The Status of the Cost Accounting in The Public Sector: A Field Study of the Saudi Public Sector

The research aims to identify the status of cost accounting in the Saudi public sector. The research made various contributions, which included studying multiple aspects to examine and analyse the status of cost accounting comprehensively, thus contributing to the implementation of cost accounting in the public sector and, subsequently, measuring and rationalizing costs to conserve resources and enhance sustainability. It also contributed to the literature by conducting the study in a distinct context, which is the context of the Saudi public sector, given that there are motives for implementing cost accounting in this sector, most notably the implementation of spending efficiency programs and the shift to applying the accrual basis of accounting. This research utilised a descriptive quantitative methodology using a survey strategy and an online questionnaire tool to collect data from Saudi public sector organisations. The research presented a set of results, the most prominent of which is that cost accounting is implemented by most public sector organisations (percentage= 61.6%), that the implementation of cost accounting is relatively recent (average number of years of application= 6.22) and depends on the internal resources and capabilities of most organisations (percentage= 61%), that the cost accounting systems implemented are moderately linked to other financial systems (mean= 3.13/5), and that there is a moderate usage of cost accounting information in the main uses (mean= 2.96/5), and by a diverse group of users. The results also showed that there is a set of capabilities and enablers that moderately contributed to the implementation of cost accounting systems (mean= 2.97/5), that there are challenges of a moderate degree facing both public sector organisations that implement (mean= 3.26/5) and those that do not implement cost accounting (mean= 3.58 out of 5), and that benefits were achieved from the implementation of cost accounting to a moderate degree (mean = 3.05/5). In light of the results, a set of important recommendations were presented and future research opportunities were highlighted to enhance the levels of implementation and benefit from cost accounting in the Saudi public sector.