councils to self-assess against seven ratios drawn from financial statement data. Councils which failed to achieve the prescribed benchmarks were subject to forced amalgamations. Empirical evidence is provided which suggests significant levels of distortion in the performance management data. It is argued that careful design and testing of ratios – in order to avoid deleterious outcomes – is extremely important in any performance management regime, irrespective of whether accounting data from audited financial statements is used.","PeriodicalId":315824,"journal":{"name":"Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Governance","volume":"133 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132406705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Depreciation in local government—still the problems continue","authors":"Robyn Pilcher","doi":"10.4324/9781315121727-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315121727-3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":315824,"journal":{"name":"Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Governance","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126673999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this chapter, the changes that have occurred in the Australian government’s(Commonwealth) accounting systems and its reporting/disclosure regimes over the last 30 years and the consequential effects on accountability will be considered. Many of these changes result from a combination of several factors (Broadbent & Guthrie 1992; Ryan 1995). One of the factors proposed as being a catalyst for the changes is the emergence of the ‘new right’ and its promotion of market solutions to public sector resourcing problems (Hood 1991). Whilst the focus here is on the Australian Commonwealth government, it is also relevant to the various state governments within Australia that have adopted similar changes and to international jurisdictions since these changes have also occurred in other western democracies. As an example, accrual accounting, badged as resource accounting, was introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2001 (Connolly & Hyndman 2006). There were in the UK, as there had been in Australia, concerns about the ability of accrual accounting to deliver effective accountability mechanisms (Carlin 2005).
{"title":"The consequences of the current public sector reporting framework for government accountability and decision making","authors":"J. Mack","doi":"10.4324/9781315121727-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315121727-4","url":null,"abstract":"In this chapter, the changes that have occurred in the Australian government’s(Commonwealth) accounting systems and its reporting/disclosure regimes over the last 30 years and the consequential effects on accountability will be considered. Many of these changes result from a combination of several factors (Broadbent & Guthrie 1992; Ryan 1995). One of the factors proposed as being a catalyst for the changes is the emergence of the ‘new right’ and its promotion of market solutions to public sector resourcing problems (Hood 1991). Whilst the focus here is on the Australian Commonwealth government, it is also relevant to the various state governments within Australia that have adopted similar changes and to international jurisdictions since these changes have also occurred in other western democracies. As an example, accrual accounting, badged as resource accounting, was introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2001 (Connolly & Hyndman 2006). There were in the UK, as there had been in Australia, concerns about the ability of accrual accounting to deliver effective accountability mechanisms (Carlin 2005).","PeriodicalId":315824,"journal":{"name":"Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Governance","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114299606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-07-17DOI: 10.4324/9781315121727-10
D. Gilchrist, Sian Flynne, Robyn Pilcher
{"title":"The intention and the reality","authors":"D. Gilchrist, Sian Flynne, Robyn Pilcher","doi":"10.4324/9781315121727-10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315121727-10","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":315824,"journal":{"name":"Public Sector Accounting, Accountability and Governance","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126320302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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