Relevance of accounting information to public sector accountability: a study of Brazilian federal public universities

Abstract

Public Sector Accounting is particularly relevant in the context of New Public Management because it is the most important approach for recording and reporting management acts, helping public managers to achieve their objectives regarding internal and external reporting for accountability purposes. This study main objective is to evaluate the usefulness of accounting information as well as the findings of non-compliance in the opinions of audits conducted by Internal Control System in explaining the quality of 51 Brazilian Federal Universities, using data from the General Index of Courses published in 2007. The findings demonstrate that accounting information of the Brazilian Federal Universities, particularly current expenses and operating assets are significant to explain the quality index reached by the HEIs, endorsing the relevance of accounting to accountability, considering the diverse stakeholders. The evidence also reveals that qualifications in audit opinions are not relevant to explain the universities performance. The findings may assist as criteria for formulating public policies on resource allocation in education, and also contribute to improve auditing systems in the Internal and External Control of the Education Sector.