Do universites provide appropriate knowledge of public sector accounting? : the case of Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia

english

2024

volume 15, issue 2

accounting reforms   knowledge of public sector accountants   public sector accountants   study programmes

GEA College
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

After several decades of developing the role of accounting in the public sector as a technical tool, there are some new perspectives emphasising the potential of accounting in a broader socio-political context. Nowadays, public sector organisations, especially universities and other educational institutions, must follow the principles of good governance and be accountable to a variety of stakeholders. The modest amount of previous research, especially for the Eastern European countries, was the motivation to investigate the topics and competencies in the undergraduate and postgraduate public higher education programmes in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia on the one hand, and to assess the perception of the knowledge of accountants acquired in formal higher education on the other. The results show that in all three countries there are only a small number of study programmes, especially in undergraduate programmes, while accountants on average perceive their knowledge acquired at university as insufficient for their work.

17.12.2024