List of Titles

Accountability and giving accounts

- Hardy, Leslie, Ballis, Harry

Authors: Hardy, Leslie , Ballis, Harry
Date: 2013
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Vol. 26, no. 4 (2013), p. 539-566
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Description: Purpose - Focusing on Sanitarium, a commercial-charity operating as a department of a church, the paper aims to use Mashaw's taxonomy to examine this organisation's informal reporting in the context of accountability. Design methodology approach - The paper adopts a case study approach and draws on data gathered from primary and secondary archival sources, interviews with key informants, and reports in the public media. Findings - The paper examines Sanitarium, a hybrid organisation that has made informal account giving its primary means of reporting to constituents and the general public. It reveals that while the informal reporting blurs the boundaries of reporting regimes, the informal account always discloses something more, has the spirit of accountability and provides insight into the organisation that otherwise would not be accessible. The paper shows the usefulness of applying Mashaw's framework to examine the accountability practices of organisations in the third sector. Originality value - The paper extends understanding into the nature of accountability by highlighting the contribution of informal account giving, the role of stakeholder perceptions in determining what counts as accountability, and the benefits of using a framework that can be applied to all commercial organisations, including faith organisations. The paper focuses on an area of study that has been acknowledged as under-researched and contributes to the knowledge of accountability in religious organisations.

Environmental event materiality and decision making

- Faux, Jeffrey

Authors: Faux, Jeffrey
Date: 2012
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Managerial Auditing Journal Vol. 27, no. 3 (2012), p. 284-298
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Description: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate environmental event materiality and user decision making, providing an empirical basis for reporting entities disclosures regarding material environmental events that further users' ability to make decisions. Design/methodology/approach - A vignette describing an environmental event facing a company was provided to participants who were asked whether the event was deemed to be material and, second, whether the event would initiate an action or no action decision. The use of an experimental approach reveals results regarding the decision-making process of users rather than relying on respondents stating preferences. Findings - Results indicate that user groups consider the environmental event to be material at a threshold of 6 percent. The determination of the event as material results in a "no action" decision that suggests isolated events of this size may not result in "action" decisions. The study has implications for policy makers and entities disclosing environmental events. Research limitations/implications - The experimental research approach adopted is primarily limited by the specific contextual nature of the event. Originality/value - Entity reporting of environmental events is receiving unprecedented levels of interest and this paper contributes to the materiality research and practice in this area. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Governance and accountability in Australian charitable organisations: Perceptions from CFOs

- Dellaportas, Steven, Langton, Jonathan, West, Brian

Authors: Dellaportas, Steven , Langton, Jonathan , West, Brian
Date: 2012
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: International Journal of Accounting and Information Management Vol. 20, no. 3 (2012), p. 238-254
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Description: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of senior accounting officers on governance, performance and accountability issues in the charity sector. Design/methodology/approach - The empirical data presented in this paper were collected via a mail-out survey to Chief Financial Officers (CFO) of large charity organisations in Australia. Findings - The executives surveyed agreed that the public is entitled to receive high quality financial disclosures from charities, favouring "programme accountability", "fiscal accountability" and "profit" as relevant performance indicators rather than cash surplus/deficit. The respondents also considered that charities warrant a dedicated accounting standard but were less enthusiastic about an independent regulator with stronger control functions. Research limitations/implications - The data in this study report the opinions of financial executives which may not represent the view of all managing executives. Originality/value - While governance in charities has been examined previously from an organisational or management perspective, this is one of the few papers that emphasises how members of the accounting profession view this important topic.

All for Nothing? Accounting for Land under Roads by Australian Local Governments

- Elhawary, Hassan, West, Brian

Authors: Elhawary, Hassan , West, Brian
Date: 2015
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Australian Accounting Review Vol. 25, no. 1 (2015), p. 38-44
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Description: Accounting for land under roads by local governments has been one of the most controversial and protracted episodes in the setting of Australian accounting standards. However, after more than two decades of exposure drafts, regulation, transitional provisions and re-regulation, most land under roads has not been recognised in local government balance sheets. Australian Accounting Standard AAS 27 Financial Reporting by Local Governments was first issued in 1991 and, among other significant reforms, proposed that local governments report land under roads as an asset in their financial reports. However, persistent opposition to this requirement and practical difficulties associated with its implementation gave rise to a succession of transitional provisions deferring its mandatory application. Finally, in 2007 - 16 years after AAS 27 was first promulgated - the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) sought to bring closure to this issue with the release of AASB 1051 Land Under Roads. However, in the interim some state governments had pursued their own resolutions, forbidding the recognition of land under roads. This research reports the results of a survey of the impact of land under roads on local government financial reports. After two decades of debate and regulation, diversity is found to persist in the extent and manner of recognition of this 'asset'. However, recognition remains the exception rather than the norm and is typically confined to recent acquisitions that comprise only a very small portion of total assets. These circumstances are suggestive of an episode of regulatory failure. © 2015 CPA Australia.

