Balancing money and mission in a local church budget

This study of budgeting practices and attitudes to budgeting in a local church uses Booth’s (1993) framework to consider the potential conflict between the "sacred" agenda of the church and the "secular" nature of accounting. Over a six month period, the author conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with key church leaders, and studied financial reports and the minutes of church meetings. Clergy and lay people alike, far from viewing accounting as an unwelcome intrusion into their church's sacred agenda, integrated belief in their church’s mission with the need to raise and manage the money necessary to mobilise that mission. Religion and religious organizations occupy a greater importance in society than academic accounting research would indicate, and this paper represents a response to that academic blind spot. Opportunities abound for further studies of the contribution accounting makes to other religious organizations, and to non-profit organizations whose goals are not primarily wealth creation. All organizations, even those with a sacred agenda, need to confront the reality of money and accounting if they are to achieve success. If they are unable to obtain or account for the resources they need for their mission, their ability to fulfil that mission is likely to be compromised. By portraying accounting as an enabling and liberating contributor to a church's fulfilment of its spiritual mission, this study demonstrates that attitudes to accounting are inextricably intertwined with religious beliefs, and that accounting can be a valuable tool in a cooperative attempt to implement a spiritual vision

The corporate connection: financial reporting in a large religious/charitable organization in Australia

Nonprofit organizations operate in an increasingly corporatised, competitive environment. More and more, as institutions with charitable agenda, they need to promote an image that will enhance their ability to attract the funding they require in order to continue their operations. Competition for donations is becoming more intense and society is increasing its expectations about the level of accountability desirable from such organizations. One means by which nonprofit organizations can address this issue of accountability, and present themselves to the public as financially sound and worthy of receiving donations, is through their annual financial statements. As accounting practices have changed over time, it has been essential for religious/charitable and other nonprofit organizations to present a financial image in keeping with that which is valued and esteemed by society. They may have a “sacred” agenda, but in a changing environment where attitudes to religion and religious organizations have changed, where social problems abound and the need for their services is increasing, where philanthropy is rapidly becoming an industry, and government funding is increasingly tied to performance, nonprofit organizations have had to adopt “secular” accounting practices in order to survive. Borrowed from the corporate world, these accounting practices are in the process of being institutionalized into the nonprofit sector, as an aid to ensuring financial survival. This paper has as its focus one of two Australian divisions of an international religious/charitable organization. It was the subject of a twelve month study. The division relies heavily on the general public for donations, works hard to increase corporate sponsorship, and also depends on the government for funding. The organization has responded to society’s demands for more financial accountability by presenting financial statements based on accrual accounting and in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. While the production of an image-enhancing report has been achieved, the cost has been substantial, not just financially, but in organizational, personnel and cultural terms. Given that world-wide, nonprofit organizations are operating in a similar environment, there will be many such organizations undergoing similar changes in their style of financial reporting. Based on this case, these transitions are likely also to be painful, but perceived as necessary, with the benefits being in terms of image rather than technical usefulness

The Hollow Promise of an Accounting Standard Setter

Purpose – This paper applies a power framework to critically analyse the international accounting standard setting process for the extractive industries. Design/methodology/approach – Publicly available data, including comment letters, annual reports, company websites, and IASC/IASB pronouncements, is used to make connections between the key plays involved in the international accounting standard setting process for the extractive industries. Findings – Lukes’ (1974) conception of power is used to explain the community of interests that developed between the IASC/IASB and extractive industries constituents. This community of interests is shown to have enabled the extractive industries to mobilise its power to paralyse the standard setting body and secure favourable regulation. While the politicisation of accounting standard setting is widely acknowledged, the revelation that economically dominant groups can covertly wield such power is a sobering one in the light of the worldwide promotion and adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards. Originality/value – This paper contributes to understanding of the presence of power in the international accounting standard setting process and how it is mobilised by key constituents

The effect of funding changes on public sector non-profit organisations: the case of Bushcare NSW

Research into non-profit organisations abounds, but public sector non-profit organisations have been neglected. Recent funding incentives have led to significant changes in the market environment for such organisations. This study describes market changes and explores the reactions of one environmental public sector non-profit organisation, Bushcare NSW, to these changes. This paper contends that, within this institutional environment, non-profit organisations more successful in attracting large amounts of external funding have better administrative structures in place, whereas those less successful find themselves confronted with burdensome administrative duties. Neo-institutional theory provides a theoretical basis for this empirical investigation. Funding changes have had a major impact on Bushcare organisations, those more successful in attracting grants reporting significantly fewer recent administrative changes

The first 25 years of the Queensland Rugby Football League: Claims to legitimacy in annual reports

Despite the cultural importance of sporting organisations, little academic attention has been paid to the legitimising role of their annual reports. In this paper we examine the role of annual reports in establishing the legitimacy of a new organisation, the Queensland Rugby Football League (QRFL), founded in 1908. Contextualised with media reports from newspapers of the day, twelve annual reports from QRFL’s first 25 years are analysed and interpreted using insights from legitimacy theory. Through the presentation of audited financial statements and persuasive narrative accounts of its operations and success, QRFL made claims to pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy as it sought to establish a niche as a new football code and organisation. This contextualised study situates the annual reports in their historical landscape, providing insights about how they contributed to QRFL’s efforts in overcoming the liability of newness in a competitive sports environment

Powerful players: How constituents captured the setting of IFRS 6, an accounting standard for the extractive industries

