Année
2007
Abstract
This article responds to the preceding paper by Allan Barton by reviewing the practitioner and academic literature on accrual accounting in a general government sector context. It considers why that literature has a preponderance of assertion and is underweight in evidence. It argues that Barton’s paper, while being a useful addition to the calls for improvements to the model of accrual accounting applied to GGS organisations, has flaws in its assertions as to the superiority of accrual accounting per se. These flaws are an absence of supporting evidence and a confusion between internal and external accounting.
CHRISTENSEN, M. (2007). What We Might Know (But Aren’t Sure) About Public-Sector Accrual Accounting. Australian Accounting Review, 17(41), pp. 51-65.