Increasing Professionalism in Public Finance Management
Increasing Professionalism in Public Finance Management

Author: Sarah Jane Squire

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2016-11-14

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 1464808058

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In countries such as the United Kingdom, the need to manage fi nances in a professional manner has been hampered by the severe fi scal constraints of the 2008 fi nancial crisis. These pressures are likely to persist in the long term as a result of an aging population and rising public expectations of the quality of public services. Whereas much attention has been paid to technical reforms to improve budgeting, expenditure control, accounting, and auditing, less attention has been given to the process of developing skilled financial managers, whose expertise is key to sustained improvement in the management of public finances. Successive governments in the United Kingdom have recognized the need to strengthen professionalism in financial management, but the financial crisis gave an additional impetus for change. This change has been refl ected in policy statements, changes in recruitment and human resource management practices, and the development of professional networks in accounting, audit, procurement, and project management. Increasing Professionalism in Public Finance Management: A Case Study of the United Kingdom describes the journey from a civil service where generalist skills were overwhelmingly preferred toward one where professional technical skills in finance are recognized and valued. This book represents one of a number of country case studies aimed at sharing information about alternative paths and models to help developing countries seeking to strengthen public fi nancial management skills on a long-term sustainable basis. This book will be of importance to public policy makers and public practitioners looking for ways to improve the quality of public sector management and to a range of professional finance/ management bodies looking to strengthen their relevance to the government sector.

Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector
Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector

Author: Gary Bandy

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-03-14

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 1000843637

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The importance of public financial management for the health and wellbeing of citizens became dramatically apparent as governments sought to respond to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Now, governments and other public sector organizations face the challenge of recovering from the pandemic whilst also seeking to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, with squeezed budgets and ever-increasing demands for public services. Public sector managers are confronted daily with targets and demands that are often set in confusing accounting and financial language. In Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector, Gary Bandy employs a clear and concise narrative to introduce the core concepts of public financial management to help those managers to deliver programmes, projects and services that are value for money. As the author puts it, managing public money is an art, not a science. This third edition has been revised and updated throughout, offering: a structure that is more clearly linked to the stages of the public financial management cycle greater coverage of transparency and accountability issues a broader view of public procurement to include goods, works and services and effective contract management; and an increased focus on public spending in the context of a post-COVID environment. With a glossary of terms to help managers understand and be understood by accountants, as well as learning objectives, discussion questions and exercises, this practical textbook will help students of public management and administration to understand the financial and accounting aspects of managing public services.

Progress in improving financial management in Government
Progress in improving financial management in Government

Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2011-03-03

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 9780102969528

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Despite good progress in improving the professional capability and capacity of government finance departments since the National Audit Office last reported in 2008, good financial management is still not embedded in the civil service culture, and financial matters do not have sufficient influence over departments' strategic decision making. The NAO concludes that departments have achieved a core level of competence in financial management, but further improvement in financial management capacity and capability throughout their organisations is required to enable them to meet the challenge of delivering the savings set out in the Spending Review 2010. There has been important progress - all departments now have a professionally qualified Finance Director, supported by an increased number of qualified finance staff. The Treasury is also implementing accounting changes to bring greater transparency to government financial reporting. Whitehall's central finance functions competently capture and report the transactions and financial position of the departments. Annual accounts are delivered before the July Parliamentary recess. The number of overall overspends against the amounts approved by Parliament is low. However, departments are generally weak at monitoring their balance sheets and at forecasting cash flow in the medium term. Departments do not fully understand the costs of their activities, and it is rare for them to have good information on the unit costs of outputs, levels of productivity or the value of outcomes. Departments generally focus on monitoring against the agreed one-year budget, with a few looking as far ahead as the current spending review period of four years.

