Accrual accounting and IPSAS implementation in developing countries: The Moroccan case

For more than a decade, organizations around the world, as well as international financial institutions, have been pushing governments to provide the public with more comprehensive budget, and reporting information. The movement for greater public finance transparency has been gaining motion in recent years; the recent global financial crisis has put even more emphasis on the importance of budget transparency (ACCA,2017). Calls for transparency, accountability, and equality have emerged in the whole world, especially in developing countries. Several countries have therefore started the implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in order to improve the quality of the financial information of public sector entities; to empower decisions based on more reliable information, and thus to improve financial transparency and accountability in this area. Morocco has launched a wide range of reform initiatives in the area of public finances over the past ten years: the redesign of the organic budget law in 2015 and therefore the whole accounting system. It has mobilized the support of regional and worldwide institutions in order to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of public finance management (OECD, 2015). This article has analyzed the current status and challenges of full IPSAS implementation in developing countries and especially in Morocco as well as it has examined its role in enhancing transparency and accountability. The method adopted in this article is a descriptive one. A text mining and a library method was used. Literature and research history were reviewed by referring to books, reports, scientific articles and other pertinent documents.