Uang Japuik as a Financial Instrument: Rethinking Indigenous Accounting in Minangkabau Adat

Abstract

Purpose: This study analyzes the accounting dimensions embedded within two primary customary gift instruments in Minangkabau marriage traditions in Nagari Ketapiang, Padang Pariaman Regency: uang hilang and uang japuik. The study aims to demonstrate how these indigenous instruments implicitly practice accounting principles including transaction recognition, value measurement, resource allocation, and community-based financial accountability.

Design/methodology/approach: This study employs an interpretive paradigm using an accounting ethnography method. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants comprising customary figures in Nagari Ketapiang. Data were analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña (2014) model and interpreted through a critical accounting framework.

Findings: Uang hilang represents permanent expense recognition with social investment value, measured through a communal fair value mechanism based on deliberation rather than market price. Uang japuik functions as a customary debt-credit instrument structurally analogous to a financial instrument under PSAK 71, featuring a structured repayment mechanism and a binding penalty clause equivalent to liquidated damages. A post-wedding communal accountability mechanism was also identified, reflecting transparency and public accountability principles embedded in indigenous governance.

Practical implications: The findings suggest that customary financial practices in Indonesian indigenous communities contain sophisticated accounting logic that existing formal accounting standards do not adequately capture. Policymakers and standard-setters should consider recognizing the diversity of community-based financial governance in national accounting frameworks.

Originality/value: This study is among the first to analyze uang hilang and uang japuik through an accounting lens, contributing to the literature on indigenous accounting and critical accounting in the Indonesian context. The study proposes a four-pillar indigenous accounting framework derived from Minangkabau adat practices.

Paper type: Empirical/Qualitative