Accounting information use in public sector financial management
Accounting in the public sector faces complex challenges, ranging from economic austerity (Bracci et al., 2015), sustainable development (Cohen et al., 2023) and public value creation (Bracci et al., 2021; Panagiotopoulosa et al., 2019), to the growing demands of considering digitalization and data science (Agostino et al., 2022; 2023). Given these multidimensional new and evolving paradigms, accounting seems to be lost in a maze. This special issue, while recognizing the importance of the widening of accounting, returns the debate to the cornerstones of accounting in the public sector.
Thus, the need to adapt accounting and reporting practices in the public sector in the face of contemporary challenges increases, in order to promote resilience and trust in public services and entities, and in governments overall (Bisogno et al., 2024b).
Given this paradigm and the focus of research in recent years, Bisogno et al. (2024a) pose the question: is public sector accounting radically changing itself and its traditional approaches?
Today, different stakeholders of public sector accounting, in addition to demanding traditional financial information (Raimo et al., 2023) require accountability on the aforementioned matters, leading public sector entities’ reports to incorporate non-financial information (Jorge, 2021; Manes-Rossi, 2019). For example, politicians resort to the use of financial information (Jorge et al., 2023) but acknowledge the importance of (and sometimes even prefer) non-financial information (Liguori et al., 2016).
If public sector accounting and reporting is to continue to provide information for accountability and decision-making by a wide range of stakeholders, its scope should certainly be reviewed. This does not necessarily mean forgetting its roots, and its original purpose.
After incursions throughout several areas, moving away from its essence – financial information – perhaps it is time to take a step back, look at the origins of public sector accounting and reflect on the usefulness and use of this information in current times. We particularly encourage papers on the following topics, while remaining open to other topic areas:
- Public sector accounting for public value;
- Alternative financial statements and the use of public sector accounting information;
- Use of public sector accounting information for dialogue with citizens and promoting democracy;
- The old pattern of accountability for accounting-based information and its ability to glitter again;
- Public sector accounting information use and government financial statistics;
- The use of fiscal rules and fiscal governance to bridge between financial and non-financial sustainability issues;
- Perceived information needs of politicians and public sector officials in a changing user needs environment;
- Public policy decision-making and the use of public sector accounting information;
- Digitalization support to public sector accounting information use for accountability and decision-making purposes;
- The role of the academia in educating for public sector accounting use;
- Public sector accounting information use and SDGs attainment; and
- Decoupling and remerging the financial and non-financial information for a purposeful usage.
We support all appropriate methodologies and theoretical frameworks, and favour innovative approaches.
Guest Editors
Susana Jorge
University of Coimbra, Portugal
[email protected]
Sandro Brunelli,
University of Roma Tor Vergata, Italy
[email protected]
Eugenio Caperchione,
University of Modena and Reggio Emília, Italy
[email protected]
Liliana Pimentel,
University of Coimbra, Portugal
[email protected]
Submission Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at by clicking the button below.
Author guidelines must be strictly followed.
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key Deadlines
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 30 September 2025
(Revised manuscripts must be delivered by 31 January 2026; final manuscripts will be due by 31 May 2026.)
For more details refer here
