New development: Public sector accounting education for users—embedding eLearning and technology in teaching

Information and communication technology (ICT) in learning can be an enabler to increase awareness and understandability of public sector financial statements for users. This article presents software that makes accounting information more easily understood by non-experts, such as public administration professionals. It is intended for information users and not information preparers; uses explanations of accounting terms; and permits analyses and comparisons. It can be used in both on site and distance learning programmes as it allows students to navigate and explore the material at their own pace.ABSTRACTThis article discusses the benefits of active learning techniques in teaching public sector accounting and highlights the particularities of teaching this subject to public administration students. As students in public administration in university or vocational learning programmes do not usually possess the necessary accounting and budgeting background, the educational focus should be on accounting comprehension and not on accounting information generation technicalities. Using active learning tools that correspond to the realistic financial overview of local governments, but in a user-friendly and easily understood way, could prove advantageous. Newly-developed educational software that is built along these lines is presented as a case study in this article.