In recent years, the local government sector in European countries has undergone important changes involving, among other things, the externalisation of local public service provision through various forms of corporatisation, public-public collaboration, public-private partnerships and contracting out. An important consequence of these institutional changes has been the recasting of local governance systems through the need for increased cooperation between public and private actors. This article addresses these matters with comparative reference to the experience in Italy and Sweden. In doing so, it considers local governments in their constitutional and legal contexts, leading to more detailed discussions of their externalisation initiatives and resultant organisational forms and governance arrangements. Issues of ownership have been important concerning the significance of 'community' and 'place' in the management of public affairs.
This study analyses whether municipal ownership affects and determines audit fees. Our model of the determinants of audit fees was tested on data from 249 Swedishmunicipal and 240 private corporations within the real estate industry, thus extendingthe study of audit fees to hybrid organizations. The statistical analysis was followedup with interviews of five partners from five different audit firms. The resultof the study shows that municipal corporations are paying significantly lower auditfees than equivalent private corporations. This finding is primarily explained bylower perceived business risk and by the fact that municipalities are able to pushprices by coordinating procurements of audit services.
Redovisningen spelar en central roll i samhället genom att skapa transparens i näringsliv och offentlig sektor. Kraven på transparens ökar och redovisningen vidareutvecklas och anpassas till en global marknad. Bland studenter i företagsekonomi är det populärt att läsa redovisning. Men det råder stor brist på kompetenta universitetslärare i redovisning i Sverige
Accounting choice has been explained mainly by two separate theories, positive accounting theory (PAT) and institutional theory (IT). The two theories are used in conjunction in this paper in order to derive an eclectic explanation of accounting choice. We term the effort an “eclectic accounting theory” (EAT). The theory is tested by deriving hypotheses about the choices for determining impairments according to IAS 36 (Impairment of Assets). The hypotheses are evaluated on a sample of 608 company-years of listed Swedish corporations during the years 2002–2004. Our model of general factors influencing accounting choice was able to predict 10% of the variance, indicating that the choice of impairments is induced by general business factors, institutional factors, and agency.
This chapter contributes to the understanding of how change within auditing is initiated and formed through collaboration and negotiation between FAR and other actors within the organisational field of municipal auditing in Sweden. The empirical data is based on documents and interviews with actors within and outside the audit profession. Thus, the data represents different perspectives and interests throughout the change process. The analyses show that it was different partial jolts that made the various actors feel institutional pressure to get involved in the change process. At the end of the change process, an additional partial jolt, initiated by an outside actor, facilitated and accelerated the process as it reinforced the understanding of interdependence between the actors involved.
This paper is aimed at explaining how time budget pressure influences audit quality in the Swedish context. A hypothesis is deduced and tested through a survey sent to Swedish auditors. The Swedish context provides a special setting since audit firms and auditors have been facing new pressures due, for example, to the removal of statutory audits for a majority of the companies in Sweden. The findings show that time budget pressure lowers the quality of audits performed by Swedish auditors, but it is not the only explanation. Audit quality is so related to other factors such as gender, position, experience, number of clients, local office size and audit firm. Thus, the model is useful for explaining the factors influencing audit uality and could be used and expanded in future studies. The study also has practical implications showing that when trading-off between audit efforts and available resources and setting time budgets for each audit assignment, audit firms should also consider the personal characteristics of the auditors.
The demand for information and transparency from listed corporations has recently increased. In spite of an increased demand for mandatory disclosures from regulators, corporations choose to voluntarily disclose additional information in order to satisfy demands from the capital market. However, the extent and content of information in those voluntary disclosures vary across corporations. The aim of this study is to explain the variation in the content of information in voluntary disclosures by listed corporations. The analyses are based on data collected from 431 annual reports from corporations listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the years 2002 and 2005. The findings support explanations from agency theory and positive accounting theory that size and the debt ratio are positively correlated with the content of information in voluntary disclosures. Corporations with a high share of management ownership disclosed less information than corporations with a low share of management ownership. The study also shows that variations in voluntary disclosures can be explained by factors derived from institutional theory and ‘international capital market pressures’. The results indicate that foreign ownership and international listing to some extent have a positive effect on the content of information in voluntary disclosures. Industry was another factor that had a significant influence on voluntary disclosures. One important finding is that regulation to some extent can stimulate voluntary disclosures; our results did not indicate an ‘unintended chilling effect’ due to too much regulation. In general, the corporations disclosed more voluntary information after the introduction of IFRS.
