This paper examines the controversy surrounding the use of the Inverted‐Sum‐Of‐Years‐Digits (ISOYD) method of goodwill amortisation and events leading to its banning by the Australian accounting regulatory bodies. Companies using the method claimed that a prohibition would reduce their...

The 20-year history of whole of government reports (WGR) implementation in Australia has some important lessons for other countries. These include factors that need to be considered regarding the process, the positive influences that contributed to successful implementation that are worth...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the appropriateness of a general‐purpose financial reporting model derived from a “decision‐useful” framework for government departments. Design/methodology/approach – This research in this paper uses a survey methodology to access...

Governments in Australia are in the process of implementing accrual reporting for their departments and governments as a whole. The central issue of this paper is to provide an explanation as to how general purpose financial reporting became a significant issue for governments in Australia....

In the past two decades, the public sector both in Australia and overseas has undergone a period of intense change. The focus has been on efficiency, effectiveness and value for money of public sector operations. The methods by which governments account and report on their operations has...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to strengthen the theoretical understanding of the processes through which a new regulator seeks to gain legitimacy within an existing regulatory space. The authors do this by investigating the case of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit...

Purpose: In the context of the Australian Government’s attempts to impose budget austerity measures on publicly funded universities in its higher education sector, the purpose of this paper is to assess the sector’s financial health. Design/methodology/approach: The multi-dimensional study...

“Probity audits” are a new type of audit gaining some popularity in the Australian public sector. Probity audits refer to independent reviews of government privatisations, contracting out projects (government procurements), and expression of interests to ascertain whether procedures followed...

Probity audits, real time audits which review compliance with process and conformance with guidelines, are gaining popularity in the Australian public sector. Prior research has noted that the conduct of probity audits by auditors‐general may pose problems for their independence. This paper...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce and review the papers contained in this special issue on accounting and organizational change in the public sector and reflects on their key themes and findings. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on general desk research and the...