Financial reporting by charities: a matched case study analysis from four countries

Mack, Janet; Morgan, Gareth G.; Breen, Oonagh B.; Cordery, Carolyn J.

doi:10.1080/09540962.2017.1281638

Cited by 6 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…These studies have been effective in highlighting the differential nature of NPO accounting and reporting practice across various jurisdictions (see, e.g. Connolly & Hyndman, 2001;Cordery & Baskerville, 2007;Mack, Morgan, Breen, & Cordery, 2017;McConville & Cordery, 2018) and calling for more uniformity across jurisdictions to allow for better comparability (Torres & Pina, 2003). Thus, findings suggest that although the importance of regulatory legitimacy cannot be understated, more could be done by both regulators and the sector to strengthen this aspect of structural accountability.…”

Section: Studies Examining Regulatory Compliancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important aspect of moral legitimacy for NPOs is linked to the perception of adequate (or not) oversight within the sector. The functional studies in this area argue for the harmonisation of accounting and reporting regulation across countries to aid accountability (Breen, 2013;Mack et al, 2017). These studies find wide variation in reporting practice across different jurisdictions and call for reporting and accounting practice to be harmonised to aid comparability across countries (Breen, 2013Mack et al, 2017;McConville & Cordery, 2018).…”

Section: Npo Oversight and The Case For Accounting Harmonisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Accountability and legitimacy of non‐profit organisations: Challenging the current status quo and identifying avenues for future research

Yasmin

Ghafran

2021

Financ Acc Manag

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Issues of accountability, legitimacy and trust have remained at the forefront of debate surrounding non-profit organisations and their activities. The purpose of this study is to review the literature on non-profit accountability from the lens of organisational legitimacy. Specifically, we ask what we can learn from the literature on non-profit organisation (NPO) accountability and consider what further work needs to be done to strengthen NPO legitimacy. We attempt to go beyond mere gap-spotting and seek to challenge the current status quo within this body of literature.

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Section: Studies Examining Regulatory Compliancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Npo Oversight and The Case For Accounting Harmonisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accountability and legitimacy of non‐profit organisations: Challenging the current status quo and identifying avenues for future research

Yasmin

Ghafran

2021

Financ Acc Manag

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“…In England and Wales, just over 1% of registered charities have incomes in excess of £5 million, with this accounting for 77% of total income of the sector; while over 70% of charities have incomes less than £100 thousand, with this accounting for about 2% of the total income of the sector (Charity Commission, 2018; House of Commons, 2015). This pattern of income distribution is not dissimilar to that experienced in other jurisdictional settings with, numerically, small charities dominating the canvas, while large charities generate (and spend) the vast majority of the sector's income (Farwell et al., 2019; Mack, Morgan, Breen, & Cordery, 2017; The Wheel, 2014; Wiepking & Handy, 2015).…”

Section: An Outline Research Agendamentioning

confidence: 68%

Many stones can form an arch, singly none: (Re‐)establishing trust in charities

2021

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Trust in charities is critical in terms of the health of the sector, and also in relation to the establishment and maintenance of social cohesiveness. Moreover, lack of trust can not only damage the charity sector (having negative impacts on public perceptions and donor giving) but can also undermine attempts at building social capital. Yet, how trust is defined, the various forms that it takes and how it is established (or re‐established, if lost) is unclear. This paper explores the various conceptions of what trust is, applies them to charities and examines trust in relation to the sustainability of the sector. A key finding is that trust has many dimensions, and charities (and the sector as a whole) need to work on a range of fronts on an ongoing basis to protect and build perceptions of trustworthiness (‘many stones can form an arch’). As a consequence, the paper presents an outline research agenda (in the form of four key questions) that encourages future researchers to enhance understanding of the important interplay between trust and charities more fully. This focuses on the relationship between charities and beneficiaries, how trust‐building activities vary with charity size/area of activity, the potential role of communicating service delivery and what ‘good regulation’ might look like.

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“…It is also a sector in which the facts and perceptions of accountability, a key aspect of which is facilitated by good accounting and reporting (hereafter, for convenience, referred to as accounting), are particularly important. Good accountability is viewed as a basis for reducing the potential for scandal and breeding confidence (Mack et al, 2017;McConville, 2017). However, previous literature has often posited that the introduction of new accounting practices does not always yield the expected results (Ellwood and Greenwood, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In attempting to explain this, studies have increasingly investigated private and publicsector organisations to understand the impacts and processes of accounting change (Hyndman and Liguori, 2016;Järvinen, 2016). How change is perceived, justified and understood within charities has, nevertheless, received very limited attention, with research focussing on the achievement of external legitimation following accounting disclosures (Mack et al, 2017;Yang et al, 2017) or fundraising activities (Guéguen et al, 2015;Hind, 2017). Studies across different sectors and fields, moreover, have investigated new accounting practices and change mainly after these have taken place (ter Bogt and Van Helden, 2000;Hyndman and Liguori, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legitimating accounting change in charities: when values count more than regulation

Connolly¹,

Hyndman²,

Liguori³

2020

JAOC

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Purpose This paper seeks to explore the way charity accountants understand, interpret and legitimate or delegitimate the introduction of accounting and reporting changes (embedded in the extant charity statement of recommended practice), before these are actually implemented. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on 21 semi-structured interviews with accountants in large UK and Republic of Ireland charities, the manner and extent to which forthcoming changes in charity accounting are legitimated (justified) or delegitimated (criticised) is explored. Findings Acceptance of accounting changes in the charity sector by formal regulation may not be necessary for future required adjustments to practice to be legitimated. Using interviews carried out before the implementation of required changes, the results suggest that other factors, such as national culture, identity and mimetic behaviours, may play a major role in the homogenisation and acceptance of accounting and reporting rules. In particular, it is argued that mimetic pressures can be much more influential than regulative pressures in legitimating change in the charity sector and are more likely to lead to the embedding of change. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it explores rhetoric and legitimation strategies used before changes are actually implemented. Second, it contributes to filling a gap in charities’ research related to intra-organisational legitimation of managerial and accounting changes, illustrating institutional-field identity at work to preserve shared organisational values and ideas. Finally, the research illuminates the importance of particular contextual pressures and individual legitimation arguments during accounting-change processes.

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Financial reporting by charities: a matched case study analysis from four countries

Cited by 6 publications

References 15 publications

Accountability and legitimacy of non‐profit organisations: Challenging the current status quo and identifying avenues for future research

Accountability and legitimacy of non‐profit organisations: Challenging the current status quo and identifying avenues for future research

Many stones can form an arch, singly none: (Re‐)establishing trust in charities

Legitimating accounting change in charities: when values count more than regulation

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