Political Willingness to Implement Public Sector Financial Management Reforms in Ghana - Accrual Basis of Accounting

Abstract

Public Sector Financial Management (PSFM) reforms are introduced to Public Sectors to improve upon probity, transparency, accountability and good governance. Though, usually initiated by various bodies or stakeholders other than the government, PSFMs are worldwide implementable by governments. More so when such reforms are aimed at fighting fraud, misappropriation, and corruption; governments’ commitment to implementing these reform projects is believed to be inextricable from their Political Will to that respect. The study picks reform from Cash Basis to Accrual Accounting system, one of such widely noted reforms to determine the effect of governments’ commitment to this cause, and its effects thereof, using the fisher exact model. It concludes that, cash basis creates distortions in PSFM systems, and is vulnerable to financial abuse, fraud, and embezzlements and yet, the implementation of the accrual basis, an acknowledged superior alternative continues to linger on due to absence of Political Will on the part of government to exact the project, thus, confirming the effect POLITICAL WILL has on PSFM reform implementations.