DOMINION AUDIT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 111, 10 April 1934, Page 6

DOMINION AUDIT.

COMPARISON WITH BRITAIN. EXPLANATION OF SYSTEM. WELLINGTON, April 10. Be-cause the system adopted in Great Britain enables the Chancellor of the Exchequer to announce a surplus or a deficit within a few hours of the close of the financial year on March 31 it is frequently assumed that the length of time taken in New Zealand before the public accounts for the twelve months are announced is due to some antiquated system of bookkeeping on the part of the Treasury. This is not so, although it is correct that the system adopted here differs very materially from that in use at Home. When invited to reply to criticism on this point, the Minister of Finance (Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) said that in Great Britain cash was received and issued out of the Exchequer to the various departments. On March 31 each year a balance was struck between receipts and issues, and this was regarded as the surplus or deficiency, as the case might be. No account was taken of amounts outstanding or credits-in-aid. In New Zealand all the expenditure was made through the Treasury, and to account for this expenditure properly it was necessary to have all imprest vouchers received to March 31 before the separate votes could be charged. By way of amplification of Mr Coates’s remarks, it might he also stated that all the revenue received into the Public Account up to March 31 must be correctly credited as the various cash accounts are received from receivers throughout the Dominion. Consequently, it is a matter of from two or three weeks before the Treasury can strike a balance. The cash in the bank at March 31 affords no criterion of the state of the Ordinary Revenue Account, as the balance of the Public Account is made up of tho public works moneys and other loan funds besides revenue. In the United Kingdom a detailed statement of Exchequer receipts and issues is presented to Parliament within three months. Departments are allowed from 10 to 12 months to complete their accounts and have. them audited, and presented to Parliament. In New Zealand the Abstract of Receipts and Expenditure for the year must he completed by April 30, audited by May 14, and then gazetted. This, together with the Appropriation Account, must at once be presented to Parliament if tlien sitting;, or if not sitting then within ten days of the next ensuing session. The details of revenue and expenditure 'are audited and presented to Parliament as soon as practicable.