Accounting and Accountability in Italian Local Governments: Recent Changes and Challenges for the Future

The Italian public sector, especially local government, has been experiencing an era of considerable change over the last four years following reforms introduced by the National Legislature (Parliament). The reforms influence many aspects of local government operations: organization, policy, management, finance, accounting, and auditing. This article analyzes some aspects of accounting reform in the new laws and directives in order to demonstrate how the traditional concept of accountability for local governments is changing. The direction of reform is clearly toward federalism and away from national authority and control in the public sector.