Perceived Security and Trust in Digital Financial Recording Tools: An Extended UTAUT Analysis of MSME Adoption Behavior

Ja'far Hamzah Pulungan (Department of Sharia Accounting, Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia)
Yenni Samri Juliati Nasution (Department of Sharia Accounting, Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia)
Nurlaila (Department of Sharia Accounting, Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia)

Jurnal Dinamika Akuntansi dan Bisnis (JDAB)
Vol. 13 No. 2 (2026): September 2026: in progress

Digital financial recording applications can improve MSMEs' bookkeeping and financial management, yet today, sustaining their use remains a challenge. This study examines the determinants of MSMEs' use behavior by extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with perceived security and trust. Survey data were collected from 147 MSME owners in North Sumatra and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, and trust significantly influence use behavior, whereas effort expectancy and social influence do not. Perceived security strengthens trust, which in turn promotes use behavior, highlighting trust as the mechanism through which security perceptions shape MSMEs' use of digital financial recording applications. The findings extend UTAUT by demonstrating the indirect role of perceived security through trust and  offer practical implications for the design of secure and trustworthy digital financial recording applications for MSMEs.