Strengthening the financial management of traditional art groups based on SAK EMKM in the Tarawangsa community of Rancakalong Village, Sumedang

Abstract

Traditional art groups in rural Indonesia function as genuine economic units, yet rarely treat their receipts and expenditures as transactions requiring systematic records. This community engagement activity addressed that problem among the Tarawangsa art groups of Rancakalong Village, Sumedang Regency, West Java, where seven groups sustain a ritual music tradition bound to the Ngalaksa ceremony. Preliminary mapping involving fourteen key informants across two field visits identified three core weaknesses: the absence of structured bookkeeping, the mixing of group funds with the personal funds of administrators, and the absence of any inventory of the musical instruments serving as their principal productive assets. The activity applied a participatory action research approach through four stages: situational analysis, interactive training, technical assistance, and evaluation. A four-hour training session attended by fourteen participants introduced basic accounting concepts, the separation of group and personal cash, and the three financial statement components required under SAK EMKM. Technical assistance guided partners in developing a simple cash book, an asset inventory card, and a written format for recording performance revenue sharing. The activity demonstrates that barriers to adopting accounting standards among traditional art groups lie not in the complexity of the standards, but in the absence of assistance translating them into formats suited to seasonal, ritual-based transactions.