Michela Soverchia

Le università statali italiane verso la contabilità economico-patrimoniale ed il controllo di gestione

The paper analyses the accounting, financial reporting and management control systems of the Italian public universities, in the light of the new legislation (Law 240/2010 and Decree 18/2012). This reform includes two important changes: the adoption of accrual accounting and the introduction of a management control system, both mandatory from 1st January 2014. The paper provides a detailed description of the current situation of Italian public universities, which allows to understand the reality in which the reform will be implemented and to evaluate whether universities have done appropriate efforts to realise this important accounting and managerial changes. For this purpose, an empirical analysis has been conducted, based on the results of a semi-structured questionnaire that was applied to the 67 Italian public universities during the first half of 2013. Survey results indicate that currently not many universities have budgeting and accounting reporting systems aligned with the new legislation. However, most of them have executed different types of efforts for the transition process and for the fulfillment of the 1st January 2014 deadline.

Accounting Rules for the European Communities: A Theoretical Analysis

In the last decade, the European Union (EU) has reformed its accounting system, issuing its own conceptual framework and 18 accounting standards that draw upon the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) issued by the IPSAS Board. The aim of this article is to analyse this renewed EU accounting system that frames and shapes financial accounting and reporting of the European Communities (EC), in order to assess its capacity to “truly and fairly” represent EC economic activity as a non-business entity.

Analyzing Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting: Italy, European Union, and the United States

Abstract Globalization has revealed a need for accounting language simplification and harmonization, both for business and Public Administration. However, many countries have recently undertaken governmental accounting and financial reporting reforms in order to increase transparency and accountability towards taxpayers and, more generally, all stakeholders. Given that a standardized model does not exist, this study compares Italy, the European Union, and the United States in order to highlight similarities and differences between their current accounting and financial reporting models, to understand if common elements exist, and to verify if they are coherent with international trends concerning public sector accounting reforms.

Public Italian Universities Towards Accrual Accounting and Management Control

The paper analyzes the accounting, financial reporting and management control systems of the Italian public universities, according to the new legislation (Law 240/2010, Decree 18/2012). This reform includes two important changes: the adoption of accrual accounting and the introduction of a management control system, both mandatory from 1st January 2014. The paper provides a description of the current situation of Italian universities, which allows to understand the reality in which the reform will be implemented and to evaluate whether universities are ready to realize these important changes. For this purpose, an empirical analysis has been conducted, based on the results of a semi-structured questionnaire that was applied to the 67 public universities during the first half of 2013. Survey results indicate that not many universities possess budgeting and accounting reporting systems aligned with the new legislation; however, most of them have executed different types of efforts for the transition process.

Digital Governmental Financial Reporting: First Evidence from Italy

The aim of this paper is to analyze the role that XBRL, the open standard for digital business reporting (which is being widely adopted around the world in the private sector), could play within governmental financial reporting. Literature on this issue is poor, and this research topic seems to be particularly relevant: considering the strong need for governments’ information transparency strengthened by the recent financial crisis, XBRL could be a useful digital standard to push and improve governments’ accountability, and thereby preventing or avoiding potential future crisis. This issue needs specific research because the role of XBRL within governmental financial reporting is slightly different to its role in the private sector. The theoretical analysis provided in the paper is accompanied by a case study concerning Italy, where two recent projects realized by the Court of Auditors and the State General Accounting Department introduced the use of XBRL as a tool to collect financial information from Italian Regions and Local Governments.

I sistemi informativi per il controllo e la valutazione delle performance nelle università italiane

Law no. 240/2010 and subsequent legislation imposed on Italian state universities relevant changes to their governance and control systems. This phenomenon has created debates, studies and research on the consequent effects of changes, still going. Furthermore, universities are, especially in Italy, public administrations interesting and peculiar, characterized by common elements to other public entities, but also by distinctive and almost unique features. This issue of Management Control includes six papers related the performance measurement and evaluation in the Italian universities. This issue is analyzed for as performance should be according to recent legislation, but also for how it should be according to the management and accounting principles not adopted by law, which could support internal decision-making processes (at the single university level) and external (at ministerial level, in terms of public policies). Some critical issues emerged: the difficult integration of information systems useful for control and decisions; the habit to use cash accounting, with no consideration of operations’ economic aspects, it’s hard to overcome as a mentality and organizational processes; past practices in measuring/assessing teaching and research processes determined their excessive autonomy, while they should be integrated with each other and with the overall universities’ functioning.