A CRITIQUE ON CASH BASIS OF ACCOUNTING AND BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIA (Published)
In public sector accounting, government ministries and parastatals operate a cash basis of accounting which is believed to be simple in operation and understanding by staff that may not simply have a rigorous training in accounting. A great disadvantage is that it does not recognise assets, debtors and liabilities. This principle negligence is capable of introducing negligence into proper record keeping of how much value of infrastructural assets are being developed in the pass fiscal years, their state of activity and possibly resulting to a repetition of projects, poor monitoring of budget implementation and misappropriation of fund. The authors took a frank analysis of the implications as they relate to the consistent problem of poor budget implementation in Nigeria. This study was based on empirical analysis of one hundred and thirty (130) questionnaires distributed to 130 public servants in the civil service of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States of Nigeria. The researchers used version 19 of SPSS to analyse the data using paired sample “t” test with the result that cash basis has a positive effect on budget implementation and fair presentation of the financial position of a government. The researchers recommended that the accrual basis of accounting should be adopted by all government ministries and extra-ministerial departments in Nigeria
Keywords: Accounting, Budget, Cash-basis, Critique, Implementation