The life and thought of Robert Keith Yorston: An advocate for accounting reform

- Anderson, Ray, Gaffikin, Michael, Singh, Geeta

Authors: Anderson, Ray , Gaffikin, Michael , Singh, Geeta
Date: 2014
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Accounting History Vol. 19, no. 4 (November 2014), p. 533-556
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Description: Sir Robert Keith Yorston (1902-1983) was an Australian business educator and practitioner. He was a prolific author whose textbooks were adopted by the professional bodies, technical colleges and universities both in Australia and New Zealand. A large part of Yorston's career was devoted to the Australian Accountancy College. Yorston was at the forefront of the professional dialogue on the quality of financial reporting in Australia. He also advocated improvements in matters of corporate governance including gender equality and employee reporting. It is argued that many of Yorston's ideas were ahead of their time, and there is a need for an awareness of his contribution to accounting thought and practice. This article is an acknowledgement of Yorston's endeavours. It recognizes his contribution to accounting education, the profession and the wider community. In so doing, it traces an important chapter in the history of accounting education and practice in Australia.

Financial reporting and accountability in charitable organisations

- Dellaportas, Steven, Langton, Jonathan, West, Brian

Authors: Dellaportas, Steven , Langton, Jonathan , West, Brian
Date: 2008
Type: Text , Conference paper
Relation: Paper presented at 2008 AFAANZ / IAAER Conference, Sydney, New South Wales : 6th-8th July 2008
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Description: The not-for-profit sector is made up of approximately 700,000 entities employing around 600,000 people and controlling assets up to $70 billion, with the largest charities comparing favourably in size and value to big business. While it is expected that many charitable organisations are well-managed and make a significant contribution to society, a lack of good governance and/or accountability could have devastating affects on the community. Official inquiries into the not-for-profit sector have questioned the lack of transparency and accountability created by a complex legal and regulatory regime. Critics of the existing regime have called for reforms including mandatory financial reporting requirements and an independent regulator to enhance public accountability and organizational efficiency and performance. This study provides an insight into the financial reporting activities of Australia’s largest charities so as to provide a measure of the extent to which charities meet public expectations of accountability. This involved the examination of over 100 publicly available reports for charitable organizations and the administration of a questionnaire. The majority of charities examined in this study provide community, welfare or health services, employ over 100 employees, and rely on a similar number of volunteers to assist with their activities. We have attempted to shed light on a significant failure of the not-for-profit sector to date, in that although our research highlights inconsistencies in reporting formats, ambiguus financial information and a high proportion of qualified audit reports there is a strong belief from charity organisations that the public is entitled to receive quality information on financial performance, suggesting that increased financial disclosures would be beneficial to the charitable sector. Respondents supported ‘programme accountability’ (89.1%), ‘fiscal accountability’ (78.2%) and ‘profit’ (76.6%) as suitable measures of performance with the circumstances of not-for-profit organisations sufficiently different to require a specific and dedicated accounting standard for the sector.
Description: 2003006345

Accounting's chaotic margins : Financial reporting of the library collections of Australia's public universities, 2002-2006

- West, Brian, Carnegie, Garry

Authors: West, Brian , Carnegie, Garry
Date: 2010
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal Vol. 23, no. 2 (2010), p. 201-228
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Description: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the circumstances and implications of an episode of accounting change arising from the extended use of accrual accounting within the Australian public sector. The matter under scrutiny is the reporting of the library collections of Australia's public universities as assets in general purpose financial reports. Design/methodology/approach: A survey is undertaken of the annual reports of Australia's 36 public universities for the period 2002 to 2006. The analysis of the findings is informed by new institutional sociology (NIS), with a focus on mimetic processes, and the concept of "accounting's margins". Findings: The survey reveals considerable diversity and subjectivity in the accounting practices adopted, as well as instances of sudden and dramatic changes in carrying values. The financial reporting of library collections is depicted as a "chaotic margin" of accounting, and the technical propriety of attempting to express and account for these non-financial resources in financial terms is rendered problematic. Originality/value: The study questions the reliability and usefulness of the information reported, with implications for the accountability of the institutions surveyed as well as the accounting profession in the comparatively neglected domain of the public sector. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

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