Development of Accounting Management for temples in Nakhon Sawan Province under the Supervision of the Nakhon Sawan Provincial Office of Buddhism

Abstract

The purposes of this research article were 1) to study the level of accounting management for temples in Nakhon Sawan Province under the supervision of the Nakhon Sawan Provincial Office of Buddhism based on Iddhipadadhamma; 2) to analyze the relationship between Iddhipadadhamma and the accounting management for temples in Nakhon Sawan Province under the supervision of the Nakhon Sawan Provincial Office of Buddhism; and 3) to propose guidelines for developing the accounting management for temples in Nakhon Sawan Province under the supervision of the Nakhon Sawan Provincial Office of Buddhism based on Iddhipadadhamma. This was a mixed-methods research. For quantitative research, the study population consisted of temple affairs managers or temple accountants of 820 temples in Nakhon Sawan Province. The sample size was calculated using Taro Yamane's formula, resulting in a sample of 269 temples. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson correlation coefficient. The sampling method used was purposive sampling, selecting from the number of temples in Nakhon Sawan province whose temple affairs managers or temple accountants responded to the questionnaire. The sample size was determined to ensure data distribution relative to the population proportions, using stratified sampling based on Sangha Administrative Zones. And qualitative research used interviews with 17 key informants. The research findings revealed that 1) the overall accounting management of temples in Nakhon Sawan Province was at a high level; 2) Iddhipadadhamma had a very strong positive correlation with the accounting management of temples in Nakhon Sawan Province, with a statistical significance level (r) of (0.93**) at the 0.01** level; 3) for developing the accounting management of temples in Nakhon Sawan Province based on Iddhipadhamma, the abbots and temple affairs managers should plan the accounting process to comply with relevant regulations and laws, set clear goals and work methods, pay attention to accuracy, constantly check and evaluate the results, and collaboratively find solutions and improvements, if problems or obstacles were encountered, using Iddhipadhamma, which consisted of Chanda (desire), Viriya (effort), Citta (mindfulness), and Vimangsa (investigation).