Civil society commissioning: the accounting contribution to strategy

Abstract

The authors propose that an accounting discipline contribution, throughout the commissioning cycle for services, is essential to the strategic perspective and therefore the long-term sustainability of service given the growing importance to the delivery of public services by commissioned civil society organizations (CSOs). The authors examine a Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) project in one local authority in the UK to identify the contribution that could and should be made. A model, the strategic accounting commissioning cycle (SACC), which suggests the contribution to be made by the accounting discipline at each stage within the cycle, has been developed to assist the identification of this contribution.

Keywords:

• Civil society
• commissioning cycle
• strategic accounting