The attractiveness of audit firms as employers appears to have decreased in recent yearsand the audit profession is currently experiencing high employee turnover. A shortage of personnelincreases the risk of long-term stress and illness. This paper therefore proposes audit firmemployees’ well-being as an important research topic and explores the antecedents of well-being ofSwedish audit firm employees in comparison with those of other business professionals. Based ona nationwide survey of members of the Swedish association of business professionals, with a focuson psychological well-being (measured through General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12)), thestudy shows that the psychological well-being of the professionals in this study generally alignswith the results from similar studies in a Swedish context. However, the findings indicate that auditindustry respondents have the lowest psychological well-being and that employer change, jobsatisfaction, and life satisfaction were the strongest antecedents of their psychological well-being.
As change sweeps across the public sector, a huge range of accounting and financial management challenges are created. This textbook analyses the reforms that are being introduced to deal with these challenges and their global impact on the public sector.
Readers are provided with an international overview of government accounting, reporting, management control, cost accounting, budgeting and auditing. In explaining how innovative financial management tools are utilized in the public sector, the authors address a number of emerging issues:
This concise and accessible textbook will be core reading for public sector accounting and financial management students and will also be required reading for students of public management and administration more generally. Managers, accountants, consultants and auditors working in the public sector will also find the book a useful reference.
I syfte att utveckla kvaliteten på kommuners sammanställda redovisning har Rådet för Kommunal Redovisning (RKR) tagit fram en skrift som är tänkt att utgöra ett stöd för dem som arbetar med att ta fram sammanställd redovisning. I denna artikel diskuterar författarna till skriften, Jörgen Carlsson och Niklas Sandell, tillsammans med Torbjörn Tagesson, kanslichef vid RKR, den kommunala redovisningens utmaningar och några av RKR:s ställningstaganden avseende de riktlinjer som gäller vid framtagande av en kommunal koncernredovisning.
With the purpose of explaining professional audit costs in Swedish municipalities, we hypothesised that audit costs are partly driven by various signalling and monitoring incentives in order to manage stakeholder relationships. Our model of the determinants of audit costs was tested on data from Swedish municipalities, thus extending the study of audit costs to political organisations in a Scandinavian institutional context. The test supported to some extent the traditional propositions of organisational complexity, risk and market determinants, as well as the proposition of the political environment. Our results indicate that audit costs are used to signal accountability, thereby suggesting that audit as a signal could be managed without managing professional auditors.
Studenternas akademiska förmåga ökar inte genom att de får fler timmar undervisning av akademiskt undermåliga lärare, skriver professorerna Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin och Torbjörn Tagesson i en replik.
We present a model of supervising bachelor and master theses that we have developed at Kristianstad University in Sweden. It emphasizes 1.) engagement, in that the research engaged supervisor becomes engaged in both the subject of the thesis and the students writing it; 2.) the Humboldt principle, in that teachers and students collaborate for mutual benefit; 3.) the Socratic method, in that the supervisor drives students´ learning through posing questions. The model implies intense and frequent supervision, seminars with students as opponents and respondents, and finally, popular presentation, where the results are presented for an educated public. The examination of the theses have the double function of securing high standard examination and to develop the staff in their supervisory and examinatory skills. The direction of the supervisory team is mainly made through common norms, such as a thesis have to be driven by theory, methodological pragmatism implying that the problem, not the authors preferences, determine which analytical method to use and empirical orientation that theories needs to be tested or evaluated. The model described has shown good results, both in national evaluations and through number of scientific publications.
Den 1 februari 2020 klassades covid-19 som en sammhällsfarlig sjukdom. Händelseförloppet och tidpunkten väckte frågan om i vilken usträckning pandemin fångadess upp i kommuners årsredovisning som väsentlig händelse efter balansdagen. Svaret ledde också fram till mer grundläggande frågor kring årsredovisningens aktualitet.
Previous research on the private sector shows that auditors and auditing firms areimportant actors in ensuring high-quality reporting based on accrual accounting. Theaim of this study is to explore whether audit firms and audit costs/fees influencemunicipalities’ probability of applying earnings management in their annual accounts.The empirical data, which covered the financial years 2011–13, were handpicked fromannual reports or retrieved from other sources. In general, our study shows that theprobability of earnings management increased if audit costs/fees increased. However,there were differences regarding the probability of earnings management relating towhich audit firm was engaged. This implies that audit quality is a factor that affects theprobability of earnings management in Swedish municipalities. The study also indicatesthat different audit firms make different trade-offs between professional versus commerciallogics, and that this is reflected in the clients’ propensity to engage in earningsmanagement.
En förklaring till bristande revisionskvalitet i den kommunala sektorn, som ofta lyfts fram av både kritikerna och förespråkarna av nuvarande ordning, är bristen på resurser. Det vi vet från tidigare studier är att hur mycket resurser som läggs på revision och sakkunniga biträden varierar betydligt mellan landets kommuner, men det saknas empiriska studier om hur olika resurs-
nivåer påverkar revisionens kvalitet. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att ta reda på om kvaliteten på yrkesrevisionen påverkas av erhållna resurser. En vanligt förekommande definition av revisionskvalitet är revisorernas förmåga att upptäcka, rapportera eller förhindra fel i redovisningen (DeAngelo, 1981; Deis och Giroux, 1992; Francis, 2011). För att studera sambandet mellan resurser och revisionskvalitet har vi i föreliggande studie undersökt om förekomsten av redovisningsfel i form av så kallad artificiell styrning av resultat påverkas av de resurser som kommunen lägger på yrkesrevision, d.v.s. arvode till sakkunnigbiträden.
