This paper explores citizen-centered digital financial reporting in selected Swiss municipalities, focusing on local public sector managers’ perceptions of the challenges and opportunities involved in making financial information more accessible, understandable, and usable for citizens. Based on nine semi-structured interviews with officials from small, medium, and large municipalities, the study addresses two research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of citizen-centered digital reporting initiatives? (2) What institutional, legal, and practical challenges and opportunities accompany their implementation? Anchored in transparency and accountability theory, the analysis applies a three-dimensional framework – accessibility, understandability, and usability – to assess digital reporting practices. While certain tools have improved access to financial data, most municipalities struggle to enhance the comprehensibility and relevance of this information for non-expert users. In addition to the often-cited knowledge gap between citizens and public administration, the findings reveal a communication gap shaped by bureaucratic cultures, legal constraints, and resource limitations. Despite these barriers, innovative cases illustrate how digital strategies, visualizations, and storytelling can promote meaningful engagement and local democratic legitimacy. By shifting the analytical lens from citizen expectations to administrative perspectives, the study contributes to the literature on local public finance and offers practical insights for enhancing participatory governance through inclusive digital reporting practices.

This article highlights the importance of embedding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into university strategic plans, evidencing that a transversal or cross-cutting policy to integrate SDGs facilitates SDG reporting. Other factors that promote SDG reporting are institutional transparency and the financial structure. The article will be of interest to managers, academics, students and other university stakeholders who may be aware that including the SDGs with a cross-cutting strategy can lead to a higher level of reporting of the SDGs and the legitimization of the entity. The results will also be of interest to regulators and governments to encourage universities to include SDGs through a cross-cutting strategy and to improve transparency in this field. This article contributes to literature about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainability reporting in universities by analysing the factors that influence the dissemination of information on the SDGs by universities. The content analysis of the strategic plans developed shows that most of the strategic plans analysed include sustainable development in the university strategy, with greater disclosure when the SDGs are integrated through a cross-cutting strategy. Additionally, universities that publish sustainability reports were found to have a higher rate of SDG disclosure than those that publish only alternative reports. Among the influential characteristics, the inclusion of the SDGs as a cross-cutting policy in strategic plans, the level of institutional transparency, and the financial structure of the universities stand out. Accordingly, strategic integration and institutional transparency are clearly essential to improve communication about and engagement with the SDGs in universities.

Purpose Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are gaining traction globally, yet limited empirical evidence exists on how national characteristics influence SDGs achievement and how this success translates into citizens’ well-being. The paper develops and tests a model examining the influence of governance, political and economic factors on SDG achievement and the subsequent relationship between SDG accomplishments and perceived well-being. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the United Nations (UN) database on SDGs, the World Happiness Index, democracy metrics and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistics, the study analyses 96 countries in 2022. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to uncover intricate relationships and dependencies among variables. Findings The results indicate that strong coordination for meeting SDGs, i.e. SDG17, high democracy levels and country wealth significantly enhance SDG achievements. In turn, successful SDG implementation positively influences citizen well-being, suggesting that sustainability efforts have meaningful everyday effects. Practical implications Governance emerges as another key enabler for SDG achievement alongside political and economic factors. The findings highlight the importance of investments in governance capacity and the recognition of SDG targets as reflections of deeper socioeconomic mechanisms and well-being drivers and not just as standalone goals. Furthermore, our findings pose challenges in public financial management on a dual front. Firstly, whether more accounting-based ratios can better track SDG achievement and improve transparency and comparability. Secondly, whether a new system of accounting based on well-being indicators should be developed to illuminate the sustainability-well-being nexus and inform sociopolitical and environmental decision-making. Originality/value The study underscores governance as a central aspect to SDG successful achievement and citizen well-being, affirming the role of public administration in enhancing happiness.

The special issue critically explores how public sector financial management can support the achievement of sustainable development and how it can act in the service of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It aims to encourage further research in the field, while also drawing on findings from the eight papers included, which touch on important areas of research in the nexus between public financial management and the SDGs and specifically: (1) Reporting on SDGs: This is an area that deserves further attention, even moving beyond the theories already adopted to investigate the topic. (2) Embedding sustainability into operations: Sustainable development requires the adoption of methods and tools that can enhance sustainability-related action at the public sector entity level. (3) SDGs and calculative practices: The use of calculative practices in SDGs reporting can help to take a meaningful step from a symbolic to a substantive approach to sustainability, but the unintended consequences of performativity in promoting sustainable development need to be further investigated. (4) Environmental reporting and SDGs: While environmental reporting is a dominant theme in sustainable development, further research on climate change and environmental disclosure in the public sector is required. In addition, the special issue draws attention to some further dimensions: the governance for SDGs achievement, the assurance of SDGs reporting, and the creation of citizen-driven demand for reporting on SDGs achievement in a digital environment.

