Attempts at making public sector accrual accounting and reporting useful and useable: The preparers’ perspective

Using the accounting process framework, we illustrate the varied attempts preparers have taken with regard to making accrual accounting and reporting (AAR) useful and useable for prospective users. Our longitudinal analysis, spanning the years 2008–2021, centres on the experiences of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries. The data were gathered from observations and informal conversations at meetings of the OECD Senior Budget Officials Network on Financial Management and Reporting, and a review of corresponding publicly available official documents and presentations. Our findings cast light on the reasons for the diversity in the practice and the use of AAR among the OECD member states, although guided by the same norms cascaded down from the accounting environment. Preparers in member states are shaping AAR differently within their own contexts than those prescribed by the accounting environment, as they have learned from their experience of dealing with users and their information needs. The scale of this diversity is determined by the extent to which AAR reforms correspond to the member states’ accounting contexts. The harmonisation of AAR thus appears a more elusive goal owing to the varied approaches that the preparers have chosen to make AAR useful and useable within their local settings.