Once the apportionment of expenditure authorization is made and the spending authority has been released, some countries PFM systems include a stage at which funds are reserved for a specific known expense but for which no contract has yet been issued. The role of an expenditure control system is to ensure that the level and allocation of government expenditure reflect the will of the legislature as voted for in the budget.3 Expenditure controls should also reflect sound financial management principles, ensuring that public resources are utilized efficiently, incurred obligations are cleared in a timely manner, abuse/ misappropriation of public money is prevented, and private actors compete on a level playing field for government contracts. In addition to reviewing and streamlining the formal procedures defined by the financial regulations, informal and any special procedures and practices that bypass the normal expenditure cycle should be thoroughly reviewed and (to the extent possible) eliminated.44 Business rules and processes should be established to enable faster spending execution to address priority needs rather than relying on informal/special procedures that undermine the effectiveness of the expenditure control framework. While the controls may be well specified and the roles and responsibilities of the key actors clarified in a countrys legal/regulatory framework, problems may still arise due to lack of enforcement. But, fiscal policy is also used to curtail . This principle of separation of responsibility means that no single individual or agency controls all stages of an expenditure transaction.29 The system has also a number of potential redundancies, e.g., the control of regularity is applied both by financial controllers and public accountants. Accrual-based budgeting systems enforce limits on the incurrence of liabilities, expenses or expenditure even when no immediate cash transactions are involved. Key strengths: line agencies directly accountable for the use/control of their appropriations; and no complementary period. Government Spending: Giveth Some, Taketh Some. When it increases, aggregate demand increases, and we expect the economy to grow higher. _paq.push(['setSiteId', '17']); Ensures that expenditure is covered in the budget and the proposed amount of expenditure includes all relevant expenses. In the German-Austrian tradition,35 as in Francophone and Lusophone systems, there is a clear division between the roles of ordering or anordnend (which covers the apportionment of the budget, together with the reservation, commitment, verification and payment order stages) and executing or ausfuehrend (which covers the execution of payments). The public accountant assumes personal financial responsibility for compliance with regulations and is accountable to the Court of Accounts (Cours des comptes), the supreme audit institution. Inordinate delay in issuance of spending authority to line agencies. The lack of a comprehensive and credible budget particularly affects the authorization (as the expenditure authority is not realistic), commitment (as ongoing/outstanding commitments are not adequately allocated for) and verification (as the accumulated liabilities are not fully reflected in the budget) stages. Same as Francophone, but the official approving commitments and payments is usually the same (unlike separation of responsibility in Francophone countries). Minimizes the cost of financing government programs by smoothing the gap between cash inflows and outflows. For example, prior to the 1990s, financial control was under the Presidency (Cte dIvoire), the Prime Ministers Office (Senegal), or was the responsibility of a separate ministry. For multiannual programs/projects, the approved budget includes both the multiannual commitment limits (autorisations dengagement or AE) against which it also sets annual limits (crdits de paiement or CP) for cash payments during the year. Payment order. Payment orders are issued after documentary proof of verification. Transactions are recognized, classified, and recorded in the books/ general ledger according to a countrys accounting policies/standards and chart of accounts. No cash availability to make payments within the time horizon of apportionment. Key challenges: large variations in effectiveness of controls; and reconciling accrual-based data at line agencies with cash-based data at the treasury. In most cases, researchers assume that control of corruption, rule of law, accountability, and government expenditure tend to have a positive impact on government effectiveness. Spending units enter into commitments only against unencumbered spending authority and the cash plan covers the expected payment profiles of commitments. Sometimes called the Westminster system of PFM. Commitment-based budgeting systems impose limits on both expenditure commitments and cash payments. Accounting and monitoring of budget execution were carried out by the banking system. 