JOURNAL OF HEALTH ACCOUNTING
Year:2012 | Volume:1 | Issue:1 (1)|Papers Count:8

Introduction: Reforming the budgeting systems will make an enormous contribution to the economic prosperity of the country. Although the full implementation of operational budgeting is confronted with barriers, such as allowing the low-rank executive managers more authority, changing the governmental approach to accounting into accrual approach, and reforming the Public Accounting Act, changing the budgeting system to operating budgeting is inevitable to and necessary for the economy of the country. The purpose of this study is to review the barriers to implementing the operational budgeting based on Shah Model in Iranian free trade-industrial zones, and to suggest ways of overcoming them.Methods: The participants of this study were selected from among the financial managers, programming and budgeting managers of free trade-industrial zones, and also the staff of secretariat of high council of Iranian Free Trade-Industrial Zones. Data needed to test the research hypotheses were gathered through interview and questionnaire. To ensure the normal distribution of the responses for each test agent, "Kolmogorov-Smirnov" test was used. Finally, to test the research hypotheses, «T one sample" and "Median test" were used.Results: The results of the study are indicator of the fact that inability to assess the performance, inefficiency of human resources, lack of legal and procedural authority, and also the lack of motivation for acceptability were identified as the barriers to implementing the operational budgeting based on Shah Model. Nevertheless, factors such as technical ability, organizational authority, political acceptance, and managerial acceptance were not among those identified as barriers.Conclusion: The Findings of this study attest to the fact that at the present time, Free Trade-Industrial Zones Organizations do not have enough ability, authority and acceptability to execute operational budgeting.

Introduction: The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of personal and social characteristics on perception of moral principles in order to provide a new perspective on standards of morality which in turn will result in greater recognition of the beliefs and ethical viewpoints of directors of finance and budget.Methods: The data required to analyze the research hypotheses were collected via the questionnaire developed by the researchers of this paper. The participants of this study were a group of directors of finance and budget of Universities of Medical Sciences in Iran. Of the 88 participants who initially took part in the study, only 44 completed the questionnaire.Results: The results of the study indicate that the directors' personal characteristics, such as age and gender do not have significant effect on their perceptions of moral principles. Additionally, of the various social characteristics examined in this paper, such as level of education, major, work experience and organizational position, only work experience has a significant correlation with the directors' perception of moral principles, and the rest do not have a significant contribution to their perception of moral principles.Conclusion: The findings of the present study strongly suggest that more attention be given to moral principles and their perception by financial staff and executives of Universities of Medical Sciences across the country by offering courses on the development of code of ethics.

Introduction: The main purpose of this study was to investigate the disclosure or non-disclosure of information regarding environmental performance by polluting companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange according to the requirements of the current laws and regulations, as well as the accounting standards of Iran (VAT rules, the fifth development plan, the collection of some of the government revenues and other relevant laws).Methods: In this study, there was an attempt to use the descriptive survey method for research. To this aim, five issues regarding the environmental performance reporting were investigated in 47 polluting companies including 9 industries during 2002–2008.Results: The results obtained through binominal test demonstrate that at least 50% of the observations made about the polluting companies are indicative of the fact that their board of directors discloses the information regarding the environmental financial performance to the general assembly meeting via financial notes and reports.Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that polluting companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange disclose their environmental financial performance to the general assembly meeting through notes with financial statements, and also through the reports of board of directors. It is worth mentioning that as long as the disclosure of information regarding the environmental performance is arbitrary and voluntary, companies use different procedures for reporting, and their level of disclosure of environmental performance fluctuates.

Introduction: This research investigated the factors affecting implementation of activity based costing (ABC) in operational budgeting of government agencies in Isfahan province.Methods: Being an applied, cross-sectional and descriptive research, this study made use of a questionnaire for gathering data. Governmental agencies that used provincial budget in Isfahan province in 1388 comprised the sample of this study.Results: The results of the study indicate that with the exception of the ability to evaluate performance, the 50 governmental agencies of Isfahan lack other necessary requirements for the implementation of activity-based costing in operational budgeting, such as personnel's capabilities, technical ability, authority (Legal authority, procedural authority, organizational authority), and acceptance (political acceptance, managerial acceptance, incentive compatibility).Conclusion: The conclusion drawn from the current study is that governmental agencies of Isfahan province do not possess the necessary factors for implementation of Activity Based Costing in operational budgeting. Given the fact that new methods of operational budgeting, such as ABC are a must, reforms in budgeting and change of program budgeting into operational budgeting will be difficult if not impossible to perform.

