Reforms of accounting systems in sub-Saharan Africa: what contribution does the revised SYSCOHADA make to the growth of SMEs in Cameroon?

Abstract

For several years, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been at the heart of research in Africa. Most research questions about the sustainability of the latter. To support the emergence and growth of this type of entity, the Cameroonian government created a special bank for this category of business called BC PME in order to provide rulers with the necessary funds to improve the performance of their organizations. However, these companies have difficulty growing in the face of the multiple organizational changes that govern their operation. It is for this reason that this article aims to determine the impact of the reform of the OHADA accounting system on the growth of SMEs in Cameroon. To achieve this objective, we adopted a hypothetico-deductive approach, using primary data collected via a self-administered questionnaire from 160 SMEs in Cameroon located in the Central, Littoral, West and South regions. For data analysis, SPSS software was used and linear regression analysis was applied via an econometric model defined according to the study variables. The results obtained show that: the Elimination of Capitalized Expenses on the balance sheet (ECE) exerts a significant and negative influence on the growth of SMEs (financial profitability), the Contribution of the Entity Postulate (CEP) and the Contribution of the Postulate of Accrual Accounting (CPAA) exert a significant and positive influence on the growth of SMEs (financial profitability) in Cameroon and the variable Removal of the Light System of presentation of financial statements (RLS) exerts no significant influence on growth SMEs (financial profitability).

Keywords: SYSCOHADA reform; Growth; Immobilized charges; postulate; Accrual accounting

Classification JEL : G40, F14, F15, F30, F36, M41.  

Paper type: Empirical Research