Presentation and Disclosure Requirements to Meet Stakeholders’ Information Needs in Waqf Institutions in Saudi Arabia

HRMARS - The problem addressed by this study arises from the fact that international bodies responsible for regulating the accounting profession and issuing international accounting standards have not provided accounting standards that organize accounting practices in not-for-profit entities, including waqf institutions (awqaf). As a result, several scholars argue that this situation has led to a lack of transparency needed to achieve accountability in the annual financial reporting of waqf institutions, which naturally contributes to the mismanagement of waqf resources and the failure to achieve waqf objectives. This study aims to explore the suitability and adequacy of accounting presentation and disclosure in the financial statements of Saudi waqf institutions from the perspective of stakeholders. Accordingly, the study adopts a qualitative approach to answer the main research question by exploring stakeholders’ appropriate presentation and disclosure requirements through intensive semi-structured interviews and by developing a new conceptualization of ideal accounting presentation and disclosure requirements for application in Saudi waqf institutions. The intensive interviews conducted with all stakeholder groups in waqf institutions revealed that the financial statements lack substantial essential information needed to meet stakeholders’ information needs and to enable them to evaluate waqf performance and make related decisions. Each group (waqif group, beneficiaries (mawq?f ?alayhim), employees, and the General Authority for Awqaf) identified a set of information that the current financial statements do not provide, despite its perceived materiality. This study makes a scholarly contribution by adding new evidence to the literature on Islamic financial institutions, particularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is among the first studies to develop presentation and disclosure tools for Saudi waqf institutions that are required to apply local accounting standards issued by the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA), using a field-based methodology that enhances the reliability of its findings.