The management of cash flows in Government reporting cash flow information

Abstract

This dissertation embarks on an in-depth analysis of the current situation of cash flow management in central Government. The main objective focuses on the implementation of a new structure to report such cash movements in a statement. This will provide useful information and analysis perspective primarily for government itself and also for other users of the financial statements, including the general public. Government planning for the year ahead includes, both revenues and expenses that each government department is estimating to have in the following year. The Consolidated Fund through which, all public monies belonging to government are transacted does not provide the holistic picture of government's activities, since it fails to disclose the real cost of operations. Moreover, government considers that it is the appropriate time to move to a new accounting system. The recommendations of this study with regards to this new system include that, new accounting policies and complete reporting of cash flows information has to be introduced so that government will be able to perform effectively in managing its financial operations. The accruals based accounting will help government to plan and assess the cash flows of the country, reduce considerably the public deficit and provide more useful information towards the better understanding of public financial information.