Translating IPSASs Into national standards: a comparison between Spain and Portugal

The purpose of this paper is to explain, from the national standard-setters standpoint, how the adoption and/or adaptation of IPSASs has been considered and developed in the Iberian countries, in a comparative-international perspective. Using questionnaires, it addresses in particular reasons for adapting the former existent public sector accounting system to IPSASs, as well as the driving forces leading to this decision, the steps that were or are being undertaken in the process, and the advantages and benefits that each country expects to derive or have derived from the adoption and implementation of an IPSAS-based system. The paper is framed by a combination of the Actor-Network Theory with the Institutional Theory to help understanding how and why organizations interact and how this interaction could have an impact on their choice of accounting policies. Main findings allow to conclude that in Spain the main driver for adapting public sector accounting to IPSASs has been the reform of business accounting adopting IFRSs, while in Portugal the most important driver seems to have been the requirement of lenders, namely the IMF, who were supporting the country’s financial crisis. The paper contributes to the understanding of the issues underlying the process of embarking in public sector accounting reforms towards IPSASs