This article highlights the relevance of assurance of sustainability reporting (SR) in the public sector, discussing who can develop the assurance process and what standards can be used for this purpose. It provides a contribution in an original and new area that will be of interest to standard setters, supreme audit institutions, practitioners and scholars in the field of public sector accounting and auditing. The article contributes to the creation of a legitimate space for SR for public sector entities. Sustainability reporting (SR) has gained momentum, but it still faces many challenges in the public sector. First, SR standards must be developed, a process started by the IPSASB. Second, to be credible, this information needs to go through an assurance process, which in turn requires the existence of relevant assurance standards. This article sheds light on the second challenge in order to analyse how assurance can be operationalized in the public sector.

Public sector accounting developments have been mainly driven by reforms and innovations developed in the private sector. There is a growing trend internationally to adapt private sector accounting standards to the public sector context. However, there are some transactions that simply do not resemble private criteria. This article reflects on two of these—concessionary leases and right-of-use assets in-kind. Importantly, the use of market values in these cases may result in financial statements that could mislead the user. The article provides interesting insights for practitioners and standard-setting boards, who need to be aware of the risks when adapting accrual accounting principles to public sector entities.

IMPACTThe challenge launched by the United Nations (UN) on the achievement of SDGs requires local governments to rethink how to devote their resources and report on their results regarding SDGs. The article analyses how existing frameworks communicate, through financial indicators, the efforts done towards sustainable development. The Voluntary Local Reviews (VLR) published by European cities and made available on the UN website can stimulate further reflection and actions toward making SDGs an accounting issue.

Purpose This paper aims to research the reforms toward International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) implementation and the perceptions about the use and usefulness of accounting information in the context of local government in the Iberian Peninsula. The paper focuses on the perspective of chief financial officers (CFOs). Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Beyond the study of the context of the reform in both countries through the consultation of legislation and official documents, the authors collected primary data through a survey addressed to the local CFO to catch both countries' perceptions and beliefs toward the topic under research. Findings The authors' findings evidence that both countries have made strong efforts to adapt IPSAS to both countries' national standards. The coercive and mimetic isomorphism and the private accounting normative were important determinants in the reform. Looking at perceptions, budget information continues to be perceived as the king information for public management and decision-making. In a comparative way, the Portuguese CFO seems to be more optimistic concerning the use and usefulness of the new accounting system. The strong orientation of CFO to cash-basis and budgeting information is an important explanation of the lower use and usefulness, essentially in the Spanish context. The regression results show that individual perceptions and beliefs on the accounting reform influence the opinion about the usefulness and use of financial information. Research limitations/implications The use of the survey method has some limitations very discussed in the literature that are also applied in this study. Practical implications The paper has the potential to contribute to the academic, political and practitioner discussion of the core purposes of financial accounting information in the public sector and financial accounting information's impacts on the European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) framework. Originality/value The recent adoption of the new accounting system in local governments of both contexts contributes to knowledge on the public sector accounting reforms toward the transition to accrual accounting and the IPSAS. The innovative character of the paper contributes to better clarify how the perceptions of the accounting reform influence the usage level of public financial information.

Alternative and non-financial reporting has gained attention in public sector organizations in the last decades, as a result of the increasing need to provide stakeholders with understandable information on how public resources have been managed and public value has been created for the benefit of the whole community. This need springs not only from accountability duties, but also from the recognized role of citizens as co-producers in designing public services and, more broadly, in engaging in public decision-making. In this chapter, after an introduction on the scope of non-financial disclosure, some of the most widespread formats are discussed, including popular reporting, sustainability reporting, the most recent SDGs reporting and integrated reporting, which are finally compared in a synopsis. Some reflections on possible use of the different non-financial reports and technical reporting issues conclude the chapter.

The public sector accounting harmonization process that started in the European Union in the aftermath of the financial crisis led the European Commission to launch a project for the development of a set of European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS). This paper analyses the process and the decision-making around development of the EPSAS through the lens of the garbage can model (Cohen, M. D., March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1972). A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17(1), 1-25). More specifically, by identifying problems, participants, solutions, and choice opportunities, it discusses why the development of the EPSAS is taking so long and why the process does not seem to be progressing as planned. To this end, documents related to the process of EPSAS development are analyzed. The results provide evidence of problematic preferences and fluid participation possibly coupled with flight decisions-three elements of the garbage can model. Postponing decisions can be an option to dampen reluctance. The more the public sector becomes accustomed to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) by adopting IPSAS-like accrual accounting standards while waiting for the completion of the EPSAS, the less resistance there might be to moving to accrual accounting standards. However, at the same time, an imminent change to a new set of EPSAS standards might become less plausible if changes demand extra reform.

