Factors influencing Financial Transparency and Accountability in Local Government: Evidence from IFMIS implementation in Ghana

The objective of this research is to determine the impact of Ghana's Integrated Financial Management Information System's (GIFMIS) ability on the financial accountability and transparency of MMDAs. The research utilized quantitative and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis to investigate the impact of government policies, organizational culture, resource availability, technical infrastructure, user acceptance, and training on the performance of GIFMIS. The research found that technological infrastructure, resource availability, organizational culture, and government policies positively influenced financial transparency and accountability. Conversely, user acceptance and training have a detrimental impact on system efficacy. The data indicates that decentralization moderates these associations, leading to a significant reduction in the beneficial effects of the independent variables. Practical consequences include improving user training and harmonizing financial management techniques across decentralized governance institutions. Theoretical implications suggest the need to reinforce government policies and resources to ensure transparency. This research is beneficial in that it illuminates the necessity of balanced supervision and how decentralization complicates the adoption of financial management systems. This research stands out as it delves into the performance characteristics of GIFMIS within a decentralized governance system, unprecedented as it demonstrated the impact of decentralization on the relationship between organizational culture, technological infrastructure, government regulations, and financial accountability and transparency, in contrast to prior research that has focused on centralized systems.