Tvärtemot det grundläggande antagandet om att mer resurser innebär högre revisionskvalitet, vilket i sin tur borde motverka förekomsten av artificiell styrning av resultat, så indikerar våra resultat snarare på det motsatta sambandet. Sannolikheten för att kommunens redovisning påverkats av artificiell resultatstyrning ökar med mer resurser till professionell revision. Detta samband varierar emellertid beroende av vilken revisionsbyrå man anlitar, vilket torde innebära att olika byråer väger "affären" mot det professionella uppdraget på olika sätt. Att dra slutsatsen att revision i sig skulle ha en negativ inverkan på redovisningskvaliteten är naturligtvis ingen rimlig slutsats, utan slutsatsen av denna studie blir att med det legala och institutionella ramverk som omgärdar den kommunala revisionen (och redovisningen) så leder inte nödvändigtvis mer resurser till bättre kvalitet. Även frågor om oberoende, ansvarighet, incitament och kompetens måste beaktas.
Purpose – This paper focuses on the extent to which Swedish municipalities identified and communicatedrisks due to the COVID-19 outbreak early on. The purpose of this paper is to explore to what extent thesituational factors of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the likelihood of municipalities disclosing COVID-19information as a subsequent event in the annual reports of 2019.
Design/methodology/approach – Logistic regression models were used to estimate COVID-19 disclosure asa subsequent event. Data were handpicked from annual reports, audit reports and meeting minutes, or wereretrieved from publicly available sources.
Findings – Regression results indicate that municipalities issuing their annual report in a later stage of thepandemic, in regions with a higher number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, were more likely to discloseCOVID-19 information as a subsequent event. However, the municipal factors used to capture the risk of asevere impact of the COVID-19 outbreak were not of major importance. In line with previous research, thisstudy shows that political and institutional factors have explanatory power in predicting and explainingaccounting disclosure choices.
Originality/value – This paper contributes to research on accounting disclosures in urgent crises and on thespecific topic of subsequent events in the public sector. Few studies address subsequent events in a corporatesetting and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, none do so in the context of the public sector. This paper alsooffers insight into how explanatory factors, previously tested under normal conditions and circumstances,influence disclosure choices in an early stage of a health crisis characterized by uncertainty regarding bothoccurrence and consequences.
In 2013, an accounting reform permitted Swedish municipalities to voluntarily adopt a system withaccrual reserves that was designed to increase flexibility in meeting budget requirements anddecrease regulatory incentives to engage in earnings management. However, since a system withaccrual reserves imposes potentially undesirable transparency from the perspective of politicians,it is unclear whether the (regulatory) benefits of adopting accrual reserves are perceived to exceedthe (political) costs. The authors found that municipalities with higher levels of earningsmanagement were less likely to adopt a system of accrual reserves, and they attribute this topolitical incentives to avoid transparency.
The authors analyse the effect of deregulation in the case of the removed requirement for Swedish municipalities to prepare consolidated financial accounts (CFAs) in their interim reports. The findings show that deregulation led to a statistically significant, but not substantial, reduction in CFAs. Municipalities with many municipal corporations tended to continue preparing CFAs. CFAs therefore appear to be more than a compliance exercise, as they are being used for monitoring and co-ordination purposes.
Two diferent theoretical foundations in the literature relate to the quality of fnancial reporting in public sector organizations: one theoretical foundation is based on economic theory, and the other is based on institutional theory. In addition to examining the traditional factors derived from these theories, this paper focuses on the role of the chief fnancial ofcer (CFO), in order to broaden the theoretical perspective and add explanatory power with regards to the empirical testing of opportunistic accounting choice in public sector organizations. Similar to AnessiPessina and Sicilia (J Public Adm Res Theory, 30:465–484, 2019), this paper uses upper echelons theory (Hambrick and Mason in Acad Manage Rev, 9(2):193–206, 1984; Hambrick in Acad Manage Rev, 32(2):334–343, 2007) to conceptually link CFO characteristics with opportunistic accounting choice. The accounting issue addressed herein is related to a statement issued by the standard-setting body within the Swedish municipal sector. Our results suggest that opportunistic accounting choice decreases with CFO tenure and prior CFO experience in municipalities
Med en erfaren ekonomichef som jobbat länge i sin nuvarade kommun ökar chansen att god redovisningssed följs, även om exempelvis politiker kan vilja annat. Det visar en studie av hur flyktingbidraget 2015 redovisades.
