i) It reflects financial responsibility and accountability;
ii) It enables analysis of the budget by sector, geography and activity;
iii) If follows a logical pattern and so after some initial training and experience is relatively simple to understand and operate;
iv) It allows scope for future refinement and development and the introduction of more sophisticated forms of accounting elements of accrual accounting are already provided for;
v) It facilitates the integration of recurrent and development activities and provides for the separation of recurrent and development expenditure;
vi) It enables direct comparison of budget, commitment and actual transactions on modified accrual accounting and also facilitates measurement of resources;
vii) It introduces cost centre budgeting and accounting, which provides management of a budget at a decentralized level. These centres are equivalent to Head and Sub-Head Controllers as well as projects.
viii) It facilitates the production of consistent financial information at different levels of aggregation, resulting in a consolidated level of accountability to all interested parties.

The public procurement reform programme was part of a wider reform agenda targeted at improving public financial management. The objectives of the procurement reform proposals are to:
– Promote national development;
– Enhance harmony with other local and international laws;
– Foster competition, efficiency, transparency and accountability;
– Facilitate ease of procurement administration; and,
– Ensure value for money

It may be possible to use information on securities that are traded on a stock exchange to value similar securities by analogy, making an allowance for the inferior marketability of the non-traded securities.

If an existing fixed asset is no longer being produced but has been replaced by an asset whose characteristics are significantly different in some specific aspects but otherwise are broadly similar (for example, new models of vehicles or aircraft), then it may be reasonable to assume that the price of the existing asset would have moved in the same way as the price of the asset currently being sold.

It may be possible to value assets at their initial acquisition costs plus an appropriate revaluation for subsequent price changes minus an allowance for consumption of fixed capital, amortization, or depletion.

Most fixed assets are recorded in the balance sheet at their “written-down replacement cost”. This value is the original acquisition value of the asset adjusted by an allowance for price changes and then written down for the accumulated consumption of fixed capital.

Economic development plans that spread over a number of years and are intended as bedrock of achieving development objectives of a country.

• Capacity, ability and social and political stability;
• Effective, reliable, pragmatic, flexible, legitimate, and well implemented strategy;
• Identification of the core priorities of a country;
• Urgency, political will and drive;
• Public and stakeholders legitimacy;
• Should be devoid of strait-jacket economic ideologies and dogmas.

• Long period of Military Interventions;
• Lack of political will, drive, faith, urgency, commitment;
• Absence of national ideological cohesion caused by inter-party and intra-party ideological cohesion;
• Improper planning and implementation.

The objectives of government regulatory and financial reporting framework should achieve the following:

• Show whether financial resources are obtained and spent in accordance with the national budget;
• Show whether the government overspent or under spent budgeted amounts and what changes necessitated those performances;
• Show whether control over commitments and obligations are effective and whether any challenges that exist are due to cash outlays or revenue inflows;
• Show whether financial flows may be determined or predicted;
• Evaluate the performance of the economy and state institutions.

New Environment:
i) Sometimes regulations designed to promote financial soundness and reporting may prevent desirable changes and interfere with the ability of the system to adapt itself to a new environment;

Outmoded Laws:
ii) Regulatory bodies are usually slow to redefine the purposes and financial structures of public institutions. As public entities seek to broaden their scope of operations they are often faced with legal constraints and outmoded laws and financial regulations

iii) Timeliness – Undue delays will make reports lose their relevance;

iv) Cost Benefit – Cost of providing information should not be more than the benefits;

v) Quality – Quality of reports should meet objectives of financial reports;

vi) Collusion – When public officers collude to misapply or misappropriate public funds and property the objectives of regulations are defeated;

vii) Corruption – This is one of the risk factors that undermine public institutions and destroy the goals of public entities, making the application of regulations ineffective.

Concept of New Public Management in the Public Sector
Objective: Aims at structural organisational and managerial changes of the public sector.

Methods:
1. Reinventing Government
Decentralizing management, and disaggregating and downsizing of public services.

2. Re-Engineering & Revitalization of the Public Service
Reducing state bureaucracy of centralization, and direct control to be replaced by managerialism.

3. Organisational Transformation
– Reforms are made credible and irreversible
– Adequate administrative and institutional capacity is provided

4. Total Quality Management
– Managerial improvement
– Corruption minimized

5. Results Oriented Management
Market based public service management or “enterprise culture”

6. Outsourcing Jobs
Contracting out provision of public services

7. Empowering rather than serving
– Commitment to economic growth
– Investment and international competitiveness

• Annual budget is designed as a plan for implementing government policy;
• Annual budget is designed to translate government policy into financial outlays and inputs and outputs;
• Annual budget is designed to serve as a guide for managing the economy;
• The budget document is used as a means of looking for possible directions and reactions or changes to the implementation process.

• Budgeting involves public sector managers in the budget process;
• Budgetary process is used to assess whether activities of public sector entities are the most effective means of achieving their objectives;
• The budget is used to assess the cost effectiveness and cost efficiency of operations of public sector entities;
• The budget is used to plan the cost of inputs, outputs and activities linked to the objectives of public sector entities;
• The budget is used to determine not only recurrent expenditures but also development and investment expenditures.

• When the officer resigns from employment without leaving any traceable address;
• When the officer dies having no known estate;
• When the expenses to be incurred in the collection of the advance is not justified in relation to amount of advance and its possibility of collection.

At the commitment stage, it is necessary to verify that:

• The proposal to spend money has been approved by an authorized person;
• Procurement process has been completed;
• Money has been appropriated for the purpose in the budget and sufficient funds remain available in the proper category of expenditure;
• The expenditure is proposed under the correct category; and
• The institutions prepare, commit and issue approved Purchase Orders (PO) to the supplier.

i) Other public institutions as defined in section 45 (1) of Act 654 and government agencies, which receive financial support from government shall have agreements covering the payment of such support and shall provide for the:

a. appointment of a government nominee in the governing body;
b. Prior approval by the Government of financial and accounting arrangements of the institution concerned;
c. Submission of the annual estimates to the Minister for review and submission to Parliament for approval;
d. Audit of accounts by the Auditor-General or an Auditor appointed for the reporting to the Auditor-General; and
e. Issue of directions by the government on matters affecting the financial policy to be adopted by the institution concerned.

ii) The requirement for receipt of financial support shall be subject to the condition that the institution assisted shall render audited annual statements of accounts to the Minister with a copy to the Controller and Accountant-General.
iii) The provisions of section 50(1) and (2) of the Financial Administration Act, 2003 (Act 654) shall apply to all other public institutions.
iv) Where financial support is given by Government to public institutions, quarterly returns on expenditure shall be forwarded to the Minister and the Controller and Accountant General in such form as may be determined by the Controller and Accountant-General in consultation with the Minister.