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This study investigates and explores the needs and demands of Malaysian local authority taxpayers for financial information published by Malaysian local authorities. The study found, in the absence of standard financial reporting requirements placed on these authorities, a large expectation gap between the needs and demands of local taxpayers and the financial reporting practices adopted by Malaysian local authorities. Based on a sample of 305 local taxpayers in three local authorities studied, the results reveal that a significant percentage of taxpayers who expressed interest in reading the annual financial accounts of these authorities had a general desire for more financial information. The results also reveal that there are statistically significant differences in terms of taxpayers’ willingness to pay local tax demands between local authorities with high local tax arrears and local authorities with medium and low local tax arrears if such financial information were to be provided.

This paper aims to examine stakeholders’ expectations of accountability in non-profit organisations (NPOs) in general, and State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) in particular.

An online survey was used to collect data, which was then analysed descriptively. Furthermore, the differences between stakeholder groups were evaluated using the Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests.

The findings indicate that NPOs generally and SIRCs specifically need to clarify the meaning of accountability to meet the expectations of their stakeholders, especially the public, and to address accountability inquiries.

The research method was a limitation of this study. The data was collected using a survey. Generally, surveys contain restricted numbers and types of questions that the authors have outlined. Consequently, respondents might be constrained in their choice of how they perceive accountability. So, surveys used to collect respondents’ opinions may have an adverse effect on their responses. In addition, a number of respondents may also give superficial answers, particularly if they are required to answer a number of questions over a long period of time. Finally, the data collected using surveys might show what respondents think about accountability, but they do not show the actual practice.

Owing the highest accountability to the Board of Directors is akin to the practices of corporations. The findings of this study could assist their top officials to understand the accountability chain within SIRCs. This is consistent with the findings regarding accountability within SIRCs, whereby they perceived that they are responsible to their board for performance. Therefore, this should encourage the reporting of performance to both internal and external stakeholders.

Overall, perceptions on accountability are an ongoing debate, and they depend on the role of the organisation and expectations of stakeholders. Identifying a clear accountability chain is essential to develop the best reporting practices for SIRCs. The paper contributes to the literature by addressing two questions on accountability for NPOs: to whom and for what.

This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the nature and extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in the annual report by banking companies in Bangladesh, identify the impact of regulatory change on CSR reporting and examine whether there is any relationship between the extent of CSR reporting and bank characteristics. CSR movement and CSR reporting practices by financial sector have gathered great momentum in recent years. Banking sector is in the leading position in discharging CSR reporting.

The sample composed of all the 30 banking companies enlisted in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), and the study used content analysis approach for systematic categorization and analysis of the contents reported in the annual report. A total of 97 CSR items classified into seven classes were selected through a relevant literature review, as the expected items and average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, percentage and correlation, etc. were used as the tools of analysis. SPSS software version 19.0 was used to analyze the data. An ordinary least square (OLS) regression model is fitted to the data for assessing the effect of independent variables on total CSR reporting score.

The study found that the extent of CSR reporting in banking companies in Bangladesh varies from 27.84 to 65.98 per cent, and on an average, they report 47.39 per cent of the expected CSR items in annual report. It is also observed that banking companies in Bangladesh emphasized on linguistic or written form than charts, graphs or pictures in reporting CSR activities to their stakeholders, and the study found no significant influence of the selected bank characteristics on the extent of CSR reporting. Moreover, the study observed significant impact of regulatory change on nature and extent of CSR reporting.

The study considered all the listed commercial banking companies in Bangladesh, and the annual report of 2011 was taken as the main source of data.

Among others, the implications of the study include the following. Banking companies are expected to get a real scenario of CSR reporting of the banking sector in Bangladesh and banking companies with poor CSR contribution expected to be motivated for contributing more in CSR activities. Government and other regulatory bodies can also get detailed information regarding CSR reporting practices for formulating guidelines in this regard.

This empirical study on the determinants of extent of CSR reporting using a larger number of expected CSR items contributes toward a better understanding of the CSR reporting practices of the banking companies in Bangladesh. The study used a new independent variable “CSR Expenditure” in justifying its influence on CSR reporting and identified the impact of regulatory change on CSR reporting. The study expects contributing in the enactment of more regulatory requirements for bringing the CSR reporting into a certain framework and encouraging in more CSR reporting in Bangladesh.