International Journal of Research in Management 18 The influence of accounting systems on financial accountability in non-governmental organizations Nalga Sylvia 1 , Khalid Hashim Fadul 2 , Abobakr Ramadhan Al_Harethi 3 , Shakur Faruk 4 , Anas Rasheed Bajary 5 1-5 School of Business and Management, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia Sintok Kedah, Malaysia 1-5 Seiyun University, Seiyun, Yemen Abstract The objective of this paper is to examine the influence of accounting systems on financial accountability in non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The quantitative research approach was employed in the study and with the application of the cross-sectional research design using 317 respondents as sample size. The primary instrument was a self-administered survey and the data were collected and analyzed with the help of Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) for the purpose of examining the hypothesized relationship between perceived accounting systems and financial accountability. The results of regression analysis revealed that perceived accounting systems in NGOs have a significant influence on financial accountability policies. The results provide useful information for policymakers not only in NGOs, but also governmental entities that could be used in formulating appropriate policies to enhance the financial accountability. Keywords: Accounting systems, financial accountability, Non-governmental organizations Introduction According to Brody (2004) [2] , financial accountability is the absence of fraud as well as fiscal honesty in the organization. It entails the process of ensuring good explanations and clarification of all financial activities, recording and reporting to donors, ministries and constituents. The philosophies guiding the accountability encompass accounting for making reports, explanation and justification of one’s activities, as well as accommodating tasks of the results. However, Frumkin (2011) [10] raised concerns regarding Non-governmental organizations accountability (NGOs), specifically on the oversight mechanism and adequacy of reporting. According to McGann (2006), the NGO sector are Undergoing a crisis of transparency and accountability, and it has dented its credibility to a large extent. Thus, this issue has led to foremost financial scandals which was discovered to be affecting the organizational trustworthiness (Reports, 2010) [18] . It is a known fact that the NGOs are complex and diverse, having large variations in purpose, income streams, members, structure of governance and activities, size and advocacy goals, as well as operational mechanisms (Lyons, 2001) [12] . And as such, this large sector is under-researched, not well understood when compared with the governmental organizations, and such requires further investigation (May, 2012; Rogers, Kelly & McCoy, 2019) [13, 19] . Despite the emphasis on financial accountability, the Reports (2010) [30] showed that some NGOs reported deficits, embezzlement, lack of transparency, and poor financial records by their Managers, and the demand accountability in NGOs is on the rise. Most funders of NGOs demand for books of accounts and audited reports to foster transparency. Frumkin (2011) [10] agreed that most NGOs with many CBOs were not keeping proper records of books of accounts (Collins, 2006) [5] . They indicated that the accounting systems in several non-profits organizations were not properly executed and great number of prospective managers of nonprofit financial reports are not sure of the availability of appropriate information, as well as the method not knowing how to access this information. Poor financial accountability in Non-Government Organizations may be a sign of poor accounting systems with weak internal control and monitoring measures, hence the study of Accounting systems and financial accountability is of utmost importance. Literature Review A. Accounting System The accounting system is consisted of business papers, procedures, reports and records that are being utilized by firms for the purpose of recording transactions as well as feedback on their effects (Neave, 2009) [14] . This is because the effective and efficient management of the organization depends on proper accounting system. According to Collins (2006) [5] , an accounting system process whereby transactions are being written and recorded for safe keeping. This gives the organizations sense of direction and accountability as receipts are given for all the received expenditures, as well as asking for receipts for every time money is spent. B. Financial Accountability Financial accountability deals with the financial outlook of an organization (Dhanani & Connolly, 2015) [7] . It is termed to be the foundation of any good administration and management (Dellaportas et al., 2012; Reheul et al., 2014) [6, 17] , and most of the non-governmental literatures focuses on the process of exploring and discharging of accountability in finance through the method of disclosures and reporting practices from the generated resources through the means of annual reports (Reheul et al., 2014) [17] . It is on this note that Fedosov and Paientko International Journal of Research in Management www.managementpaper.net Online ISSN: 2664-8806; Print ISSN: 2664-8792 Received: 04-05-2019; Accepted: 06-06-2019 Volume 1; Issue 3; July 2019; Page No. 18-20