The convergence of the Central American countries to International Accounting Standards

Abstract: In the last few decades, Central American countries are making a significant effort in order to modernize their governments' legislation both on financial management and systems of financial information. In this sense, these countries aim to enhance the quality of public financial information in order to improve decision-making processes, decrease the level of corruption, and keep citizens informed. In this context, the purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to assess the degree of similarity of the financial information that is being developed by Central American governments with regard to the recommendations set up by Ipsas, and secondly, to analyse the efforts and the strategies that those countries are carrying out in the process of implementing those standards. To determine the differences in the information containing the annual financial statements issued by national public authorities and the recommendations set up by Ipsas we conducted a deductive content analysis. In view of the results we can say that the quality of annual financial statements presented by the countries in Central America, in comparison to the recommendations by the Ipsas concerning Ifac information, is not enough. Hence, in order to operate significant changes, it is still necessary to create new strategies for the implementation of the Ipsas.

摘要：近几十年来，中美洲各国为推进本国财政管理与财务信息系统领域的政府立法现代化，付出了显著努力。据此，这些国家旨在提升公共财务信息质量，以优化决策流程、降低腐败程度并保障公民知情权。在此背景下，本文旨在实现双重研究目标：其一，评估中美洲各国政府编制的财务信息与国际公共部门会计准则（IPSAS）所提建议的契合程度；其二，分析各国在实施该准则过程中所采取的具体举措与策略。为对比国家公共部门发布的年度财务报表信息与IPSAS的相关建议之间的差异，本研究采用了演绎式内容分析法。结合研究结果来看，相较于IPSAS针对国际会计师联合会（IFAC）信息规范所提出的相关建议，中美洲各国提交的年度财务报表质量仍显不足。因此，若要实现实质性变革，仍需制定全新的IPSAS实施策略。