Antecedents of the Accountability in Indonesian Local Government Financial Reporting

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the role of the government’s budget supervision on financial accountability to reduce fraud against the local government budgets. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework from Gabrini (2013) highlights the importance for organizations to design and manage financial reports and audits to maintain legitimacy, along with the increasing demands for transparency and accountability of public organizations today. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this goal, the data used in this study is secondary data sourced from the central and regional government’s auditing board between 2016 to 2019. Findings: The results showed that budget supervision negatively affects the accountability of local government financial reports. Moreover, a follow-up audit has a negative effect on the fraud against the local government budget and has a positive effect on financial accountability. The results also demonstrated a negative effect of financial accountability on the fraud against local government budget. Research, Practical & Social implications: As the implication, the government is expected to draft an implementing regulation as a technical guideline to avoid fraud against the government budget. In order to encourage an increase in the target of unqualified opinions, it is expected that the central government can provide incentive funds to regional governments that get unqualified opinions to maximize their capacity to increase financial accountability. Originality/value: This research is among the first in empirically examinating the full mediating effect of financial accountability in the relationship between budget supervision and the fraud against local government budget in Indonesia.