Public Finance System in Asian Countries: A Case Study of Iran, China, Russia, and Indonesia

Abstract

This paper investigates the evolution of budgeting and public sector accounting financial reporting systems in four Asian countries: Iran, China, Russia, and Indonesia. This study shows that all four countries decided to completely change the accounting system based on accruals and eventually achieved this reporting system by collecting qualitative data in the library research method. They also decided for a partial change and for staying with cash budgeting arguing that the cash budget is less ambiguous and that political decision-makers would not accept an accrual-based budget. The change process in all four countries was influenced by several contextual factors, such as cash-accounting legacies and previous NPM reforms. Overall, the results of the analysis showed that stakeholders in the government are more reluctant towards change when it is to budgeting concepts than when it is to financial reporting. Also, according to the results of this study, the whole process of implementing an accrual-based accounting reporting system in China and Indonesia was faster than in Iran and Russia, also the process of minor reforms in budgeting has taken a lot of time in all four countries.

Keywords

• budget management
• public sector accounting
• system
• budgeting system
• government accounting and financial reporting management
• public sector accounting standards