Financial Reporting By Canadian Municipalities

"In this issue... Despite their importance in Canadians' lives and their cost, most Canadian cities have rudimentary financial controls and routinely miss their bidget tagets. Better budgeting and reporting could raise their performance and make cities more accountable to taxpayers." -- cover.

"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.

"Municipal finances in Canada are confusing. The budgets that get most public attention are typically opaque, often late, and present a misleadingly dismal picture of city finances. Year-end audited financial statements are better, but are hard to compare with inconsistently presented budgets. This report card grades the fiscal transparency of 32 major Canadian municipalities from A to F. Better budgets would improve accountability for municipal taxes and services in Canada." -- Cover.