PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to trace the rise and fall of accruals in the Nepalese central government, contributing to the literature on accrual accounting by looking at the developments in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachThe ideas of institutional theory have provided a theoretical setting through which to trace the country's journey toward the accrual basis of accounting. Document search and informal interviews represent the major methods of collecting data for this paper.FindingsThe paper demonstrates that Nepal has been acquainted with the notion of accrual accounting since the late 1980s. The interest of international organizations and the involvement of professional accountants have been the two main factors driving this accrual accounting journey. The study also shows that the implementation of accrual accounting in the Nepalese central government has been an unsuccessful mission. This is why the notion of accrual accounting has been replaced by the improved version of cash accounting anchored on the cash basis International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS).Research limitations/implicationsIt is beyond the scope of this paper to generalize that the trend toward accrual accounting has also reversed in other developing countries.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature dealing with the role and influence of international organizations in facilitating public sector accounting reforms in developing countries. Moreover, the study argues that there has been a change in the attitude of international organizations toward exerting pressures on developing countries to carry out accrual accounting reforms. This changing attitude of international organizations has led many developing nations to focus more on improvements in their existing accounting standards and procedures.

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This paper focuses on accounting in Russian local governments. When the perestroika period began in the middle of the 1980s, a process of restructuring and reforming the Russian society started. One intention of reforms was to change planned economy to a more market-oriented one. This process of transformation has affected local governments, especially when it concerns the relations between central and local governments. The process of restructuring the Russian society is described from a frame of reference consisting of the political ideas that are often connected to the Russian reforms, i.e. glasnost, democracy, autonomy and independence. These political ideas were formulated and argued for by politicians at the central level of the Federation. In this paper we discuss whether this ideology at the central level has influenced Russian local governmental accounting norms. Based on information from Leningrad oblast' (county) the paper also includes a description and discussion of changes in accounting in action. The paper ends with a discussion on changes in accounting in Russian local governments focusing on the question whether the central reform ideology has influenced local action and accounting. The discussion illustrates that given big changes in central ideology and local action, Russian local governmental accounting has not changed fast. Slow changes in the accounting norm system, a difficult local financial situation and difficulties in unlearning the old accounting procedures create barriers to utilize local autonomy in respect to accounting system development.