Exploring the literacy level of local government financial statements of legislative members in a developing country

This research aims to explore the literacy level of local government financial statements (LGFS) among regional legislative council members in Indonesia. Utilizing a predominantly qualitative approach with a descriptive investigation, this research developed a prototype of LGFS literacy measurement instrument that is still difficult to find to date. Preliminary findings indicated a low level of LGFS literacy, which leads regional legislative members to focus more on budget reporting information and not extend adequately to financial reporting information. This limited LGFS literacy made their budgeting and supervisory decisions more inclined to be based on non-accounting information. Additionally, this research indicated that the educational level and background of legislative members, rather than experience, have a positive association with the literacy level of LGFS. Overall, these early results indicated that the LFGS literacy among regional legislative members in Indonesia was low, primarily due to the lack of knowledge of the concepts, definitions, and interpretation of regional government accounting information. This lack of knowledge weakened the regional legislative members’ perception of the importance of LGFS in supervisory decision-making, resulting in the limited use of LGFS in performing their duties and responsibilities.