Canadian Public Sector Financial Management

"It's not your money - it belongs to the people." Taking this simple axiom seriously creates unique challenges for the management of public funds. Andrew Graham outlines all aspects of public sector financial management, addressing how funds are obtained, what rules of accountability and accounting are applied, who controls public funds, what constitutes effective budget management at the operational level, and how accountability and oversight are dealt with. The skills demanded of public sector managers in financial management are becoming increasingly onerous and complex. Canadian Public Sector Financial Management will be of great help to practitioners in the public sector who wish to better understand their financial responsibilities as well as to students of public administration and the general reader concerned with public financial management issues. The secondedition of Canadian Public-Sector Financial Management updates the widely used text, reflecting on the developments in public financial management over the past six years. Developments in financial reporting and the widespread need for governments to constrain growth and manage their finances more closely are looked at. It remains focused on the practitioner and manager in the public sector.

Very little happens in government without money. The real impact of policy pronouncements is only understood when the resources to implement them are known, secured, and spent. Canadian Public-Sector Financial Management is for the student and practitioner of public administration, not the finance specialist. Andrew Graham focuses on understanding the public-sector financial environment and the accounting framework. He moves then to the core elements of the financial management process itself (securing funds or the budget process), managing the spending of those funds (control and in-year budget management and reporting), and evaluating how the funds were spent (internal reporting, external reporting, audit, and oversight). This third edition updates the accounting framework, places a stronger emphasis on risk management skills throughout the cycle, particularly in in-year budget control, and updates external reporting as governments look for different and more useful ways to report their financial and program results.

"It's not your money - it belongs to the people." Taking this simple axiom seriously creates unique challenges for the management of public funds. Andrew Graham outlines all aspects of public sector financial management, addressing how funds are obtained, what rules of accountability and accounting are applied, who controls public funds, what constitutes effective budget management at the operational level, and how accountability and oversight are dealt with. The skills demanded of public sector managers in financial management are becoming increasingly onerous and complex. Canadian Public Sector Financial Management will be of great help to practitioners in the public sector who wish to better understand their financial responsibilities as well as to students of public administration and the general reader concerned with public financial management issues.

This collection of case studies from Commonwealth developed and developing countries examines innovations in public financial management and provides practical information on best practices and recommendations for new initiatives. It will be valuable for public sector leaders and policy-makers.

Thinking Government offers a 'one-stop' resource, perfect for courses on Canadian public administration and governance." - Evert A. Lindquist, University of Victoria

" Public money is perhaps the quintessential currency of influence for politicians and public servants inside government. It shapes how they undertake the nations business and it impacts on the standards of living in the country. The Politics of Public Money examines the extent to which the influence of players in the budgetary process is shifting from a bilateral relationship between departmental spenders and central guardians to a more complex multilateral relationship involving spenders and central guardians, as well as priority setters and financial watchdogs. David Good analyzes this shift of influence in terms of a broader societal change from an old village, conditioned by old norms of behaviour, to a new town that brings with it new ideas about how much public money should be spent, where it should be spent, and how it should be managed. To better understand the changing situation, Good develops a new framework for analyzing the politics and management of public money. This framework is used to explore the interactions among budget players and, perhaps the most central of all, the relationship between Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. As an analysis of the changing budgetary process and an examination of the promises and pitfalls of budgetary reform, The Politics of Public Money sheds new light on the role of insiders in influencing our governments spending. "

Broken down into five sections explaining how public budgets are developed, Canadian Public Finance presents a comprehensive account of the budget process of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments. With a specific focus on the public policy process, Geneviève Tellier walks readers through the five steps involved in the budget process including agenda-setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation. Taking a close look at how much influence key decision-makers actually have over the budget process, Tellier highlights recent events that reveal the political, social, and economic constraints that impact budgetary decisions. Tellier uses key words and textboxes at the end of each chapter to reflect on current issues and new developments in the world of public finance, such as gender-sensitive budgets, performance-based budgeting, and fiscal transparency.