Participatory budgeting (PB) is a relatively novel approach to the allocation of funds which allows ordinary citizens to become directly involved in how local government money is spent. This study identifies and examines the features and drivers of PB that incentivize citizen participation and the co-production of public services. Our analysis takes a fresh approach by setting PB initiatives in an innovative frame combining a paradigm of 'ideal' types of PB and their diachronic constituent phases. The results provide insights for both scholars and policy makers on the key features and drivers of citizen participation through PB.

The European Commission decided in 2013 that a new set of accrual-based standards named European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS), which would have International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) as a reference, should be developed for the EU Member States (MS). This signalled the beginning of the public sector harmonization journey in the European Union that is still in progress despite the long time that has already elapsed. In this chapter, we present the process that the development of EPSAS has followed so far, and we discuss the structures created to deal with EPSAS development, the content of the EPSAS conceptual framework and the EPSAS governance issues. Moreover, we analyze the issue papers and the screening reports developed during the process. Finally, the EPSAS implementation challenges are addressed, concentrating on the cost of implementation and the ambiguous relation between IPSAS and EPSAS.

Since early 2020, college education has been forced to face significant challenges and to experiment with new ways of teaching. The Covid 19 pandemic literally moved education away from the classrooms to computer screens and increased the IT skills of both professors and students at all levels. Students have become savvy in using internetavailable material to prepare their essays and assignments and, in order to avoid plagiarism detection, use applications for rephrasing and paraphrasing (for example QuillBot— https://quillbot.com) to fool the anti-plagiarism software used in the majority of universities (for example Turnitin— https://www.turnitin.com/).

Purpose Governmental financial reporting is prepared for accountability and decision-making purposes and is directed to a wide range of users, including citizens. However, this may sound easier than it actually is as citizens without specific accounting knowledge may find it difficult to understand the financial information prepared by governments. The study analyzes citizens' perceptions toward infographics as well as their ability to improve accounting understandability by nonaccounting experts compared to the traditional financial statements. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents the results of an exploratory analysis conducted with the participation of a group of citizens in three European countries through a questionnaire. Findings The results show that infographics improve accounting understandability by nonaccounting experts compared to the traditional financial statements. However, infographics alone are not enough to succeed in making nonaccounting literate citizens experts in fully understanding accounting information. Originality/value The novelty of the research consists in its ability to give voice to citizens' preferences regarding the way the financial information is presented, which has been largely neglected by previous studies. In parallel, it analyzes the effect of accounting knowledge on accounting understandability. Moreover, it is the first study that analyzes the use of infographics in public sector financial reporting.

La divulgación de información no financiera ha recibido un impulso importante en los últimos años y, con independencia del país e incluso del continente, parece existir cierto consenso a nivel global sobre la necesidad de extender las obligaciones de divulgación de información financiera de las empresas a la información de tipo no financiero, que permita dar cuenta de su impacto, por ejemplo, desde una perspectiva social y medioambiental. Esta tendencia ha calado también en el sector público y cada vez existen más iniciativas para que las administraciones públicas incluyan también información no financiera en sus informes, si bien hay que reconocer que los esfuerzos son más recientes y menos generalizados y todavía queda mucho camino por recorrer. La relevancia de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), y el compromiso de las administraciones para alcanzarlos, pueden ser un impulso importante para lograr avances en este camino. Este artículo se ocupa brevemente de la relevancia de la información no financiera en las administraciones públicas, las principales iniciativas llevadas a cabo en el contexto internacional y los retos a los que se enfrentan las administraciones para dar cumplimiento a esta demanda de la sociedad, entre los que se incluyen proporcionar información sobre su contribución a los ODS.

In nonprofit organisations, a mix of financial and nonfinancial information is necessary to discharge accountability, and with this aim, social accounting emerged some years ago. Integrated reporting has been more recently developed with the aim of reporting the connections and relationships between all the factors that affect an organisation’s ability to create value over time. This paper analyses what integrated reporting can add to accountability and management in nonprofit organisations, considering that it includes performance as well as social and environmental aspects. The paper uses a case study to analyse how integrated social reporting has been implemented in some organisations and what are the particularities that must be considered to develop a model for these organisations. Semi-structured interviews with the responsible of three social organisations have been carried out to find out what improvements integrated reporting can make and what is necessary for their implementation.

The policies implemented to improve the liquidity of Spanish municipalities and the introduction of the commercial debt sustainability principle reveal the importance of controlling late payment by public sector. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of the fiscal rule directed to control the average payment periods of public administrations and whether the political environment, socioeconomic characteristics and financial situation influence on the average payment period of municipalities. In order to achieve this goal, an exploratory analysis is carried oud and panel data methodology (2009-2015) is applied. The paper contributes to provide evidence of the effectiveness of the commercial debt sustainability principle and improves the knowledge for the analysis of short-term financial position. (C) 2021 ASEPUC. Publicado por EDITUM - Universidad de Murcia.