Accrual accounting in the public sector: An ongoing journey towards good evaluation of public finances - Case of Morocco

Abstract

The emergence of a culture of performance evaluation in the public sector requires states to adopt new management techniques that allow reasonable assurance on different financial transactions and lead a number of developed countries to achieve the ultimate goal of general accounting, which is the true, fair and faithful image of all accounting and financial transactions of the State.In doing so, Morocco has started preparing to switch to accrual accounting since 2008; the Kingdom's General Treasury has of course carried out this project with the support of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The objective of this transition from cash to accrual accounting is to develop a culture of evaluation of public finances. In addition, accrual accounting plays an important role as a key element to provide stakeholders with reliable information and in real-time on the financial and accounting situation of public accounts as well as on the fair value of the State's assets. Thus, the goal of this paper is to put forward the state of play and to analyze the process of accrual accounting implementation as well as providing indicators for public finance management strategies.

After carrying out a literature review on the different concepts studied (new public management and accrual accounting in the public sector). We conducted an empirical study of the data collected from semi-directive questionnaire as well as our experience as professional in the General Treasury of the kingdom. After an analysis of the results, we concluded that accrual accounting plays an important role insofar as it allows us to build a reliable and sincere bank of numerical data on the financial transactions of the State; apart from the difficulties encountered during the implementation phase, the effective involvement of all stakeholders and the discrepancy between the different parts of the public sector in Morocco.

Keywords: Cash accounting, Accrual accounting, Public finances, Public sector.

JEL Classification: E01, H83, M41

Paper type: Empirical research