Local Public Financial Management
Local Public Financial Management

Author: Anwar Shah

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0821369385

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Transparent and prudent local financial management has come to be recognized as critical to the integrity of local public sector and to gaining and retaining trust of local residents. Such integrity and trust is sometimes lacking in some local governments in developing countries, especially in the Africa region. This volume attempts to provide practical guidance to local governments interested in establishing sound financial management systems. Leading international experts have contributed to all relevant aspects of local public financial management - cash management, internal controls, accounts, audits, and debt management.

Securing Development
Securing Development

Author: Bernard Harborne

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2017-03-01

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1464807671

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Securing Development: Public Finance and the Security Sector highlights the role of public finance in the delivery of security and criminal justice services. This book offers a framework for analyzing public financial management, financial transparency, and oversight, as well as expenditure policy issues that determine how to most appropriately manage security and justice services. The interplay among security, justice, and public finance is still a relatively unexplored area of development. Such a perspective can help security actors provide more professional, effective, and efficient security and justice services for citizens, while also strengthening systems for accountability. The book is the result of a project undertaken jointly by staff from the World Bank and the United Nations, integrating the disciplines where each institution holds a comparative advantage and a core mandate. The primary audience includes government officials bearing both security and financial responsibilities, staff of international organizations working on public expenditure management and security sector issues, academics, and development practitioners working in an advisory capacity.

Public Financial Management and Its Emerging Architecture
Public Financial Management and Its Emerging Architecture

Author: Mr.M. Cangiano

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2013-04-05

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 1475531095

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The first two decades of the twenty-first century have witnessed an influx of innovations and reforms in public financial management. The current wave of reforms is markedly different from those in the past, owing to the sheer number of innovations, their widespread adoption, and the sense that they add up to a fundamental change in the way governments manage public money. This book takes stock of the most important innovations that have emerged over the past two decades.

Financial Management in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Financial Management in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 9780215542717

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Against a backdrop of historically weak financial management and significant under-spending, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made considerable progress over the past three years to improve the accuracy, reliability and timeliness of financial information. Having recognised the need to take action, the Department set up its 'Five Star Finance' project which is due to completed in the summer of 2010. Of particular benefit has been the recruitment of a professionally qualified finance director and increasing the number of professionally qualified accountants within the finance function. An important factor has been the need for better information on the costs of individual embassies and this has been strengthened. Further action, though, is still required to implement a workable and effective system of costing activity in all locations to enable it to make informed decisions about its operational priorities. Given that over half of the Department's expenditure of some £2 billion is paid out in foreign currency the Department has suffered a significant reduction in purchasing power as a result of the weakening of the Sterling. The Department now forward purchases US dollars, euros and yen but with input from the Treasury it also needs to work with other Departments to identify the most effective way to manage exchange rate risk for the government as a whole. The Department confirmed that its aim is to maximise the benefits from each of its embassies in pursuit of British trade and foreign policy interests and that it has no plans to sell-off any of its prestigious buildings around the world

Reforming Public Institutions and Strengthening Governance
Reforming Public Institutions and Strengthening Governance

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9780821348758

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The critical importance of well-performing public institutions and good governance for development and poverty reduction has come to the forefront in the 1990s. Reforming public institutions is a complex and difficult task. This publication is primarily intended as a guide for World Bank staff but it is also intended to serve the broader development community. It outlines a strategy which envisions significant changes in the focus of the Bank's work in this area. Some of these changes such as an enhanced focus on governance, capacity building and anticorruption, are already underway. The agenda for the next three years is to continue to foster these changes through a the advancement of analytical tools, new approaches t the design of lending operations, expanded emphasis on partnership with clients and other donors and progressive shifts in staffing, incentives and evaluation techniques. Included as an annex is an inventory of the Bank's governance and institutional reform programs which are in place.

Proceedings of IAC 2017 in Vienna
Proceedings of IAC 2017 in Vienna

Author: group of authors

Publisher: Czech Institute of Academic Education

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 8088203031

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International Academic Conference on Teaching, Learning and E-learning and International Academic Conference on Management, Economics and Marketing Vienna, Austria 2017 (IAC-MEM 2017 + IAC-TLEl 2017), August 18 - 19, 2017