The Impact of Financial Crisis on the Role of Public Sector Accountants

Abstract

The main idea of current research is that role of Accountants may change under the influence of financial crisis. Change is considered in three aspects: timing of the accounting (1), the role of accountants (2) and accounting standards (3). One method to determine the impact of financial crisis is to carry out surveys. This paper indicates the responses to the survey of government and public sector accountants in three regions of the Russian Federation. The responses to Russian survey compared with the responses to international survey. The survey was carried on the same issues that were raised during questioning conducted by CIMA among commercial finance professionals in manufacturing, financial services, and wholesale and retail trades. Author’s study found that in public sector governance (1) the impact of the crisis on the time reported is insignificant, (2) average 4% of respondents determines crisis as a reason for changing the role of accountants, and (3) due to the need to reduce fiscal restructuring and the polarization of the budget network, intensified standardization state records in the Russian Federation.