Having a longitudinal approach of the Romanian public accounting
system’s evolution, this historical study proposes the development
of a framework in order to assess in a descriptive manner the change
of public accounting and its implications for Romania, a European
emerging country. The evolution from cash accounting to accrual
accounting took place during three time periods within the timeframe
1991–2015. For each of these time periods we investigated influential
factors such as period, place, people, practices, propagation, products, and profession. The study shows that under the influence of the international managerial public reform and the internal factors
analysed, the public accounting system shifts from the old values
of the post-communist period to new reference bases such as
International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). The results
of the study place Romania, an East European country, on the map
of international public sector accounting systems as a relatively new
arrival but with serious intentions of integration