Public sector Accounting (Y 3 ACCT D 2021)

The simplest definition of 'Public Sector' is "all organizations which are not privately owned and operated, but which are established, run and financed by Government on behalf of the public." This definition conveys the idea that the public sector consists of organizations where control lies in the hand of the public, as opposed to private owners, and whose objectives involve the provision of services, where profit making is not a primary objective.

Accounting generally is a scientific study in which records of expenditure and income of a company, individuals or Government are kept coupled with other useful information for planning, decision making and control. Government accounting, on the other hand, is composite activities of analyzing, recording, summarizing.

Aim

The aim of this course is to explain broadly public sector accounting
approaches and developments.

Course objectives

At the end of this Module/Course unity a student will be able:

  • Identify the various government revenue and expenditure, government control of accounts and advances.
  • Understand the problems faced by government in making spending decisions
  • Introduce Public Finance, Public Debts and their management in Rwanda.
  • Understand objectives of International Public sector Accounting Standards
  • Understand the preparation of government accounts
  • Understand the importance of budget–pivot of financial administration
  • Understand factors which militate against budgeting system in public sector.
  • Analyze various investments in public sector using different investment evaluation techniques

Working through this course

This course, Public Sector Accounting expects you to do a lot of reading and practicing, in order to cover the materials in the course material. This means that you should devote much time to this course by reading through this material and getting more information from numerous texts and journals. These abound in every library and from the internet. The course material has been made easy to read and user-friendly. You will need to work in groups with other students in order to discuss, compare notes and thoughts as well as to exchange and share ideas.