<![CDATA[Village-Owned Enterprises, known locally as BUMDes, hold a strategic position in driving village-level economic growth and enhancing rural living standards. Despite this potential, a number of BUMDes units in Karanganyar Regency still struggle with weak accounting practices, poor-quality financial reports, and limited transparency and accountability in managing their funds. Such conditions are likely to weaken financial outcomes and, in turn, reduce the extent to which BUMDes can contribute to community welfare. This study sets out to test how the accounting systems applied by BUMDes influence their financial performance and the welfare of village communities, and further to examine whether financial performance mediates that relationship. A causal quantitative approach was adopted, drawing on primary data gathered from structured questionnaires completed by 110 BUMDes administrators—directors, treasurers, and unit managers—across Karanganyar Regency. Data processing relied on Structural Equation Modeling with the Partial Least Squares approach (SEM-PLS) using SmartPLS software. Most measurement indicators met the required thresholds for convergent validity and reliability, with the exception of item SA6 under the accounting system construct, which returned a comparatively weak loading score. Structural testing revealed that the accounting system exerts a strong, statistically significant, positive influence on financial performance, and that financial performance in turn positively and significantly shapes village community welfare. The accounting system's direct path to community welfare, however, did not reach significance. What did prove significant was the indirect pathway running through financial performance, confirming its role as a mediating variable. Overall, the results underline how important it is for BUMDes to reinforce their accounting infrastructure and financial governance in order to boost performance and deliver greater welfare benefits to village communities.]]>
