ABSTRACT
This
research work is titled “The role of Accounting in the control of public
expenditure” the incessant incident of budget deficit, misappropriation and
embezzlement of project fund due to lackof good accounting system constitute
the problems that necessitated this research. The main objectives are: To
ascertain whether adequate budgeting can regulate public expenditure, to
ascertain whether a good accounting system can ensure transparency and
accounting in execution in public expenditure and evaluate standard of costing
impact on the control of public expenditure. Data for this work was obtained
using questionnaire. The z test formular was used to test the hypotheses, the
sample size is (50) fifty, this actual sample size was used because the size
was not large. Some of the findings were that: public revenue and expenditure
constitute an integral aspect of government budget and that the execution of
public project by government entails incurring public expenditure.
Recommendations made were that: Adequate government budget can regulate public
expenditure, and an efficient and effective accounting system can ensure
transparency and accountability during public expenditure execution.
Recommendations proffered were: government should seek for the services of professional
accountant during budget preparation. Government and other public institution
should instill good accounting and internal control system to check
embezzlement of project funds.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Public
expenditure is the spending made by the government of a country on the
collective needs and wants of her citizenries such as spending on; the
provision of infrastructures, pension provision etc. Until the 19th
century, Public expenditure was limited as Laissez faire philosophies which
believed that money left in private could bring better returns. In the 20th
Century John Maynard Keyness argued the role of Public Expenditure in
determining levels of income and distribution in the economy. Since then
government expenditures has shown an increasing trend. In the 17th
and the 18th Century Public Expenditure was considered as wastage of
money. Thinkers are of the view that Government should stay with their
traditional functions of spending on defense and maintaining law and other.
Public Expenditures are incurred through budget implementation. The macro-economic
goals of the state budget are administered in specific and complex systems
which were developed in the managerial information unit of the General
Accounting department under the name of “Budget Implementation macro system”
The role of accounting in the control of public expenditures relates mostly on
setting of standards via budgeting and ensuring that the standard set are
adhered to. The accounting controls also ensure the actualization of the
macro-economic goals which are viz:
-
Maintaining
the total framework of the planned expenses.
-
Adjustment
of expenditure rate to the rate of the reception of incomes.
-
Regular
follow-up of compliance with deficit goals.
-
Planning
of the financing of the deficit in order to reduce the national debt-product
ratio etc.
In
Nigeria, public enterprises are engaged in a wide spectrum of economic
activities including agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing commerce
and services. The classification of public enterprises in Nigeria has been made
according to varieties of criteria by different authorities. The Public Service
review commission (1975:101) classified public sector into:
-
Public
Utilities
-
Regulatory
of Service body
-
Financial
Institutions
-
Commercial
and Industrial Enterprises.
Nigeria being a mixed enterprises. Eze (2013) opined
that a firm is classified as private enterprises when it is funded, owned and managed
by an individual or group of individuals.
These
firms are expected to be registered in the state within which they operate. The
activities of the public enterprises have been on the increase in recent times
which necessitated the introduction of the accounting to check and monitor the
financial activities of these enterprises.
According
to Onyekwelu (2010:2) Accounting is defined as the process by which data
relating to the economic activities of an organization are measured, recorded
and communicated to interested parties for making informed decision. The
earliest methods of accounting records were kept in physical quantities. These
records came from Eastern early civilization which involved countries around
the Mediterranean sea such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece Italy etc. Money was
recorded as soon as it was received. Money took the place of barter as a medium
of exchange and unit of account. This practice has been closely related to
economic development of countries. If the operation of Public enterprise grow
in size and complexity, management and other stakeholders will like to be
informed on the enterprise’s operation. Accounting is the only means via which
such information which are financial in nature can be communicated to the
stakeholders.
The
role of accounting in enterprises in Nigeria is primary to ensure accurate
accountability in these sectors and true and fair financial position of the
enterprise. This role is of utmost importance in any organization. An
organization can only grow or profit when the resources at its disposal are
well managed. The role of accounting seems to be more pronounced public
enterprises. In recent times, there are cases of mis-appropriation of funds in
the public enterprises and improper accountability. These factors have led to a
lot of public enterprises into oblivion, if the government had recognized the
role of accounting all most of the problems witnessed would not have occurred.
No Enterprise can move forward without having a well-organized and functional
account department which will provide accurate financial information for the
Enterprise and other interest group(s).
In
summary, the role of accounting in the control of public expenditure deals with
the process of setting cost standards and ensuring that the standard set are
maintained, However, if the already set standards appear to be in realistic
such standard can be reviewed and adjusted for it to be more realistic. Control
of public expenditure can be done through adequate budget implementation.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The
amount of public expenditure to be incurred by the government in any fiscal
year is contained in the annual budget. It is the goal of government to
maintain balanced budget, but...
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Item Type: Postgraduate Material | Attribute: 54 pages | Chapters: 1-5
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