1All uses of public funds should be governed by financial regulations. They allocate funds among their subordinate units, make commitments, purchase and procure goods and services, verify the goods and services acquired, prepare requests for payment (and make payments, if the payment system is not centralized), prepare progress reports, and may keep accounts and financial records. However, these hurdles were set at such a high level that hardly any agency cleared them. Payments authorized in annual budget do not fully reflect commitments carried forward from previous years (e.g., investment projects contracts). The issuance of payment orders and checks may be decentralizedwith spending ministries carrying out these tasks and reporting back to the centeror centralized in a treasury department, typically called the accountant general's department within the ministry of finance, which acts both as paymaster and prepares the final accounts of the government. A payment order is an authorization for payment (usually against a bill or invoice) made by officials of line ministries, other spending agencies, or the ministry of finance. Decentralized frameworks have the advantage of: (i) aligning expenditure decision making with the spending priorities of line agencies; (ii) minimizing/eliminating redundant controls which in turn improves the efficiency and speed of expenditure execution; and (iii) making each line agency directly accountable for its spending programs. Certain sums may be spent under permanent rather than annual legislation. This is mainly prevalent in Austria, Germany, and partially in some neighboring countries. Reforming Budget Systems A Practical Guide, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Prevention and Management of Government Expenditure Arrears, Review of Financial Management in Government, (, ). While the institutional arrangements for raising government revenue are typically quite centralized in a national revenue authority, the expenditure of those resources involves a wide array of public entities at various levels of government, even in countries with relatively centralized PFM systems. Defence Services: They account for nearly 20% of the total revenue expenditure of the Central Government in India. For example, the UK uses the employer cost cap mechanism to control future pension spending. In national finance, the period covered by a budget is usually a year, known as a financial or fiscal year, which may or may not correspond with the calendar year. Expenditures at the verification stage are sometimes called accrued expenditures (e.g., in the US), accounts payable, or actual expenses. In countries of the British Commonwealth tradition, officials in spending agencies are charged with initiating and authorizing expenditure transactions, from commitment to payment, based on apportionments/allotments/warrants issued by the ministry of finance. In cases where a centralized payment system has been established, the individual spending units may prepare the payment orders electronically and submit them to the central unit/treasury for payment through a Financial Management Information System (FMIS). The process of issuing checks should be managed to monitor and minimize check float14 and ensure that sufficient cash is available when they are presented for encashment. Therefore, entering into a commitment or incurring a liability in excess of the limit would not, in the absence of other controls, constitute a breach of law. Line ministries and agencies initiate the commitment, verify the delivery of goods and services, and issue the payment order (. It is, therefore, necessary to distinguish between such final payments by spending units and the apportionment of spending authorization to them, including the associated transfer of funds. The nature of the expenditure limit enforced at each stage depends on the accounting basis used in the budget appropriation framework.19 Specifically: Cash-based budgeting systems primarily enforce a limit on the accumulation and liquidation of cash obligations incurred during the budget year. Role of Central and Line Agencies in Various Traditions and Lessons Learned. For example, a treasury-based centralized payment system with decentralized responsibility for appropriation and commitment controls at the line agency level can be progressively introduced as the FMIS is rolled out (subject to adequate connectivity between the line agencies and the treasury). Commitment approval delinked from apportionment and cash management frameworks. The objective of expenditure control is to ensure that public resources are spent as intended, within authorized limits, and following sound financial management principles. In line with internationally accepted good practice, the payment should be made through a treasury single account (TSA) system.13 Payments by checks are, in most countries, recorded at the point of their issuance. Effective expenditure control is the sine qua non of good public financial management (PFM). It also proposes some indicatorsmainly based on the PEFA frameworkthat could be used to assess reform progress. The authority for expenditure is given for a specific pre-defined purpose. In many cases, a transaction processing system may have to be supplemented by specialized consolidation software to generate the necessary reports in a timely manner. Non-contractual commitments (subsidies, transfers, etc.) Overly rigid and controlled spending procedures in several Francophone African countries have resulted in the proliferation and misuse of exceptional spending procedures, e.g., the issuance by the minister of finance to the treasury (bypassing the normal chain of expenditure) of an immediate payment order subject to regularization later. Expenditures. Shorter check validity period to minimize check float; monitoring of check floats and delay in electronic transfers. Budget Preparation. Payroll audits should also be undertaken regularly to identify weaknesses in the control system. Transactions undertaken using exceptional procedures often end up being registered in suspense accounts that are rarely cleared due to lack of budget cover