engleski

Accounting system in Croatian public healthcare organizations: an empirical analysis

Croatian public healthcare sector represents a very important segment of the general government sector. In the course of considering the adequacy and possibilities of accruals and IPSASs adoption, this paper examines the appropriateness of existing modified accrual based accounting and financial reporting system for Croatian public healthcare sector and specifies possible courses of its further development. The purpose of our study is to seek the views of accountants and financial managers in public healthcare organizations about the adequacy of financial accounting practise. We examine the quality of the existing financial reporting system and document the views of examinees regarding the importance of cost and managerial accounting methods’ implementation in assuring better decision making. The data collected through a self – administrated questionnaire indicate that accounting information system shows certain discrepancies and contains constraints in assuring true and fair view of organization’ s financial position and performance, and in assuring the integral information base that would enable efficient use of public goods and the existence of accountable financial management. Our statistics confirms the unjustifiably low level of cost and managerial accounting methods development and consequently the low level of external and internal financial reporting convergence, in terms of better and targeted accounting information use. We also discuss implementing accruals in selective accounting/financial reporting subsystems within the integral Croatian public sector accounting framework. Having in mind the specificities of Croatian public healthcare sector (its’ financing model, service complexity and asset structure) we argue that Croatian public healthcare sector represents a segmental accounting subsystem where accruals implementation might prove justifiable, in terms of enhancing efficient managing of resources, costs, outputs, and performance measurement.

public healthcare; government accounting; empirical analysis; Croatia

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