IMPACT OF IPSAS ADOPTION ON QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF FINANCIAL REPORTING AND COST OF IMPLEMENTATION IN KWARA STATE PUBLIC SECTOR
The financial reporting systems in public sectors are not providing timely and accurate financial information for statutory reporting requirements and decision making due to application of local accounting standards. This necessitates the introduction of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) to achieve greater transparency and accountability and also to produce better information for decision-making. Despite the numerous advantages for adoption of IPSAS, there are fundamental problems currently inhibit its efficiency and effectiveness such as poor performance of basic financial functions, poor supervision, inadequate financial information and decision support. These lead to lack of confidence in financial information and financial reporting systems. Consequently, the study examines the impact of IPSAS on public sector financial reporting. Purposive sampling technique was employed in order to elicit response from treasury staff of Kwara State Accountant General Office. Primary data was obtained through the use of carefully worded questionnaire administrated on the Principal and Senior Accountants. This was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics which include multiple regression analysis, paired sample t-test and Pearson correlation. The study shows that adoption of IPSAS on public sector financial reporting will enhance the quality of the financial report, accountability and reliability will be improved as well as better understanding and comparability of the public sector financial report. The study also reveal that adoption of IPSAS will required certain amount of expenditures on the equipment, training and production of IPSAS financial reports. Therefore, it concludes that adoption of IPSAS in public sector financial reporting system will increase the level of accountability and provide more meaningful information for decision makers as well as high quality financial reporting system in Nigeria.