Riksdagen har beslutat om en ny kommunal bokförings- och redovisningslag som ska gälla från och med 2019 och som ersätter tidigare redovisningslag från 1997. Den nya lagen bygger i hög grad på den tidigare lagstiftningen. De huvudsakliga förändringarna som gjorts i lagen är att stora delar av Rådet för kommunal redovisnings normgivning har byggts in i lagen. Strukturen har också förändrats i syfte att, i ännu högre grad, likna motsvarande lagstiftning för privat sektor.
Kommunal bokförings- och redovisningslag ger en samlad och lättillgänglig beskrivning av den nya lagen genom att samtliga bestämmelser i lagen kommenteras. I kommentarerna görs också utblickar till angränsande lagstiftning, praxis och normer. Boken är ett hjälpmedel i det praktiska redovisningsarbetet – en vägledning helt enkelt. I första hand vänder den sig till praktiker, det vill säga redovisare i kommuner, landsting/regioner, kommunalförbund och revisorer. Den vänder sig också till studerande vid universitet och högskolor, där boken utgör ett viktigt bidrag till redovisningsutbildningarna.
Principbaserad redovisning är ett komplett och grundläggande läromedel i redovisning som baseras på nationell och internationell normgivning. Det innehåller lärobok och övningsbok samt webbplats. Författarnas konsekventa tillämpning av erfarenhetsbaserad pedagogik ger förståelse för redovisning i sitt sammanhang.
Läsaren får följa ett fiktivt, men verklighetstroget, företag och se hur dess verksamhet återspeglas i redovisningen. I läroboken återges ett antal affärshändelser i episodform, samt förklaringar av de principer, teorier och begrepp som omfattas av episoden. Episoderna visar företagets bokföring och utgör grunden för ett bokslut, en årsredovisning och en räkenskapsanalys.
Övningsboken följer lärobokens struktur och innehåller övningar med successivt ökande svårighetsgrad. Till övningsuppgifterna finns svar med fullständiga lösningsförslag. Webbplatsen erbjuder olika former av interaktiva uppgifter.
Principle-based Accounting is a complete introductory textbook based on Swedish GAAP and international regulation. The book adopts an experience-based approach in order to comprehend and learn accounting in a real-world context.The reader is exposed to various business events and transactions in a fictitious company (based on a real-life company) and learns how to account for these events. The story of the company and its business events is presented as episodes during a financial year and are discussed in practical and theoretical terms. The episodes are first dealt with from a book-keeping point of view, which in turn forms the foundation for the closing of the books, and, finally, preparation of the financial statements and the annual report. The book includes exercises and solutions.
Benchmarking has received much attention in local government.However, since benchmarking within a networking environment is quite a recent phenomenon, there is a need for better understanding of the impact of these networks on local government. This article describes municipal benchmarking networks and analyzes and categorizes variations in action and performance among municipalities participating in them. The data are drawn from the National Benchmarking Project (NBP): document studies of 100 reports, 2 surveys, 3 focus groups, and 64 interviews in 12 municipalities. The study shows that the capacity for action-oriented use of benchmarking is weak. Poor performers often blamed their own actions and performance on exogenous factors or methodological flaws. And some excellent performers used the results as a reason to reduce performance. Thus, the NBP actually triggered a behavior that led to the “average” rather than the “best practice” being promoted as the norm.
Purpose– The aim of this paper is to describe, analyze and explain the level of compliance of accounting practices with legislation and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) within the Swedish water and sewerage sector.
Design/methodology/approach– The empirical data are based on a document study of the annual full cost accounting reports for the financial year 2010. We obtained complete data from 250 of Sweden's 290 municipalities. The data are analyzed by statistical methods. The explanations are based on an institutional theory.
Findings– Most of the organizations surveyed in this study had taken measures in line with the new regulations, but none of them had adapted fully to the new requirements. Thus, we suggest that the industry has responded to the new regulation by compromise and avoidance. The statistical analyses show that compliance with legislation and GAAP is associated with legal form, minority governance, fee, tax base, population growth and audit firm.
Research limitations/implications– This paper provides insight into the factors that explain compliance with accounting regulation. Future research would benefit from researching the decision process when organizations choose to comply or not to comply with specific accounting regulations in the public sector.
Originality/value– Few prior studies focus on the actual compliance of accounting practices at the municipal level in relation to accounting regulation and the factors that explain the level of compliance. Knowledge of the factors that explain compliance to accounting regulation will benefit from future policy decisions on regulation and auditing of public sector accounting
I övningsboken finns ett stort antal uppgifter av varierande typ och svårighetsgrad, som begreppsförståelse, instuderingsfrågor, gruppövningar och datoruppgifter.