Financial situation and challenges for management of SME hospitals: evidence from Poland

The hospital represents a specific organisation, operating in a turbulent environment and financed to a large extent by public funds. The health sector is exposed to constant political and social pressure. This causes significant problems with maintaining its financial stability, which particularly affects hospitals in the SME sector. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between selected financial indicators and some environmental phenomena that affect the financial situation and future financial stability of a selected group of hospitals from the SME group. The results will also be compared to the situation of other SME entities. The research is based on descriptive analysis, descriptive statistics, and correlation analysis of selected data. The results indicate that the financial situation of hospitals belonging to the SME group differs significantly from the overall SME sector, and does not bode positively for their future development. The current financial situation presents particular challenges for managers in balancing financial streams and ensuring economic sustainability. At the same time, this situation should encourage decision-makers to ensure an adequate level of revenues for these public service providers, as well as face other challenges related to operational management

Towards standarization of public sector accounting – the european perspective

W ostatnich latach widoczne jest zwiększenie aktywności w zakresie standaryzacji rachunkowości sektora publicznego, w tym również w obszarze rynku wspólnotowego UE. Celem artykułu jest prezentacja stanu i perspektyw harmonizacji oraz standaryzacji rachunkowości w sektorze publicznym ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem europejskiego obszaru gospodarczego. Jako hipotezę badawczą przyjęto, iż procesy ujednolicenia systemów rachunkowości sektora publicznego Unii Europejskiej mają na celu przede wszystkim ograniczenie negatywnych skutków ryzyka braku porównywalności danych sprawozdawczych krajów członkowskich. Metodami badawczymi wykorzystanymi w artykule są: krytyczna analiza oraz metaanaliza polskiej i zagranicznej literatury przedmiotu oraz dokumentów sprawozdawczych, metoda obserwacji i syntezy. W wyniku prowadzonych badań uznano, że ramach UE nasilają się procesy standaryzacji rachunkowości sektora publicznego. W najbliższych latach należy spodziewać się wdrożenia w państwach członkowskich standardów EPSAS.In the last few years an increase in activity over the public sector accounting standarization can be observed, including in the EU’s market. The purpose of the article was the presentation of current stage and the perspectives of public sector accounting harmonization and standarization with particular emphasis on the European Union area. The processes of public sector accounting systems in EU member states unification are focused primarily on limitation of negative effects of the risk of comparability reporting data presented by the member states. Methodology used in the article was critical analysis and meta-analysis of Polish and foreign literature and reporting documents prepared by standard setters, the method of observation and synthesis

Konstrukcja systemu kontroli zarządczej w wybranych samodzielnych publicznych zakładach opieki zdrowotnej

Kontrola zarządcza powinna wspomagać zarządzanie jednostką sektora finansów publicznych, w realizacji celów i zadań w sposób zgodny z prawem, efektywny, oszczędny i terminowy. Celem badania był przegląd przyjętych modeli kontroli zarządczej w jednostkach sektora finansów publicznych. Artykuł przedstawia analizę i ocenę konstrukcji formalnoprawnej systemów kontroli zarządczej w dwóch samodzielnych publicznych zakładach opieki zdrowotnej, na podstawie których sformułowano wnioski o użyteczności tego systemu dla zarządzania jednostką sektora finansów publicznych, a także zidentyfikowano czynniki mogące mieć wpływ na przyjęte przez jednostki rozwiązania organizacyjne. Potwierdzono znacząco różny charakter rozwiązań przyjętych w badanych jednostkach, mimo że skala ich działalności była raczej podobna. W każdym z badanych przypadków wystąpiły istotne czynniki ograniczające funkcjonalność przyjętych rozwiązań, przy czym w jednym przypadku były to głównie zbyt rozbudowane ramy konstrukcyjne, natomiast w drugim istotne braki w przyjętych regulacjach. W prowadzonych badaniach wykorzystano metody analizy porównawczo-opisowej oraz indukcji i syntezy

Cost accounting system in hospital – directions of changes in balance sheet law

Celem artykułu jest analiza dotychczasowych rozwiązań w zakresie rachunku kosztów w jednostkach ochrony zdrowia w Polsce oraz przewidywanych kierunków dalszego jego rozwoju w aspekcie użyteczności generowanych informacji ekonomicznych. Weryfikacji poddano tezę, iż zmiany w finansowaniu świadczeń zdrowotnych stanowią czynnik spowalniający przeobrażenia modelu rachunku kosztów w podmiotach leczniczych. Dla realizacji celu i weryfikacji tezy zastosowano metodę analizy regulacji prawnych, metaanalizy krajowej i międzynarodowej literatury przedmiotu oraz źródeł internetowych, obserwacji, wnioskowania i syntezy. Rezultaty wskazują, że wprowadzane przeobrażenia modelu rachunku kosztów podmiotów leczniczych zmierzają w kierunku jego uszczegółowienia, choć ograniczenia przestrzennego w stosowaniu. Zmiany w modelu finansowania świadczeń zdrowotnych, na tle dotychczasowych rozwiązań, ograniczają inicjatywy wykorzystania tego systemu do zarządzania podmiotami leczniczymi.The aim is to present the balance sheet law in the scope of the topic of cost accounting in health care units in Poland, as well as its further development. The thesis states that recent changes in the financing of health services constitute a factor slowing down the transformations of the costing model in healthcare entities. The results indicate that the transformations of the cost model of healthcare entities in Poland are moving towards its more detailed format, but limited spatial application. Last changes in the model of financing health services limit the initiatives of using this system to manage medical entities

Cost Accounting System Evolution in Health Care Organizations - Current State and Perspectives

