Government Financial Management

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. 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.

The impact of the global financial crisis on government funds has been significant, with squeezed budgets having to satisfy ever-increasing demands for public services. Managers working in the public sector 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 accounting and financial management in the public sector and how to deliver services that represent value for money. This second edition has been revised and updated throughout, offering: an increased focus on post-crisis austerity more international examples of public financial management greater coverage of governance, accountability and risk management With a glossary of terms to help managers understand and be understood by accountants, as well as learning objectives, case studies and discussion questions, this practical textbook will help students of public management and administration to understand the financial and accounting aspects of managing public services.

The right turn in U. S. politics has increased conflict over both ends and means in government budgeting and financial management. Overlapping and competing views of the way the world works drive finance officials’ practice. Taking a new look at public financial management that acknowledges the multiple, competing realities, Government Budgeting and Financial Management in Practice: Logics to Make Sense of Ambiguity examines transaction cost economics and other small government, managed-by-the-market techniques as the latest reincarnation of public budgeting and financial management orthodoxy. Gerald J. Miller reviews new research on the continuing validity of the political dimension of government finance decisions and the multiple, intensely argued constructions of reality the finance official must make sense of. Miller discusses major advances in interpretive approaches to budgeting and finance and how they dominate writing in the broader field of public administration. He also examines the effects of the explosion of information systems, new budget techniques, nonconventional ways of spending, and new technologies. The book uses a question as the motivating force to understand some facets of today’s government budgeting, finance, and financial management: where do the critical assumptions come from to drive financial management? Miller takes the history of reform, developments in the field and the logics finance officials say they use as sources for these assumptions and examines what they reveal about constructions of the government finance world. Exploring new avenues of financial management thinking, the book discusses ambiguity and interpretations that move the unclear preferences, ends, and goals toward consensus. The author identifies an alternative approach to research that explains important facets of financial management. This approach is drawn directly from practice, events and problems in public organizations and from the creedal bent of many political actors in competition.

The new edition of this popular book provides a step-by-step guide on how to use financial management and budgeting tools in the public sector. The book features a practical, case-study approach, and includes plentiful exercises and examples. It is designed as a textbook for courses on public financial management or public budgeting that focus on the application of budgeting and financial management tools. Public service professionals will also benefit from this handy primer.

This book analyses the role of public sector accounting, and the relevance of accounting frameworks, in assisting financially sustainable policy making. Focussing on the European context, the book examines financial reporting, management accounting, budgeting and other reporting requirements, for example, Government Finance Statistics. It also analyses emerging forms of reporting, such as popular reporting and integrated reporting, which may also be considered by policy makers, standard setters, and managers of public sector entities.

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.

This series is designed to cover all aspects of sound financial management for local governments in developed and developing countries and economies in transition. Concepts of good governance, transparency and accountability are woven into the text of every chapter, and the needs and potential obstacles to greater decentralization and democracy are highlighted. Each volume is self-contained with its own Trainer's Guide, exercises and web resources. Chapters are divided into basic and advanced concepts and the detailed relationship of each topic to the others covered in the series is explained.