and are neither properly tracked nor reported. PFM weaknesses such as lack of a comprehensive and credible budget,41 poor cash planning or shallow markets for government debt, reporting delays, and accumulation of liabilities/arrears also undermine the effectiveness of expenditure control. This control is a key element of the overall cash management system. Next. The main goals of fiscal policy are to achieve and maintain full employment, reach a high rate of economic growth, and to keep prices and wages stable. By contrast, British Commonwealth countries do not formally track controls at every stage and typically track only the first and last two stages of the expenditure chain: authorization, payment order, and payment (see also Section IV). Spending agencies submit month-wise expenditure plans (along with their budget submission) to serve as the basis for issuance of spending authority (warrant/allotment) after budget approval. In particular, it is important to ensure effective coordination between issuance of warrants/allotments by the budget department and cash planning and management by the treasury so that adequate cash is available for payment when the line ministries/agencies expenditure commitments materialize.23 Similarly, transaction level bank reconciliation by the accounting department and/or line agencies should be coordinated with the treasury departments monitoring of cash balances in various bank accounts. The main reforms include enhancing the coverage of the budget, improving the methodology of costing budget policies, introducing medium-term fiscal and budget frameworks, and ensuring timely submission and approval of the budget by the legislature. A long check float time is not a good practice as it not only complicates cash management but can also be misused to write and issue checks despite not having enough liquidity in the bank account to cover the value of the check. New commitments are authorized after ascertaining uncommitted balance within the authorized expenditure limit. Apportionments/warrants are issued by the finance ministry which also monitors budget execution by line ministries and agencies on a regular basis. For example in Austria, as highlighted by external audit a few years ago, there were instances of either delayed or no recording of commitments until their respective payments materialized. Controls at the commitment, verification and payment order stages remain the responsibility of the line ministries and agencies. For further background information and discussion on specific features of commitment control, see D. Radev and P. Khemani (2009). A key question is whether reforms should focus on strengthening the traditional system or leapfrogging to the modern devolved approach. Check float has two dimensions: (i) check float time; and (ii) check float amount. Expenditures authorized through standing/ permanent legislations are forecast and included in the budget documents. Seven Key Stages of the Expenditure Chain. This is especially true for expenditure on multi-annual investment projects (see Section III for multi-year expenditure limits on commitments). This TNM has benefited from review and comments of M. Cangiano, M. Fouad, R. Hughes, R. Allen, R. Boukezia, B. Chevauchez, S. Flynn, D. Gentry, T. Hansen, R. Hurtado Arcos, C. Iles, D. Last, J. Menkulasi, D. Moretti, M. Nozaki, B. Olden, M. Pessoa, J Seiwald, H. van Eden, A. Veloz, B. Wiest, and several other colleagues from both the PFM divisions of FAD. Cash plans in these countries are used as tools for rationing expenditure authority but themselves tend to be unrealistically optimistic, as they do not reflect expected cash outflows based on commitments. Checks and/or electronic transfer instructions bounce due to lack of cash. By managing its portfolio of debt, it can affect interest rates, and by deciding on the amount of new money injected into the economy . Allen, R., and others, 2015, The Evolving Functions and Organization of Finance Ministries, Working Paper WP/15/232 (Washington: International Monetary Fund). Lienert, I., 2009, Modernizing Cash Management, Technical Notes and Manuals, (Washington: International Monetary Fund). For this purpose, the spending units were grouped into two categories and the devolution of financial and expenditure control started with the best-performing line agencies at the superior level. Cash Management: How Do Countries Perform Sound Practices? Limit on time horizon of expenditure. Broader PFM and enforcement issues affecting budget execution and expenditure control. The TSA systems in some of these countries give financial incentives for smoothing expenditure profiles. Weaknesses at one stage of the expenditure control cycle can undermine the integrity and credibility of the system as a whole. The expenditure cycle and associated controls in Francophone African countries derive largely from the French system as it existed prior to 1960s in the French provincial governments (prfectures).30 However, many Francophone African countries not only intensified the centralization of controls in the late 1990s,31 but the minister of finance also became the single and principal payment-authorizing officer (Ordonnateur principal unique).32 The responsibility for financial control is typically centralized in the ministry of finance, with its staff out-posted in the line ministries/spending agencies. KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 The government still has space to monitor the country's expenditure particularly development expenditure to ensure it is more prudent and accurate according to the project plans and this will indirectly assist the government in terms of better revenue needs. 