The article presents the evolution of cost accounting in the Polish health care system. There are presented the causal factors of poor quality cost information, and the characteristics of currently operating solutions is given. In the focus of considerations are: the nature and elements of the newly designed account system, based on the resources approach in which one of the main cost objects are DRG groups which, in turn, determines the considerable practicality of this system for the current medical entities management. The usefulness of cost accounting solutions in European countries, in the context of significant growth in the DRG funding, is also discussed

Behavioral determinants of the business model in the financial statement – on the example of selected industries

The business model is a new subject in accounting research. It results from a variety of factors occurring in a business environment, but also from the impact of behavioral factors influencing the decision-making process of an individual. Research goal: to identify the scope of disclosures about the business model in financial statements and the impact of behavioral factors on reporting on the business model. Research conclusions: The scope of disclosures about the business model in financial reports, their structure and presentation are significantly diversified. It makes it difficult to identify behavioral factors in this area. There is also lack of disclosures on the impact of business model on accepted accounting solutions in entities

Charakterystyka i wycena lokatw rachunkowości zakładu ubezpieczeń

W artykule przedstawiono charakterystykę i klasyfikację lokat w zakładach ubezpieczeń, zasady wyceny tych pozycji w księgach rachunkowych zakładu ubezpieczeń i prezentacji w sprawozdaniu finansowym, z uwzględnieniem rozbieżności w polskim prawie bilansowym dotyczącym ogółu jednostek oraz przewidzianym wyłącznie dla zakładów ubezpieczeń. Tekst uzupełniono o ewidencyjne przykłady wyceny lokat

Propensity to use global solutions of creative and aggressive accounting - in the light of accountants’ opinions

Research background: The processes of globalization contributed to the unification of accounting principles through their standardization and harmonization. However, there is rapid and frequent permeation of innovative and complex transactions and as a result, the area and scale of implementation of creative and aggressive accounting practices are increasing. There is also a new issue of forensic audit, whose task is to prevent economic crime by mainly detecting financial crime and fraud. A research field that requires deepening is the analysis of the perception, understanding, and propensity of accountants to adopt creative and aggressive accounting solutions and their attitude toward forensic audit. Purpose of the article: The main purpose is to analyze the degree of knowledge and adoption of internationally known creative and aggressive accounting solutions and to investigate the propensity of people involved in accounting to commit fraud. Methods: The article employed survey methods and techniques (within an accounting students’ group and among accounting professionals) as well as literature analysis, synthesis, and inference. Findings & Value added: The results indicate that the degree of knowledge of creative accounting is the highest among the issues considered. The most important factors influencing the propensity to commit fraud are pressures caused by third parties (in particular superiors), financial benefits, and the fear of losing a job. Knowledge of the issues of forensic audit is low. It is necessary to conduct promotional activities to increase awareness of the issues studied and to shape appropriate ethical attitudes among accounting professionals

The use of cost information in the reports and financial analyzes of hospital

Evaluation of hospital standing is one of the tasks of the funding bodies of hospitals. The evaluation is made based on the indices of measurements specified in the Ordinance of the Minister of Health. These indices relate to various areas of hospital activities, including their financial results. There are no indices based directly on costs. The aim of the study is to identify the role of costs as a basis for the evaluation of economic and financial status of hospital. The research hypothesis states: it is necessary to increase the role of hospital operating costs in the assessment of their economic-financial condition. The research tools included the analysis of legal acts, related literature and practical examples of hospital reports on economic and financial situation of independent public health care institutions. Final conclusions were developed using the method of deduction and synthesis

Business Model Disclosure in the Reporting of Public Companies—An Empirical Study

Traditional financial reporting primarily discloses information about assets, equity, liabilities and financial situation of an enterprise. Simultaneously, socio-economic changes are prompting enterprises to implement business reporting towards disclosing activities for sustainable development and information about the business model in non-financial reporting. Shaping of an enterprise’s business model is carried out in the spirit of sustainable development, which is beginning to dominate the strategies of many large enterprises. At the same time, the concept of the business model and its reporting have still not been characterized in detail or standardized, which limits transparency and the usefulness of information. These phenomena provided an incentive to undertake the research on the business model reporting. The overall goal of this study is to expand research on disclosures about the business model in the corporate reporting of Polish listed companies, as well as to indicate the degree and directions of development of this subject against the background of the accounting system. The study also addresses the epistemological goal by entering the discussion on reporting about the business model. The research uses the financial statement content analysis method and the statistical method (Spearman’s correlation). The scope of disclosures about the business model are examined in integrated reports, consolidated reports, management reports, non-financial data reports and CSR reports of Polish companies listed on the stock market. This information is examined according to its four main components: inputs, business activities, outputs and outcomes. The correlation between the number of audited disclosures and selected economic and similar parameters characterizing enterprises (total assets, performance, board, EBITda, equity and liabilities) is also studied. The research reveals that entities preparing an integrated report demonstrate a greater number of disclosures of business model components in selected economic categories than entities that do not prepare such a report. Thus, the companies preparing an integrated report follow the mainstream of stakeholder theory, opting for a more descriptive reporting approach, accessible to a wider group of users. Moreover, business model information is often reported in a highly random manner. Simultaneously, descriptive forms of business model disclosure prevail over numerical ones, although not to a large degree. The findings also confirm that there is a positive correlation between the detail of disclosures about the business model and selected economic parameters of an enterprise (the strongest with total assets, board and EBITda). Thus, it becomes possible to recognize that large enterprises with a strong and stable structure of assets follow specific, more detailed reporting patterns aimed at sustainable development of reporting. At the same time, they are more likely to expand the scope of disclosures compared to smaller enterprises. This investigation responds to the interest of enterprises and other stakeholders in the reporting spectrum by increasing market information efficiency and transparency. Findings can also be used by standards setters, while providing new rules and regulations