Governments urged to improve financial management
Global accounting association warns that governments' poor accounting and financial management could mean Greece is only 'the tip of the iceberg'
SUB-STANDARD management at government level must be addressed or risk throwing the capital markets into chaos again in the future.
The call comes from the International Federation of Accountants, which warns that poor accounting and financial control could show Greece up as the “tip of the iceberg” for governmental bad practice.
“The fact that most governments in the developed world pretend they can manage and control their finances using only cash information tells us that something is seriously wrong,” said Ian Ball, IFAC chief executive officer.
“The cash-based information commonly used for budgeting and accounting is both simplistic and anachronistic and doesn’t come close to accurately describing the complexity of their financial positions. It is a virtual guarantee of financial mismanagement.”
More to follow.