1. The line agencies have responsibility for executing their budget and managing the funds/ resources assigned to them. Payment and verification (in case of accrual accounting) stages. While this was a common practice in most of the Latin American countries several years ago, many countriese.g., Bolivia, Columbia, Paraguay, and Uruguayhave in recent years separated the accounting and audit functions. Budgets are not the only mechanisms that provide the legal authorization to incur expenditure. The link was not copied. In addition to it, the Budget contains: Estimates of revenue and capital receipts, Ways and means to raise the revenue, When looking to strengthen expenditure control, it is therefore important to review the whole expenditure cycle/process instead of focusing on a few stages.36 However, based on experience in different groups of countries, it is possible to identify a set of problems that characterize different expenditure control traditions: British Commonwealth. The distribution of responsibilities between them is typically organized along the following lines: The budget department of the ministry of finance issues regulations on matters related to the execution of the budget, apportions appropriated funds to spending agencies, monitors their expenditures and performance, authorizes in-year budget revisions, and monitors and reports on budget execution. Therefore, unlike the old French system, the key principles here are integration and delegation. Once a payment order has been issued, payments are made through various instruments including checks, electronic fund transfer (EFT), and sometimes cash, in favor of a supplier or other recipient to discharge the liability. Apportionment. For example, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe. fiscal policy, measures employed by governments to stabilize the economy, specifically by manipulating the levels and allocations of taxes and government expenditures. World Bank, 2007, Budgeting and Budgetary Institutions, Public Sector Governance and Accountability Series. The introduction of an FMIS can thus strengthen expenditure controls as the system can replace several key controls that were previously applied manually and systematically track them. Options for strengthening the expenditure control framework. The word budget is derived from the Old French bougette ("little bag"). Types of Fiscal Policy The government has control over both taxes and government spending. While the answer to this question will depend on specific country context and weaknesses, in general caution should be exercised in the devolution of controls in countries that are at the initial stage of development of PFM systems (e.g., fragile states), or with weak capacity at line agencies to implement the required controls, and/or without strong institutions of ex post oversight (internal and external audit). 31: Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability, Assessing Public Financial Management Performance and Influencing Reform Processes, Experience from Asia and the Pacific, Viet Nam: Improving Public Expenditure Quality Program, Managing Fiscal Risks of Subnational Borrowing, Public Financial Management Systems-Fiji: Key Elements from a Financial Management Perspective, Viet Nam: Improving Public Expenditure Quality Program, Reforming Railway and Metro Asset Management, Public Financial Management Systems - Bangladesh: Key Elements from a Financial Management Perspective, Viet Nam: Improving Public Expenditure Quality Program, Strengthening Fiscal Risk Management of Government Guaranteed Loans, Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2017, Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2018, Public Financial Management Systems-Sri Lanka Key Elements from a Financial Management Perspective, Access to markets for small actors in the roots and tubers sector. In addition, they may impose limits on accumulation of cash obligations, multi-year commitments, and long-term obligations (such as pensions) and contingent liabilities (such as guarantees). However, overall responsibility for budget execution is assigned to the respective line minister (or the head of an independent State body) who allocates budgeted resources to the various departments/agencies under his/her authority and delegates responsibility for budget execution up to the stage of the preparation of payment orders. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Thus, the changes will affect the economy. Ensures that expenditure commitments by spending units are fully in line with the expenditure limits and the released spending authority. International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), Guidelines for Internal Control in the Public Sector, (http://www.issai.org/media/13329/intosai_gov_9100_e.pdf). Lusophone African countries are also characterized by a higher degree of centralization in the sense that the overall budget execution responsibility, including the responsibility for financial control, is usually concentrated in one office: either the budget office itself (e.g., in Guine Bissau, and Sao Tome and Principe) or the accounting office (e.g., in Angola and Mozambique). Percentage of reserved amount that materializes as commitment; and average time lag between reservation and commitment. For a further discussion on expenditure arrears, see S. Flynn and M. Pessoa (2014). As such, the AEs are consumed at the commitment stage