The Availability of the Accounting requirements needed to transfer to The Accrual Basis Accounting in the Saudi Public Sector: A Field Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Accounting professor College of Economics and Administration - King Abdulaziz University

2 Associate Professor of Accounting Faculty of Economics and Administration King Abdulaziz University

3 Postgraduate Researcher, Department of Accounting College of Economics and Administration - King Abdulaziz University

Abstract

The paper examines the availability of the accounting requirements needed to transfer to the Accrual Basis Accounting (ABA) in the Saudi Public Sector (SPS). To achieve this aim, the study used an analytical descriptive approach by means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of 28 questions that include 3 groups which cover all expected elements necessary to apply the ABA. Participants of the survey were accountants from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Water and Agriculture, Ministry of Communications, and Information Technology, and Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing. The study reveals the following results: (1) significant willingness by the top SPS administration to transfer to ABA, (2) the availability of the accounting information systems in the SPS, but these systems should be modernized to be relevant to the ABA, and (3) there are variations in the SPS organizations of the staff numbers who are qualified to apply the ABA. Accordingly, the study recommends the following (1) the establishment of a specialized board, which should be linked to the Ministry of Finance, to modernize the accounting information systems in the SPS to make them relevant the ABA, (2) the recruitment of more qualified staff as well as training the current staff to be qualified to apply ABA. This could be achieved through establishing a partnership with the academic institutions in the Kingdom to provide specialized courses in this field. (3) increasing the emphasis on the role of the supreme audit institution in the Kingdom to assess and follow-up the process of the transfer to ABA in the SPS, and (4) in terms of future research, the study emphasizes the necessity of more research in this field, since The Kingdom is experiencing dramatic changes in the management of its public sector as a result of its adoption to the 2030 mission.

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