Despite its benefits, municipalities frequently struggle to take advantage of accrual accounting as a basis for managerial decisions. We assume that the reason for this is that municipalities technically implement accrual accounting but sometimes keep it decoupled from daily decision making. To identify factors that facilitate a more sophisticated usage of accrual accounting in German public administrations, we examined the influence of the municipality’s contextual situation, organizational structure, and resource provision on the degree of sophistication in the use of accrual accounting. We found that the most relevant driver for a more sophisticated use of accrual accounting is the contextual situation in which the municipality is embedded. In our research model, a municipality’s contextual situation consists of fiscal stress, its political competition and culture, and the relevant legal system. Another important factor is the adequate provision of resources, such as an IT system that delivers easily accessible and accurate accounting information. Notably, the specific organizational structure of the municipality, which is often regarded as highly bureaucratic and the main obstruction to reforms, is not significant.

尽管权责发生制有好处，但市政当局经常难以利用权责发生制会计作为管理决策的基础。我们认为其原因是市政当局在技术上实施权责发生制会计，但有时使其与日常决策脱钩。为了确定促进德国公共行政部门更复杂地使用权责发生制会计的因素，我们研究了市政当局的背景情况、组织结构和资源提供对权责发生制会计使用复杂程度的影响。我们发现，更复杂地使用权责发生制会计的最相关驱动因素是市政当局所处的背景情况。在我们的研究模型中，一个城市的背景情况包括财政压力、政治竞争和文化以及相关的法律体系。另一个重要因素是提供充足的资源，例如提供易于访问且准确的会计信息的IT系统。值得注意的是，市政府的具体组织结构通常被认为是高度官僚主义和改革的主要障碍，但并不重要。