Factors influencing accountant's readiness for adopting accrual basis in Palestinian Municipalities رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

Recently, the Ministry of Local Government in the State of Palestine implemented International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), which encouraged local authorities to adopt the accrual basis of accounting. However, implementing a new accounting system may not be straightforward, a significant gap exists due to the difficulty of replacing existing accounting practices with entirely new one. The accrual basis requires fostering a willingness among financial staff in municipalities to adopt it successfully. Therefore, this thesis aims to examine the factors influencing the willingness of accountants in Palestinian municipalities to adopt the accrual basis of accounting. The study identifies several key factors affecting this willingness: human resources, organizational commitment, and information technology. This study employs a quantitative approach by distributing questionnaires to accountants in local authorities. The data will be analyzed using SMART PLS4 software to examine the relationships between the variables. The results showed significant positive relationships between human resources, organizational commitment, and information technology, on the accountants’ readiness for adoption accrual basis of accounting. The study contributes to expanding the literature on the adoption of accrual-based accounting in the context of Palestinian local authorities, also provides valuable guidance for the Ministry of Local Government on adopting accrual-based accounting across all local authorities. Furthermore, it offers insights into the critical success factors for ensuring the successful implementation of this adoption process. This study will also provide a foundation for investigating other related variables, such as the impact of job satisfaction and social relationships in the workplace.