Accrual accounting in the public sector: Experiences from the central government in Sweden

The central government in Sweden introduced accrual accounting in the early 1990s. Ten years later, a study of the use of accrual accounting information shows that the information is used both in the agencies and in the Government offices, but that there was large differences in the use of different types of information, and in the use of the information for different purposes. In general, management accounting information about costs per object was is used to a relatively large extent, while general purpose financial statements are used less. Furthermore, the information is used to a relatively large extent in the management of the agencies, while it is used less in budgetary policies and policy making.