Based on governmental accounting experiences and on the rising criticism considering accrual accounting, this paper aims at proposing that accrual accounting in governments will only succeed in the coming years in businesslike (parts of) governments. This proposition mainly leans on the...

This article analyzes the relationships that exist between semi-autonomous agencies, departments and ministers. In theory, agencies have a significant amount of autonomy. However, in practice, this autonomy seems to be hollowed out by both ministers and departments. Politicians no longer are...

Many authors have claimed that New Public Management (NPM) has entailed a paradigm shift away from traditional public administration. This claim is literally based on the formulations of Thomas Kuhn: NPM is said to change the assumptions of the traditional paradigm and thereby causing a...

Although accrual accounting has become increasingly more popular in many governments over recent years, some issues remain unresolved. Previous literature questioned whether non-business-like governmental assets can be adequately capitalized. Whereas these studies mostly focussed on specific...

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) is the sole international public sector accounting standard setter worldwide. Its standards (IPSASs) are essentially based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) issued for the private sector, with...

This study explores why small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) engage in outsourcing of accounting services. We expand the transaction cost economics model by adding the variable resource deficit from resource-based theory, while controlling for personal characteristics of the SME executive...

Purpose: Firstly, this paper investigates the sourcing strategy of small and medium sized companies (SMEs) in terms of accounting tasks. Secondly, this paper also attempts to find motivations for the sourcing strategy of accounting. Thirdly, this paper investigates whether the sourcing strategy...

In contrast to the extant research on audit fees of for-profit companies, literature on nonprofit audit fees is scant. In this paper, audit fee determinants of previous research are tested in a nonprofit market that is characterized by a relatively low dominance of BIG4 auditors, low litigation...

Nonprofit organizations worldwide are confronted with an increasing demand for accountability and improved financial transparency. Financial reporting by nonprofit organizations is no longer an exception, it has become a rule. The usefulness of a financial report to an organization’s...

Nurturing and growing innovative start-ups has become an important point on the political agenda. However, many financial schemes and incubation initiatives that were started up in the mid-nineties were cancelled or down scaled after the dot com bubble. There was a consensus that innovative...