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Accounts / Audit

Improve accounting, bring info in public domain to reform MC’

Friday, 06 November 2009 11:34 administrator
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Indian Express 6.11.2009

‘Improve accounting, bring info in public domain to reform MC’

An improvement in the accounting system, making detailed plans for the city’s development and availability of information in the public domain — these are some of the recommendations made by councillor Pallav Mukherjee for improving the functioning of the Municipal Corporation.

Mukherjee is heading the committee that is looking into the working of the civic body and suggesting measures for its improvement.

The committee had been constituted after orders were issued by UT Administrator Gen S F Rodrigues (Retd) following a spat between the Mayor and the Municipal Commissioner. The committee’s report is in its final stages of completion. Mukherjee said there should be a double entry system with computerised records that would enable to maintain a list of assets built over the years by the civic body.

The system of each department maintaining records should be done away with and a qualified person should be appointed to keep a tab on all records

Another suggestion is that the departments should make plans for the city’s development in accordance with the Chandigarh Development Plan (CDP) that has been adopted by the UT Administration.

This would prevent ad hoc decisions and reduce wasteful expenditure of public funds on unnecessary projects like buying Italian road sweeping machines, when the same were available in India at cheaper rates.

Mukherjee further suggested that all information should be uploaded on the MC website and updated regularly.

Information like utilisation of resources, project management, citizen resource management, purchase systems, stocks and other functions of the corporation should be made available on the website. For this purpose, instead of re-employing retired personnel, there is a need to hire tech-savvy people.

It was stressed that project management systems and protocols be put in place. Mukherjee added that at present there is no system to examine the cost of machines or the estimates of the works approved.

At times, work is not executed on time and then the revised estimate, which is many times higher, is passed. He pointed out that there have been little or almost no inputs for improving systems to make them efficient, transparent and accountable. Little has been done to make expenditure and purchase systems or even project management systems fool-proof. There is a lack of planning for projects and other expenses, he said.

Last Updated on Friday, 06 November 2009 11:41
 

New accounting system for all municipalities

Tuesday, 08 September 2009 10:15 administrator
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The New Indian Express 08.09.2009

New accounting system for all municipalities

Express News Service


HYDERABAD: After decades, the municipalities in the State are adopting a new and standard accounting system, paving the way for transparency, authenticity and reliability.

Already, 58 urban local bodies (ULBs) have adopted this system in the first phase of the modernisation programme and the remaining 63 ULBs will adopt it within seven months.

Though the 58 municipalities were scheduled to switch over to the new accounting system by the end of August, the exercise was delayed by a week and the new system would come into vogue in two or three days.

These municipalities will conduct their accounting in the new system with effect from April 1 of this year and the remaining municipalities would start it in the next financial year.

The new accounting system is being adopted by the State municipalities as the Union Government made it mandatory under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban National Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

While the AP Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation is supervising the implementation of the new accounting system in the 121 ULBs, the Greater Hyderabad, Greater Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada Municiapl Corporations are developing their own software.

The APUFIDC had procured the software from the e-Governance department of the State Government and is supplying it fee of cost to the ULBs.

The commissioners and accounts officers of the municipalities are being trained in the new accounting procedures.

Speaking to Express, the APUFIDC manager says that municipalities are replacing the single-entry accounting system with double-entry system.

Since the inception of the ULBs in the State the old (single entry) system has been in vogue.

But the old system was a non-standard one and shows only the receipts, payments and balance of a particular day. The double-entry system, which is practised all over the world, shows various aspects of a transaction under different heads. Under the existing single-entry system commerce students or even charted accountants are unable to understand the financial statements of municipalities. This has led to lack of transparency in accounts and authenticity, he explained.

``Even officials working in the municipal offices were often unable to know the financial position as they could not make a distinction between arrears and new revenue demands at the end of the financial year, and are not in a position to tell the quantum of arrears,’’ says a charted accountant hired by the APUFIDC on the modernisation project.

The government is also unable to know the financial strength of the municipalities because of this difficulty.

Once the new system is in place, the municipalities will be in a position to tell their financial position without confusion. As the computer-based accounts system is going to be introduced and made a Statewide network, officials of the municipal administration department in the capital will be able to know the financial position of the municipalities with a click of the mouse.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 September 2009 10:18
 

Govt may migrate to Accrual Accounting in 5 yrs

Thursday, 07 May 2009 00:00 administrator
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Source : The Business Line Date : 07.05.2009

Govt may migrate to accrual accounting in 5 yrs

Our Bureau

New Delhi, May 6 Accrual accounting may become a reality in Government within a five-year time frame. This emerged at a national round table conference on accrual accounting held in the Capital on Tuesday.

This conference, which was convened by the Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board (GASAB), deliberated the issue of migration from cash to accrual basis accounting and laid down the roadmap for such process. Currently, the Government adopts cash basis of accounting.

It is contended that the accrual based financial statements would provide more appropriate presentation of financial performance and position of the Government.

The Union and States would have a common format of financial statements that would include a Balance Sheet, a Statement of financial performance and a Cash flow statement. The framework for the accrual accounting would be Indian Government Financial Reporting Standards (IGFRS) issued by GASAB.

IGFRS are harmonised with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), the international standards for governments.

Principal Secretaries from State Governments, officials from Department of Posts, Accountant General of various states, and World Bank officials participated in the National Round Table Conference.

A Government-RBI appointed committee on financial sector assessment (CFSA) had in its recent report noted that there should not be any hasty move towards accrual-based accounting.

The CFSA report said that accrual based accounting should be attempted only in phases after ascertaining the benefits and costs of doing so and preparing a strong ground in terms of skills and awareness at all levels.

However, this should not preclude Governments from removing serious distortions caused by cash-based fiscal reporting on account of factors such as deferment of payment of subsidies through issue of bonds, the CFSA report said.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 June 2009 07:54
 
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