The usefulness of the annual reports for accountability and decision-making purposes by the KwaZulu-Natal municipalities.

Abstract

According to the IPSAS and ASB’s Conceptual Frameworks for Financial Reporting, annual reports prepared using these frameworks present information that users can use for accountability and decision-making purposes. Such conceptual frameworks state that the annual reports’ information must exhibit important and enhance qualitative characteristics to be helpful to the users. The study’s purpose was to determine whether the annual reports prepared by the KwaZulu-Natal municipalities presented information that is useful for accountability and decision-making. The setting for this study is all the municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. However, only 43 annual reports were included in the results of this study. The study analyses annual report contents using a content analysis methodology based on a 21-index research instrument developed by Beest, Braam, and Boelens (2009). The research instrument operationalises the qualitative characteristics of useful information into 21 measurable disclosure indicators. An exploratory factor analysis was used to ascertain the relationships between variables. The study results revealed that the quality of annual reports prepared by municipalities was satisfactory, notwithstanding that there is still room for improvement in the overall usefulness of the annual reports. Most annual reports omitted forward-looking statements and included technical jargon that was not clarified. The majority of municipalities used historical cost accounting for assets rather than fair value cost accounting in their annual reports. Municipalities need to limit technical jargon in the annual reports, and all technical terms should be explained in a glossary. Municipalities should also present forward-looking information that will enable users to make future expectations. The results of this study contradict previous research conducted in Europe and Asia that concluded that annual reports were inadequate for accountability and decision-making. However, the study lacks the interpretive analysis component necessary to provide an accurate qualitative view of annual report by users. Notwithstanding this limitation, the results of this study lay the groundwork for future research on this topic.