This paper illustrates the influence of powerful players in the setting of IFRS 6, a new International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for the extractive industries. A critical investigative inquiry of the international accounting standard setting process, using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), reveals some of the key players, analyses the surrounding discourse and its implications, and assesses the outcomes. An analysis of small cross-section of comment letters submitted to the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) by one international accounting firm, one global mining corporation and one industry group reveal the hidden coalitions between powerful players. These coalitions indicate that the regulatory process of setting IFRS 6 has been captured by powerful extractive industries constituents so that it merely codifies existing industry practice

An epistemic community as influencer and implementer in local government accounting in Australia

This paper adopts an epistemic community framework to explicate the dual role of epistemic communities as influencers of accounting policy within regulatory space and as implementers who effect change within the domain of accounting. The context is the adoption and implementation of fair value accounting within local government in New South Wales (NSW). The roles and functions of Australian local government are extensive, and include the development and maintenance of infrastructure, provision of recreational facilities, certain health and community services, buildings, cultural facilities, and in some cases, water and sewerage (Australian Local Government Association, 2009). The NSW state Department of Local Government (DLG) is responsible for legislation and policy development to ensure that local councils are able to deliver ‘quality services to their communities in a sustainable manner’ (DLG, 2008c). These local councils receive revenue from various sources including property rates, government grants and user-pays service provision. In July 2006 the DLG issued Circular 06-453 to councils (DLG, 2006c), mandating the staged adoption of fair value measurement of infrastructure assets. This directive followed the policy of NSW State Treasury (NSW Treasury, 2007),4 and an independent inquiry into the financial sustainability of local councils (LGSA, 2006). It was an attempt to resolve the inconsistency in public sector asset valuation in NSW Local Governments, and to provide greater usefulness and comparability of financial statements.5 The focus of this study is the mobilization of accounting change by the DLG within this wider political context. When a regulatory problem arises, those with political power seek advice from professionals with relevant skill and expertise (Potter, 2005). This paper explores the way in which professionals diffuse accounting ‘problems’ and the associated accounting solutions ‘across time and space’ (Potter, 2005, p. 277). The DLG’s fair value accounting policy emanated from a ‘regulatory space’ (Hancher and Moran, 1989)6 as a result of negotiations between many parties, including accounting and finance professionals. Operating within the local government sector, these professionals were identified by the DLG as being capable of providing helpful input. They were also responsible for the implementation of the new olicy within local councils. Accordingly they have been dentified as an pistemic community with the ability to ranslate regulatory power by changing he domain of ccounting (Potter, 2005, p. 278).7 The paper is organised as follows. The background to the LG’s decision to require the introduction of fair value accounting for infrastructure assets is explored. Following this, the method of the study is described, and the epistemic community framework outlined. In the next sections, evidence of the influencing and implementing roles of epistemic groups is provided. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the significance of these groups both within regulatory space in developing accounting regulation, and in embedding change within the domain of accounting

Investigating iternational accounting standard setting: the black box of IFRS 6

This paper examines the role of powerful entities and coalitions in shaping international accounting standards. Specifically, the focus is on the process by which the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) developed IFRS 6, Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources. In its Issues Paper, the IASB recommended that the successful efforts method be mandated for pre-production costs, eliminating the choice previously available between full cost and successful efforts methods. In spite of the endorsement of this view by a majority of the constituents who responded to the Issues Paper, the final outcome changed nothing, with choice being retained. A compelling explanation of this disparity between the visible inputs and outputs of the standard setting process is the existence of a “black box”, in which powerful extractive industries entities and coalitions covertly influenced the IASB to secure their own ends and ensure that the status quo was maintained

Geometric frustration and concerted migration in the superionic conductor barium hydride

Authors would like to thank the ISIS Facility Development Studentship for funding this work. Additionally, I would like to thank ISIS Neutron and Muon Source for providing the beam time to collect all the scattering data presented in this paper. Finally, I would like to thank the Crockett Scholarship for supporting my studies. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Accepted Author Manuscript version arising.Ionic conductivity is a phenomenon of great interest, not least because of its application in advanced electrochemical devices such as batteries and fuel cells. While lithium, sodium, and oxide fast ion conductors have been the subjects of much study, the advent of hydride (H–) ion fast conductors opens up new windows in the understanding of fast ion conduction due to the fundamental simplicity of the H– ion consisting of just two electrons and one proton. Here we probe the nature of fast ion conduction in the hydride ion conductor, barium hydride (BaH2). Unusually for a fast ion conductor, this material has a structure based upon a close-packed hexagonal lattice, with important analogues such as BaF2 and Li2S. We elucidate how the structure of the high temperature phase of BaH2 results in a disordered hydride sublattice. Furthermore, using novel combined quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) we show how the high energy ions interact to create a concerted migration that results in macroscopic superionic conductivity via an interstitialcy mechanism.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Right place. Right time. Right tool: guidance for using target analysis to increase the likelihood of invasive species detection

In response to the National Invasive Species Council’s 2016–2018 Management Plan, this paper provides guidance on applying target analysis as part of a comprehensive framework for the early detection of and rapid response to invasive species (EDRR). Target analysis is a strategic approach for detecting one or more invasive species at a specific locality and time, using a particular method and/or technology(ies). Target analyses, which are employed across a wide range of disciplines, are intended to increase the likelihood of detection of a known target in order to maximize survey effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Although target analyses are not yet a standard approach to invasive species management, some federal agencies are employing target analyses in principle and/or in part to improve EDRR capacities. These initiatives can provide a foundation for a more standardized and comprehensive approach to target analyses. Guidance is provided for improving computational information. Federal agencies and their partners would benefit from a concerted effort to collect the information necessary to perform rigorous target analyses and make it available through open access platforms