What Motivates Internet Financial Reporting in the Public Sector? Case of a Local Government in Indonesia

Abstract

Objective – This study aims to examine the influence of local government wealth, local government debt levels, and audit opinions on Internet Financial Reporting (IFR) in districts / cities in West Java Province, Indonesia, during the period of 2014-2018. Design/methodology – This study uses panel data regression analysis. Purposive sampling method is utilized with a total of 65 samples consisting of 13 official sites of district/city governments in West Java Province, Indonesia. The period of this research in total is five years. Results – The results of this study indicate that wealth of local governments, local government debt levels, and audit opinions simultaneously influence IFR at 9.81%. Partially the variable of local government wealth and the debt level of local government do not affect IFR, while the audit opinion variable influences IFR in districts/cities in West Java Province during 2014-2018.

The Meaning of Fairness in Government Financial Statements: A Phenomenology Study

“…The report on the results of the examination of the financial statements contains an opinion. An audit opinion is a professional statement as a result of an examination regarding the fairness of the information presented in the financial statements (Juniantika & Hapsari, 2020). The audit opinion on financial statements can be in the form of unqualified opinion, qualified opinion, adverse opinion, and disclaimer.…”

“…The meaning of the fairness of the financial statement itself is a financial statement of the company and the government that is presented correctly or following applicable accounting standards (Harris, 1987). Even so, each party has a diverse interpretation of the reasonableness of financial statements (Juniantika & Hapsari, 2020). The meaning of the fairness of the financial statements formed through the experiences can be said to be an internalization of Machiavellianism.…”

Internet Financial Reporting: In the case of district and city governments in Central Java Province, Indonesia

“…Internet financial reporting is part of e-government that can be improved by providing information to the public about financial accountability to improve relation with the society. Juniantika and Hapsari (2020) local governments can use the government's official website to publish their financial statements through the internet. The government must provide easy to access financial report using local government official website (e-government).…”