Accruals Accounting in Government – Developments in Malaysia

Accruals accounting by governments has been successfully adopted in several countries. This study examines the move to accruals accounting in the United Kingdom and compares this with developments in Malaysia. In the UK, it is argued that the principles of accruals accounting were introduced primarily for managerial accounting and control purposes. Malaysia has also focused primarily on management accounting initiatives for the development of governmental accounting and is now considering the use of accruals accounting in an attempt to improve further its financial management procedures. The work draws on the results of a questionnaire survey of government accountants in Malaysia.