Management accounting and public sector reform: do we need a wider perspective?

The last two decades have seen a change in public sector management world-wide. The New Public Management emphasises corporatisation, competition, privatisation, private sector management practices and output measurement. The evidence is mixed: Australian investigation into competitive tendering found both financial benefits and social costs. Moving to best value is suggested as a way of incorporating community aspirations and accountability into competitive tendering. Accounting can be used to provide the discourse for accountability, and to provide innovative ways to measure performance. The balanced scorecard, the results and determinants framework and the distinction between primary and secondary objectives can provide guidance on new management accounting technologies.