Accounting information system in public-business units - A case studies of public universities

The basic characteristic of a public business unit is that it is covered by the state for the expenses of the operation and performance of assigned political tasks with funds from the state budget or public funds on the principle of no direct reimbursement. Public business units must use expenditures properly in accordance with approved estimates, funding sources, and standards and norms. To manage finance, public business units use many methods and different management tools, including the accounting information system. Through in-depth investigation and interviews with accountants and managers at all levels of autonomous public universities (which are considered public non-business units) in Vietnam, this study assessed the current accounting information systems of those units. Based on the study's findings, some solutions were proposed to complete the accounting information system in line with the trend of financial autonomy in Vietnamese public universities in the current context.