Determinants of Accountability of Village Fund Management: Evidence From Siak Regency, Indonesia

This study aimed to examine the effects of the Village Financial System, village officials' competence, and community participation on the accountability of village fund management in villages located in Siak and Mempura Subdistricts, Siak Regency, Indonesia. The study employed a quantitative approach with an associative-causal design. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaires distributed to village heads, village secretaries, and heads of financial affairs. The study applied a purposive sampling technique and obtained data from 33 respondents. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression after passing data quality tests and classical assumption tests. The results showed that the Village Financial System had a positive and significant effect on the accountability of village fund management, with a regression coefficient of 0.744 and a significance value below 0.001. Village officials' competence demonstrated a positive but statistically insignificant effect, with a regression coefficient of 0.040 and a significance value of 0.472. Community participation had a positive and significant effect, with a regression coefficient of 0.270 and a significance value below 0.001. The independent variables jointly exerted a significant effect on the accountability of village fund management, with an F-statistic of 144.182 and a significance value below 0.001. The adjusted coefficient of determination of 0.931 indicated that 93.1 percent of the variation in accountability was explained by the model. These findings indicated that strengthening the implementation of the Village Financial System and encouraging greater community participation could enhance accountability in village fund management, while improving the competence of village officials alone might not be sufficient to produce a significant improvement in accountability.