Beyond compliance toward effective use: how mandatory use and inter-agency coordination shape sustainable e-budgeting adoption in Bandung City, Indonesia

Background E-budgeting is expected to improve transparency, traceability, plan–budget consistency, and accountability in local public financial management. However, in mandatory-use settings, formal system use does not necessarily translate into sustainable adoption or high-quality enactment across inter-agency workflows. In cross-unit budgeting systems, sustainable adoption depends not only on system availability but also on whether coordination supports stable and reliable use over time. Objective This study examines how mandatory use and inter-agency coordination shape sustainable Local Government Information System (LGIS) e-budgeting adoption in Bandung City, Indonesia. Methods Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design (QUAN → QUAL), the study surveyed 142 LGIS e-budgeting users across participating local government agencies and analyzed the proposed model using Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). To explain the quantitative patterns, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with informants drawn from budgeting/planning units, ICT support, oversight functions, and implementing agencies. Results The findings show that sustainable e-budgeting adoption in a mandatory-use setting depends less on formal obligation alone than on whether users develop a favorable attitude toward the system and can enact it effectively across interdependent budgeting workflows. Attitude emerged as the central mechanism shaping continued engagement and effective use. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, commitment–trust, and relational norms supported this process, whereas transaction-cost frictions weakened it. The qualitative findings further indicate that mandatory use secures procedural compliance, but sustainable adoption requires coordination capacity that reduces rework, stabilizes routines, and preserves process continuity across agencies. Conclusion/Implications Mandatory e-government adoption is better understood not as simple compliance, but as a transition from procedural compliance toward internalization and effective use. In this process, inter-agency coordination functions as an organizational capability that enables sustainable adoption by reducing transaction burdens and stabilizing cross-unit budgeting routines. Policy priorities include clearer standard operating procedures, responsive peak-cycle support, formal escalation and exception-handling routines, and stronger process governance to reduce repeated reconciliation and cross-unit misalignment.