PUBLIC FINANCES CRISES WITHIN THE COUNTRIES OF PIIGS GROUP

Nowadays, the main problem of small firms is their low "survival". The limited access of small enterprises to reliable and well-prepared information about their condition and environment is one of the main reasons for this situation. It is known that such information determines the rationality of decisions and the effectiveness of achieving objectives which each company sets ahead. One of the key types of information used in management is financial information. From the perspective of further development of small businesses, diagnosing entrepreneurs’ information needs in this area is the very important issue. The fundamental source of financial information in the enterprise is the implemented and functioning accounting system. This system consists of methods, plans and procedures used for the identification, analysis, presentation and communication of the information about all phenomena related to corporate finance. In the Polish small enterprise sector there are four accounting systems related to the form of taxation chosen by the company. They have different details of recorded data and provided information. The main goal of the paper is to present results of the empirical research concerning information needs reported by managers of small enterprises in the context of accounting systems used in this sector. The research is aimed at verifying the two hypotheses. The first says that the accounting systems and entrepreneurs’ information needs are in close interdependence and the second claims that the Polish policy of accounting simplifications for small enterprises does not correspond with their information needs. The research was based on the questionnaire survey conducted among 1008 managers of small enterprises in Poland in mid. 2010. The presentation of the research results was preceded by a theoretical study, which consists of the definition of financial information together with the discussion of its role in enterprise management and the characteristics of accounting systems used in the small enterprise sector in Poland. The empirical research partially confirmed the hypothesis that information needs and the accounting system are interdependent. This relationship is stronger in the information support of the short-term management. The second hypothesis was verified as entirely positive. Accounting obligations for small enterprises are different in scope and capacity from their information needs.