Introduction: The main objective of this study was to measure the modes of securing financial resources in hospitals of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences during the Fourth economic development Plan (2005-2009).Methods: This study is an applied descriptive research whose data were collected by a two-part checklist for obtaining information related to the profile of hospitals. The checklist was validated in terms of content. The obtained data were classified and analyzed with Excel 2007 software.Results: The Results of the study indicate that, on average, 72% of the hospitals' revenue comes from the sum earned from insurance organizations, 20% from patients and 8% from medical practice of Health Ministry and Medical Education.Conclusion: The results of the study lead to this conclusion that hospitals ought to take serious measures both to reduce costs and to achieve maximum receivable sums. In addition, one reason for lower share of payment of the insurance organizations from total revenue in smaller hospitals might be the lack of comprehensive insurance coverage in these areas.

Introduction: In the present study, there was an attempt to calculate the cost price of dialysis in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital of Yazd using Activity Based Costing, and compare it with the tariff fixed on service.Methods: Using a descriptive and cross-sectional method, this retrospective research was carried out. The data required for examining the research problem were collected through forms designed to elicit information, interviews with authorities of the hospital and the ward, and also direct observation of the activities done in the dialysis center. At the end, the cost price of dialysis service was calculated using activity based costing method via Excel software.Results: The results of the study show that while the total cost in this ward is 1, 723, 906, 772 Rials, the total revenue is 2, 304, 900, 000 Rials. Moreover, the cost of every session of dialysis service is 442, 028 Rials.Conclusion: It is evident from the findings of this study that although the cost of dialysis has been lower than its tariff, it is possible to keep the costs of services down by improving the efficiency of work, especially through establishing standard patterns of consumption to reduce the costs of consumption, and also by improving the management initiatives and performance of human resources.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of familiarity of chief financial officers with new budgeting methods in executing agencies of Fars province. Additionally, their level of agreement or disagreement with the current modifications and developments in the budgeting systems of their local authorities was aimed at.Methods: The data for this survey research were acquired through a researcher-made questionnaire which was distributed among 78 chief financial officers in executive agencies of Fars province. Using the statistical methods of ‘Binomial Test', 'Chi-Square', and 'Mann Whitney', the data were analyzed to test the two major hypotheses along with the twelve minor ones.Results: The results of the study show that the degree of familiarity of chief financial officers in executive agencies of Fars province with new budgeting methods, such as the zero-based budgeting, program budgeting method, and planning and programming budgeting system is low except for operational budgeting method. Furthermore, it was found that the managers in this study do not view the budgeting method used by their local authorities satisfactory, and hence they opt for changes in budgeting methods to a great extent.Conclusion: the findings of the current study demonstrate that the degree of familiarity of chief financial officers with new budgeting methods except for the 'operational budgeting method' in Fars province was low. Moreover, their views concerning the necessity of modifying budgeting methods in their local authorities are not due to their familiarity with the new methods of budgeting.

Introduction: Due attention to directors' timely accountability, their ability to fulfill their responsibilities adequately, and critical evaluation of their work makes the accrual accounting systems very effective in recording the financial events of the public sectors. Hence, examining the advantages and disadvantages of this accounting basis, and the factors influencing its implementation seem necessary.Methods: The data needed for testing the research hypotheses were collected through the questionnaire designed in this study. The questionnaire was completed by a group of financial managers, heads of accounting, and accountants working in the medical universities, health services, and affiliated units. Stratified random sampling based on Cochran formula was used to select the participants. T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data.Results: The results of the study indicate that several factors, such as managerial elements specialist human resources, rules and regulations, the theoretical framework, and a culture of accountability (among directors) and seeking-accountability (among clients) are effective in the use of accrual accounting in the public sector.Conclusion: The findings of the study points to the conclusion that among the factors affecting the implementation of accrual accounting system, those related to management have the greatest impact whereas the ones related to theoretical framework have the minimal impact.