of the expenditure or the legal act of signing a contract of the State with a third party.1 In the case of a commitment running over several years, its associated CP is spread over several budget years up to the cumulative maximum amount of the initial multiannual AE. This authority to spend is released to the spending units through the issue of warrants/allotments/dcret de rpartition, or other mechanisms.9 Some form of centralized control during this phase of the expenditure cycle is common in almost all countries and is usually enforced by the budget department of the ministry of finance. Overall authority and responsibility for budget execution are assigned to the respective line minister who delegates this up to the stage of payment order. Ensures that transactions are properly recorded and accounted for to produce timely and reliable fiscal reports and financial statements. For example, under an accrual-based budgeting system, the ministry of finance may: (i) delegate to spending agencies all decisions on their cash requirements and the timing of cash payments as long as the agencies conform to the expenses authorized on accrual basis; (ii) enforce a cash limit (either at an aggregated level or at a more detailed level) in addition to the amount of accrual-based expense authorized; and/or (iii) allow spending agencies to move cash appropriation into accrual-based expense but not vice versa.20, Commitment-based Expenditure Limits in France. Budget modifications during the year are done according to legally prescribed processes (e.g., virements, contingency reserves, and supplementary/revised budgets), transparently, and in a way that promotes governments chosen objectives. The new 2009 WAEMU/CEMAC directives, however, call for a shift from centralized to decentralized ordonnancement in these countries. Reforms to address budget execution issues might require clarifying budget execution procedures, introducing or upgrading an FMIS, improving budget warrant/allotment system, establishing commitment control, strengthening cash management, introducing accrual accounting, etc. In the British Commonwealth system, there is no complementary period, and at the beginning of a new fiscal year, in principle, no cash transactions pertaining to the previous years budget should take place. Several Francophone African countries are taking measures recently to reduce the complementary period to one month. Fiscal rules, medium-term budget plans, and annual budgets are meaningless if expenditure cannot be controlled during execution. The three main types of government expenditure include public services, transfer payments, and debt interest. In particular, the new law: (i) divests the financial controllers of the responsibility for regularity control (contrle de rgularit) of budget managers (administrateurs de credit), which was transferred/decentralized to the line ministries; (ii) requires the financial controllers to assess the fiscal sustainability of decisions taken by budget managers to reinforce macro-fiscal discipline; and (iii) also requires the controllers of central agencies, such as the General Inspectorate of Finances (Inspection gnrale des finances), to apply a risk-based approach to control. They can be more easily circumvented, presenting the potential for error or fraud. A distinction can be made between the treatment of high value and risk-prone transactions vis--vis low value transactions. Payment. Officials of the finance ministry and the public accounting directorate play an important role during the apportionment, commitment and payment stages. Exceptional procedures eliminated by streamlining the control framework and business processes to address priority needs. In general, relatively advanced countries have moved further in the direction of devolving their expenditure control systems than developing countries, but this is not true in all countries. However, the design and implementation of such a differentiated control arrangement would depend on several factors, including the effectiveness of the internal control and assurance system to identify and alert management to control risks.45, Devolution of Expenditure Control in France, Morocco, and Thailand. Key Stages of Expenditure Control Framework, Seven key stages of the expenditure cycle, III. However, even in such cases and in line with the principles of budget comprehensiveness, transparency, and accountability, such expenditures should be included in the budget documentation, and subjected to the same regularity controls discussed in Section III (see Table 1). Commitment control is not comprehensive, i.e., it focuses only on commitments likely to materialize during the year. The treasury department of the ministry of finance is responsible for maintaining central appropriation and fund accounts, forecasting government cash requirements and raising the necessary finance, supervising government/treasury bank accounts, and monitoring cash balances in these accounts. Both the central agency/finance ministry and line agencies are involved in various tasks during the expenditure cycle. Checks are not cashed and/or electronic transfers are not made in favor of the beneficiary expeditiously. Ideally, the FMIS should have, in addition to the usual transaction processing function, a consolidation feature or module that receives periodic data from relevant entities, carries out consolidation of data in accordance with relevant standards, and generates required management reports for control purposes. 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