The rise and fall of accruals: a case of Nepalese central government

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to trace the rise and fall of accruals in the Nepalese central government, contributing to the literature on accrual accounting by looking at the developments in developing countries.Design/methodology/approach – The ideas of institutional theory have provided a theoretical setting through which to trace the country's journey toward the accrual basis of accounting. Document search and informal interviews represent the major methods of collecting data for this paper.Findings – The paper demonstrates that Nepal has been acquainted with the notion of accrual accounting since the late 1980s. The interest of international organizations and the involvement of professional accountants have been the two main factors driving this accrual accounting journey. The study also shows that the implementation of accrual accounting in the Nepalese central government has been an unsuccessful mission. This is why the notion of accrual accounting has been replaced by the improved version...