This study’s goal is to examine the prerequisites for putting “traditional” cost accounting methods into use in the public services industry. The study focuses on the adaptations that can be made to these systems, the circumstances surrounding their application, and the part that technology plays in this adaptation.
This research develops these objectives through a case of an in-house providing company that has implemented a hybrid system based both on cost centres and on activities.
The results show that systems based on cost centres, can overcome many of the well-known limitations of traditional systems and support decision-making processes when it is well detailed and consistent with company activities. Changes in culture and learning also supported by the day-to-day use of these systems facilitates the implementation and use of these new systems. Finally, with respect to the role of technology, if on the one hand the implementation of more reliable analytical accounting is a stimulus for the digitization of Public Administration (PA), on the other the digitization of the PA can speed up and simplify the flow of information and have implications with regard to a greater efficiency and effectiveness of decision-making processes and cost containment strategies.
Keywords: Cost accounting, Activity-Based costing, Digitalization, Local Public Services, Case study
