A Historical Overview of Cost Accounting in Local Government

Rivenbark, William C.

doi:10.1177/0160323x0503700304

Cited by 17 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In a decision‐making environment that is both politicised and resource constrained, it is perhaps not surprising that additional investments in enhanced cost accounting systems are not accorded high priority. With regard to the US, Rivenbark (2005: 225) noted that ‘research from the past 100 years has corroborated the utility of cost accounting in local government’. Perplexingly, however, he also noted that ‘cost accounting has not been adopted or used in local government in any systematic way’ (2005: 225).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This, in turn, would assist in evaluating the role of prices in promoting an economically efficient allocation of resources (Bird 2001). However, it is well known that calculating and accumulating costs is often a subjective process and this is particularly so if the underlying cost data is incomplete or lacking in reliability (see, for example, Worthington and Dollery 2002: 454; Groot and Budding 2004: 441; Rivenbark 2005: 225; Dollery et al 2006: 64).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Price Setting Practices in Australian Local Government

Carnegie¹,

Tuck²,

West³

2011

Australian Accounting Review

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Revenues generated on a ‘fee‐for‐service’ or ‘user‐pays’ basis are a significant source of income for Australian local governments. However, how local governments set prices and charges remains under‐explicated. This article reports empirical evidence obtained on the pricing policies and practices of Australian local governments. The responses to a national survey reveal considerable diversity – and often an apparent lack of ‘rationality’– in setting specific prices. Instead, general ‘across the board’ adjustments to historical prices are typically made to assist in balancing budgets. The cost of service delivery is neither a prominent nor standardised input to pricing decisions.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Price Setting Practices in Australian Local Government

Carnegie¹,

Tuck²,

West³

2011

Australian Accounting Review

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“…This research shows that the relationship between performance measurement and cost accounting for government is not as straightforward as previously thought. It meets the need to address the underdevelopment of cost accounting in U.S. governments (Rivenbark ), and it informs how we understand performance measurement in relationship to other organizational controls such as cost accounting. As modeled in this research, the relationships between performance and cost accounting underscore the need for understanding the multilevel relationships between different types of control systems.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the exception of the Benchmarking Project and the performance budgeting proposals, this appears to be the case. Cost accounting in government is largely a neglected field of study (GAO ; Rivenbark ), even though performance management theory and leading practice in business organizations base programmatic and service performance evaluations upon solid managerial cost accounting. As Schick noted almost a half century ago, the budget and resource allocation exercise may have shifted toward a focus on planning and long term performance, which may have encouraged the shift toward more output and outcome performance measurement.…”

Section: The Complementary Model Of Performance Measurement and Cost mentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Measurement and Cost Accounting: Are They Complementary or Competing Systems of Control?

Mohr

2015

Public Administration Review

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In the public administration literature, research on performance measurement has recognized the important place of cost accounting in relation to performance. Extant research, such as the North Carolina Benchmarking Program, supports the proposition that performance and cost accounting naturally complement each other to increase trust in performance information and increase organizational learning. Other statements about cost accounting suggest that performance measurement and cost accounting compete as systems of control. This research uses general cost accounting plan information and performance measurements in the budgets of large U.S. cities to test the competing and complementary control relationship at the organizational and service levels. It finds that performance measurements and cost accounting are negatively related at the service level, which supports the competing control system hypothesis. At the organizational level, performance and cost accounting are positively related but not at traditional levels of significance. Practitioner Points• While cost accounting and performance can be used together in public organizations, this analysis shows that these systems have competing relationships that do not often allow them to work together, as benchmarking and performance budgeting theories suggest. • These findings follow the theory that principal's and agent's preferences for performance measurement and cost accounting vary throughout the hierarchy of public organizations. • This research provides strong cautions against the assumption of easy integration of cost accounting and performance measurement and the need for leadership in cost and performance management.

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“…Askarany and Smith conducted research on composting production in New Zealand which resulted in the determination of compost production costs using a Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing approach with a single driver method for each cost hierarchy 9 . Meanwhile, research conducted by Lim on newly industrialized countries revealed that the Full Cost Accounting approach may be used by waste management industries because it makes it possible to include the external costs of environmental decision making, specifically relating to encouraging sustainable development in various fields 10 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstruction of the Accounting System for the Bioposka Fertilizer Inventory: The Application of Soft Systems Methodology in the Botanic Garden of Indonesia

Santiecha¹,

Nordiawan²

2018

Proceedings of the 6th International Accounting Conference (IAC 2017)

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The government must have an accounting system that contains the procedures for and requirements of managing resources owned, as a reliable accounting system is a reflection of the government's accountability for the public and is useful in designing policies to realize good governance. This study identifies several key issues related to the implementation of an accounting system for the bioposka fertilizer inventory, such as: inadequate recording of bioposka fertilizer, measurement of bioposka fertilizer based on selling price, inadequate presentation of the bioposka fertilizer inventory in the Balance Sheet and of expenses in the Operational Report, insufficient disclosure notes to financial statements, and supporting issues including a lack of employee competency and the less-than-optimal role of General Bureau as inventory manager. Using Soft Systems Methodology (SSM 1 ), this research performs a reconstruction of the accounting system through four stages, namely: identifying the problematical situations which are then depicted in a rich picture, creating a conceptual model, carrying out a discussion, and formulating recommendations. It is suggested that those problematical situations be resolved by the related actors and institutions undertaking the following actions: repairing the inventory accounting procedure of the bioposka fertilizer, improving employee competency, and optimizing the role of General Bureau as the inventory manager. This research can be used as the basis on which to design an accounting system consisting of procedures and policies related to the accounting treatment of the bioposka fertilizer in the Botanic Garden of Indonesia.

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A Historical Overview of Cost Accounting in Local Government

Cited by 17 publications

References 15 publications

Price Setting Practices in Australian Local Government

Price Setting Practices in Australian Local Government

Performance Measurement and Cost Accounting: Are They Complementary or Competing Systems of Control?

Reconstruction of the Accounting System for the Bioposka Fertilizer Inventory: The Application of Soft Systems Methodology in the Botanic Garden of Indonesia

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