e-journal

Changing practice in accounting for service charges in commercial property

---

Purpose – The paper examines how accounting practice changes, which forces generate change, and
the role of a best practice benchmark within this. It examines this process of change within service
charge accounting in commercial property. The purpose of this paper is to establish that “best”
practice is of a low standard and poorly implemented, and then explain this.
Design/methodology/approach – Data are hand-collected from the original accounting source
documents that are routinely provided to commercial leaseholders as part of the service charge
management and accountability process. Evidence is generated by directly examining actual service
charge budgets and periodic certificates of expenditure incurred to reduce bias, create complete data
and ensure authenticity. The findings are then fleshed out and reinterpreted by utilising models
created using Laughlin’s middle-range thinking methodology.
Findings – “Best” practice is neither onerous nor “best” when compared with normal accounting
practices in other occupations. Whilst the 2006 Code of Practice has improved service charge
management, the majority of certificates do not conform to best practice. This suggests that “best”
practice is rather less a statement of current good practice and rather more an idealised view of the
industry enacted due to wider issues, such as tenant resentment attracting government interest, ideas
diffusing into the sector from elsewhere or a profession seeking to improve its occupational control.
Research limitations/implications – The sample of service charge budgets and certificates used
in this work represents approximately 6.2 per cent of the total estimated multi-let office space in
England and Wales and covers the period 1998-2009, with the majority of the buildings being tenanted
by organisations within the financial services sector. Content analysis is utilised in order to interpret
the data and to test actual practice with that required in the Code of Practice. In certain instances such
analysis requires some subjective judgement and interpretation by the researchers.
Originality/value – Data are original and the paper offers a unique benchmarking test. The area of
service charge management is unpublished and offers an interesting contrast to the better studied
regions of the profession. By shedding light into this backwater, it provides the opportunity for
academics and professionals to engage in a discourse that will improve practice, perhaps opening up
the discipline to new and better practices. It also illuminates the previously technical literature on the concept of best practice with an original conceptual framework in which to review the construct.

Keywords England,Wales, Commercial property, Leasing, Service charges, Accounting, Best practice,
RICS Code of Practice, Compliance, Accruals

---

Ketersediaan

Tidak ada salinan data

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change

No. Panggil

-

Penerbit

: Emerald Group., 2012

Deskripsi Fisik

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change Vol. 8 No. 2, 2012 pp. 186-209

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

-

Klasifikasi

-

Tipe Isi

-

Tipe Media

-

Tipe Pembawa

-

Edisi

-

Subjek

AKUNTANSI

Info Detail Spesifik

-

Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

Asmawati/Syahrial

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

Komentar

---

Anda harus masuk sebelum memberikan komentar