Abstract This article presents a discussion of management accounting techniques appropriate to governments and to gain insight into the techniques by surveying a sample of the Government Finance Officers Association's membership. In governmental accounting, most responsibility centers are expenditure centers, measuring the manager's performance by an expenditure dominant factor in operational control. The managerial complexities in local governments, such as cities, counties and special tax districts impose an obligation upon the accounting profession and a challenge to the management accountant in particular, to furnish sufficient, relevant information for informed decision making. The management of public entities in an effective, efficient manner is rapidly becoming increasingly important in light of budget shortfalls and public demands for more and better services.
Cox et al. (1989) studied this question.