<![CDATA[While a growing number of bibliometric and systematic reviews have examined artificial intelligence (AI) in public administration broadly, evidence on how AI specifically drives accountability and transparency within public sector accounting remains fragmented and has not been systematically synthesised. This study presents a systematic literature review examining the role of AI as a driver of accountability and transparency in public sector accounting, addressing a critical gap in the evidence base on how emerging digital technologies reshape public financial governance. Employing a PRISMA-guided methodology, a systematic search was conducted on the Scopus database using Boolean keyword combinations spanning artificial intelligence, public sector, government, accountability, transparency, and financial reporting. From an initial pool of 745 articles covering 2020 to 2026, a rigorous two-stage screening process yielded a final corpus of 127 peer-reviewed articles. The findings reveal a dramatic acceleration in scholarly output peaking at 48 publications in 2025, with Business, Management and Accounting and Social Sciences as dominant subject areas. Four thematic clusters were identified (algorithmic accountability, methodological modelling, digital implementation, and policy governance) anchored by a citation network centred on foundational accountability frameworks. Geographic analysis indicates research concentration in China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, underscoring the underrepresentation of developing economy contexts. The results confirm that AI substantively enhances public sector accountability and transparency through fraud detection, audit automation, and improved financial reporting quality, though effectiveness remains contingent on institutional readiness and governance design. The study recommends establishing dedicated AI accountability frameworks, investing in auditor AI literacy, and developing context-sensitive implementation strategies for emerging economies. Theoretically, this review contributes to the public sector accounting literature by consolidating a fragmented evidence base into four coherent thematic clusters and by explicitly mapping the accountability-transparency mechanism through which AI operates in government financial governance.]]>
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