22 Sep 2014

Botswana, like other countries, has made a public commitment to introduce accruals accounting for the government utilising the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) public sector committee chairperson, Ms Lilly Matenge said at the BICA public sector workshop in Gaborone on September 19 that the introduction of accruals accounting was driven by many factors, one of which was the 2008 global financial crisis which saw the financial credibility of many states being called to question.

Ms Matenge said in times of increasing uncertainty about the sustainability of government finances, it makes sense to ensure that there is a solid understanding of costs and revenues, including those which may not arise in the current financial year.

She said the cash basis accounting does not provide this kind of information, which means that budget holder are not able to make decisions with a clear sense of how these decisions might impact on future income and expenses.

Ms Matenge said the adoption of IPSAS from a middle income country such as Botswana cannot be overemphasized. “This will improve the quality of financial information reported by public to understand the full impact of decisions made by governments with respect to their financial performance,” she said.

She further noted that as citizens are affected by government’s financial management decisions, strong and transparent financial reporting has the potential to improve public sector decision making and make governments more accountable to their constituents.

She said the failure of governments to manage their finances has in the past had dramatic loss of democratic control in some countries and has led to some government failure to meet their commitments.

Ms Matenge said government has been engaging with BICA in order to determine how the institute can support the empowerment of government officers, specifically the professionalization of the accounting and finance functions.

She also said BICA was exploring other avenues by which a public sector accounting and finance curriculum could be introduced in Botswana.
Ms Matenge said the workshop was meant to further guide the development of public sector accounting curricular and to empower existing and future  government employees. ENDS