Applying Public Sector Accounting Standards: Identifying Existing Challenges and Prerequisites Reforms Factors Based on an Expert Perspective

Over the past three decades, major reforms in public administration, especially the establishment of accrual accounting, have been characteristic of the public sector in many countries. The public sector financial system of Iran is also in the process of implementing these reforms, according to the available evidence, that the public sector accounting standards are not fully and properly applied, the purpose of this paper is to examine public sector accounting reforms and the application of public sector accounting standards with focusing on identifying challenges and factors supporting change. The research statistical population is all of experts in the filed of public sector accounting and its reforms; We collected the information needed to answer the main research questions through the distribution of a researcher-made questionnaire in 2018.Expert opinion polls during two Delphi rounds showed that the lack of proper knowledge of standards is the main challenge of applying standards. In addition, training for public sector accountants ranked first among prerequisites and supporting factors. The results of this paper, in addition to evaluating the challenges of applying public sector accounting standards, for the first time examines the prerequisites for applying the standards. Therefore, the results help to develop and improve public sector accounting in Iran.