AbstractIn developed countries, governmental accounting is considered as an integral part and a successful aspect of public sector reforms. In developing countries, besides being a tool for government financial management modernisation, accounting is regarded as a weapon against fraud and waste in government. The aim of this article is to compare, taking the IPSAS No.1 as a benchmark, the information content of the financial statements submitted by the central governments of Anglo‐Saxon, Nordic, European Continental and Mercosur zone countries. The results give us a point of reference as to where the central governmental accounting of each country studied lies in the ‘spectrum’ from cash to full accrual accounting and to what extent the IPSASs are able to fit into diverse public administration styles in order to improve the transparency, accountability and reliability of the financial information disclosed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.