The usefulness of reporting information on the commitment of budget expenditures in the light of local government units

Purpose: The budget reporting system plays an important role in reporting the achievements of local government units regarding how these entities communicate with the environment and various stakeholder groups. The main purpose of the study is to assess the usefulness of reporting information on budget expenditures by selected local government units. The authors were interested in the importance of budget expendi-ture commitments, their functions, and whether the commitment of budget expendi-tures should be presented in the reporting system of local government units.Methodology/approach: The article contains a review of the literature on the subject and legal acts. In the empirical part, the study covers annual budget reports RB-28S from the implementation of the financial plan of budgetary expenditures for the years 20192021 of local government units. r-Pearsons linear correlation analysis was used. Findings: Statistical inference confirmed the low relevance of the expenditure commitment category in budget reporting. A very strong positive correlation with realized expenditures shows that showing the involvement of expenditures next to the incurred expenditures only doubles the value of expenditures. Research limitations/implications: The article may be an inspiration for further research, including comparative research, on the same units or extended to other local government units. Originality/value: The authors draw attention to the lack of research on the usefulness of financial data presented in the budget reporting system.