tailieunhanh - The Role and Responsibilities of Accounting Officers: A Memorandum for Accounting Officers

We empirically investigate the relation between certain corporate governance mechanisms and the likelihood of a company having a serious accounting problem, as evidenced by a misstatement of its earnings. The specific corporate governance issues that we analyze are board and audit committee independence, the use of independent directors with financial expertise on the board or audit committee, conflicts of interest faced by outside auditors providing consulting services to the company, membership of independent directors with large blockholdings on the board or audit committee, and the influence of the chief executive officer (CEO) on the board. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to analyze the relation between corporate. | An Ftainn Airgeaciỉriĩ Department Finance THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ACCOUNTING OFFICERS A Memorandum for Accounting Officers Government Accounting Section Department of Finance December 2003 2 3 THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ACCOUNTING OFFICERS Introduction Dáil Éireann votes funds every year for Government Departments and Offices to spend on the provision of public services. After the end of the year Departments and Offices in receipt of the Votes prepare an account of their expenditure and receipts called the Appropriation Account. This Account must be signed by the Accounting Officer usually the Secretary General or Head of the Department or Office in question who is responsible for having the Account prepared and presented for audit to the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Accounting Officer may then be called to appear before the Committee of Public Accounts of the Dáil to give evidence about the Account and in relation to any other account that the Department or Office is required to prepare. A similar system operates in relation to non-voted expenditure that is expenditure . on servicing the national debt which is paid from the Central Fund under law without annual reference to the Dáil. This expenditure is accounted for in the annual Finance Accounts which are prepared by the Department of Finance audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and presented to both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Accounting Officer of the Department of Finance may be called to give evidence to the Committee of Public Accounts in relation to the Finance Accounts. The Accounting Officer thus has a key role in the system of accountability for public moneys. The Department of Finance in consultation with Departments and Offices generally has prepared this Memorandum on the role and responsibilities of Accounting Officers in order to help Accounting Officers understand their duties and to provide a source of reference for them. The Preparation of this Memorandum .