LAUSR

Highlights • The study focus is rhetorical appeals to logic, credibility and emotion in framing accrual accounting for good governance and anti-corruption.Fig. 1 Implementation Strategies. Source: Accountant General Office (Wan Sulaiman, CAPAM Biennial Conference, 2014).Fig. 2 Critical Success Factors. Source: Accountant General Office (Wan Sulaiman, CAPAM Biennial Conference, 2014).Fig. 3 Governance Framework. Source: Treasury Circular 1.2/2013.• We provide a case study of the adoption of accrual accounting in Malaysia employing the theoretical lens of Goffman frame analysis.• Accrual accounting can potentially improve governance and anti-corruption, but is not a panacea; other institutions also need to be strong.• The discourses around adoption of accrual accounting point to the potential of accounting for broader social outcomes. Abstract In government, the challenges of governance and anti-corruption are exacerbated by accounting not being fit for purpose. In developing countries, many governments adopt accrual accounting as a panacea. Drawing on Goffman's frame analysis, and rhetorical appeals to logic, credibility and emotion, this paper examines the adoption of accrual accounting in Malaysia. It was found accrual accounting has potential for keying governance and anti-corruption. However, rhetorical appeals that attempt to legitimate neo-liberalism and engender public support in the name of progress were hindered by perceptions of endemic corruption and relatively weak democratic institutions of ‘good’ governance common to developing countries.