QUESTION 1

State the objectives and functions of the following agencies: i. Treasury ii. Accountant General Department Answer:

i. Treasury is a central agency of government, which is one of the largest agencies in Malaysia and operates under the Ministry of Finance. The treasury has five objectives which are: * Ensure sustained and continuous economic growth * Strengthen national competitiveness and economic failure * Ensure effective and prudent financial management * Purse a more equitable sharing of national wealth * Improve quality of life and well-being of society
The general role and responsibility of Treasury is to inform, to plan and to implement fiscal and budgetary policy. Among the specific functions of Treasury are: * To formulate and implement fiscal and monetary policies in order to ensure effective and efficient distribution and management of financial resources * To formula financial management and accounting processes, procedures and standards to be implemented by all government * To manage the acquisition and disbursement of Federal government loans from domestic and external sources * To monitor that Minister of Finance Incorporated companies are managed effectively * To monitor the financial management of Ministries, Government Departments and Statutory Bodies * To formulate and administer policies related to be the management of Government procurement * To formulate policies and administer Government housing loans for public sector employees

ii. Accountant General Department, which was known as Jabatan Akauntan Negara Malaysia (JANM) was formed before independence. The role and functions of JANM has undergone various changes in line with changes in public sector. The main function of Accountant General Department is to maintain and prepare the accounts of the Federal government. While, the objectives of Accountant General Department are: * To enhance accountability and transparency in Federal government’s accounting and financial management * To enhance accounting and financial management system for all government agencies * To assist government in making effective decisions * To develop and implement human resource management system for the accounting services * To enhance the enforcement of the Unclaimed Monies Act 1965

QUESTION 2

Explain the duties and responsibilities of: i. Accountant General ii. Controlling Officer iii. Accounting Officer

Answer:

i. As according to Treasury Instruction (TI) 3, Accountant General is the principal accountant in the government of the Federation and the head of the Accounts Division of the Federal Treasury with the authority in matters of accounting procedure over the accounts of the Governments of the Federation and of the States. Besides that, Accountant General is also the Head of service for Accountant, Assistant Accountant, Book Keeper and Data Processing machine Operator. He is also the Registrar of Unclaimed Moneys. Accountant General is responsible to determine and maintain a proper accounting system to ensure all government property is safe, all expenses are made correctly, all revenues are collected on time and all receipts accounted correctly. As for the duties of Accounting General, it is according to TI 138: (a) to see that a proper system of accounts is established and appropriate precautions instituted against losses by fraud or negligence in all Treasuries and Sub-Treasuries and any other departments, including a self-accounting departments, of the Federal or State Governments; and from time to time to issue any necessary instructions for the guidance of Controlling Officers and State Financial Officers in respect such matters; (b) (i) to exercise supervision over the receipt of the Federal revenue and to take steps to secure its punctual collection; (ii) to accept only properly authorised expenditure as charge in his account; (iii) to report to the Secretary General of the Treasury any irregularity connected with the public accounts that may have been brought to his notice

ii. Controlling Officer is the chief of the Accounting Officers. He is appointed by the Minister of Finance or Chief Minister or Menteri Besar in respect of each purpose of expenditure provided for any financial year. Section 15A of the Financial Procedure Act 1957 described the roles and responsibilities of Controlling Officer. Controlling Officer is responsible for an effective management of public moneys allocated to the agency under his control. Besides, he is responsible to examine budget of all agencies or departments under his control, to consolidate the budget for all agencies under which he is controlling and to ensure that budget allocations are spent efficiently and effectively. According to Section15A of the Financial Procedure Act 1957, the duties of controlling officer are: (i) to control the authorised estimates for the particular purpose (ii) to be in charge for the public moneys collected, received, held or disbursed and all public stores received, held and disposed (iii) to secure proper exercise of performance of their duties (iv) to report to the appropriate Service Commission and financial authority for every event of possible surcharge arises or occurs under their control (v) to be responsible to explain for the correctness of the statement of public moneys under which he is controlling

iii. Accounting Officer is explained in Section 3 of the Financial Procedure Act 1957 where it stated that Accounting Officers includes every public officer who is charged with the duty of collecting, receiving or accounting for, or who in fact collect, receives or account for, any public moneys, or who is charged with the duty of disbursing, or who does in fact disburse, any public moneys and every public officers who is charged with the receipt, custody or disposal of, or the accounting for, public stores or who in fact receives, holds or disposes of public stores. There are two main duties of accounting officers are mentioned in Section 4 of the Financial Procedure Act 1957. Firstly, to maintain proper books of accounts. Secondly, to render those accounts as required by the act or as instructed by Treasury.

