Purpose This study aims to examine how hospitals and regional and local health authorities in the Italian region of Marche accounted for and reported the use of emergency funds from the EU, the Ministry of Economic and Finance and administrative bodies called actuator subjects. Unlike a sudden impact disaster, such as an earthquake, the pandemic was slow moving and novel. This meant that the guidelines for medical, legislative, financial and administrative action were not as developed as those for sudden impact emergencies with which the Italian state was, unfortunately, experienced. Design/methodology/approach The paper investigates the Italian public healthcare setting since the declaration of the State of Emergency until its end—that is, from January 2020 to July 2021. We conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with nine key-actors working for national, regional and local administrative bodies. A range of related official documents were analyzed. Findings We show a non-linear and emergent account of standardization and coordination. We show how different state and transnational actors developed their own procedures to standardize COVID-related cost classifications and reports. These attempts also involved coordinating assemblages, at the center of which are templates imposed on hospitals and regional authorities by national state entities for cost-reporting practices and aggregation. Importantly, templates’ visual features enabled coordination across the different standardization initiatives that populated the emergency response effort. Research limitations/implications The paper provides academics and policy makers with insights into the role played by accounting tools, templates, reports and guidelines to coordinate different cost standardization initiatives. Originality/value Accounting guidelines that standardize costs are known to be deployed hierarchically by states and transnational organizations for coordination purposes. We highlight, however, the emergence of not only hierarchical forms of coordination but also their interrelation with decentralized forms of coordination. These two types of coordinating assemblages, each standardizes cost through the accounting templates that they use. We demonstrate the emergent nature of coordination even within hierarchical entities like the state. Reporting templates are pivotal for understanding this coordination process. However, when a centralized coordinating body is absent, it is the visual features of accounting, rather than its imposition, that enable coordination.

Massimo Sargiacomo

Daniel Martinez

Stefania Servalli

Antonio Gitto

Antonio D'Andreamatteo

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal

Dedicated to the advancement of accounting knowledge, the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal publishes high quality manuscripts concerning the interaction between accounting/auditing and their socio-economic and political environments, encouraging critical analysis of policy and practice in these areas. The journal also seeks to encourage debate about the philosophies and traditions which underpin the accounting profession, the implications of new policy alternatives and the impact of accountancy on the socio-economic and political environment.

The Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal is dedicated to advancing accounting knowledge by publishing high-quality manuscripts that explore the interaction between accounting/auditing and their socio-economic and political environments. The journal encourages critical analysis of policies and practices in these areas and seeks to foster debate about the philosophies and traditions that underpin the accounting profession, the implications of new policy alternatives, and the impact of accountancy on the socio-economic and political landscape.

《Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal》致力于推动会计知识的发展，发表高质量的手稿，关注会计/审计与其社会经济及政治环境之间的互动，鼓励对这些领域政策和实践的批判性分析。该期刊还旨在促进关于支撑会计职业的哲学和传统的辩论，探讨新政策选择的影响，以及会计对社会经济和政治环境的影响。

Category	Quartile
管理学	3
管理学, 商业财政与金融	3

Coordinating assemblages: accounting for a novel disaster

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
BUSINESS, FINANCE	1