QUESTION 3 State any four reasons why government needs systems and procedures.

Answer:

There are few reasons why government needs systems and procedures, such as: i. Diverse government objectives, where among the objectives of the government is to meet legal and statutory requirement ii. Large annual expenditure at all level. The government has large expenditure for the operation and development of the country iii. To ensure accountability of public moneys. The government is entrusted with the public money whereby the payer wants to know how the government controls and manages it, and to keep proper accountability of it iv. To take care of public interest, whereby the government also has the duty to serve to the public

QUESTION 4 State any four features of government accounting system.

Answer:

There are few features of government accounting system. Firstly, the government accounting system has to be designed to comply with the constitution, statutory and other legal requirements. Secondly, the accounting system must be related to budget classification where for example, supply expenditure, emoluments and receipts are maintained according to the budget. Thirdly, accounting system must be designed in a way that will facilitate audit by external review authorities and readily furnish the information needed for effective audit. Lastly, accounting system must be developed in a manner that will permit effective administrative control of funds and operations, programme management and internal audit and appraisal.

QUESTION 5

Explain the payment procedures for purchase of services and supplies.

Answer:

The procedure for payment for purchase of services and supplies begin when the authorised officer from the purchasing department prepares a ‘local order to the supplier. On the receipt of the goods, delivery order and invoice will be submitted to the finance department for the payment. According to Treasury Instruction 93, the accounting officer upon receipt of a report from purchasing department should ensure that the payment will not cause an excess on the amount provided for the subhead to which it is chargeable. Next, the authorised officer certifies that the payment chargers are in order. Lastly, any repayment of advances or other liabilities have been duly deducted from the amount of payment. Then, after considering the above matter, payment vouchers are prepared as according to TI 99. The Controlling Officer may delegate his authority to sign vouchers, which is to be certified as according to TI101. The signature of the Controlling Officer or his authorised representative certifies the accuracy of every detailed contained on the voucher. The authorised officer will be held responsible for the services specified which have been duly performed, and the price charged is according for the specification of contracts (TI102). A payment will be considered as unvouched expenditure if there is evidence that it has not been properly incurred, authorised, and discharged (TI107). Therefore, the authorised officer must seek approval of the Treasury for payment to be charged to the accounts (TI109). If for any reasons the original payment voucher is lost, the authorised officer must produce the certified carbon copy of the voucher to the officer responsible for payment. Evidence of receipt of payment should also be attached. A cheque is then prepared after the payment voucher has been vouched and issued to the payee. When a cheque is drawn or received for distribution, a payment register should be maintained (TI98a). The payment register should be inspected and initialled at least on a month by the head of the department or any authorised representative (TI98b).

QUESTION 6
Exam Question – January 2012 (Question 2a)

Answer:

a) Duties of Puan Jamilah are involved in accounting for cash receipts. The revenue received in this case study is in terms of cash. Puan Jamilah as a collector in this situation, she is able to receive money from the public as according to TI 3. Then, as according to TI 60, Puan Jamilah has to issue an official receipt to the payer to acknowledge that the money has been received. Therefore, she is applicable and able to receive money and issue receipt to the payer. Next, the receipts must be recorded individually into the cashbook at the time the transaction occurs or before the end of the day as according to TI 72. As according to TI 73, Puan Jamilah who is the collector in the case study is not applicable to record the collections. The cashier is the person in charge who is supposed to records all registers and list of collections and another officer other than the cashier must transfer it into the cashbook, unless no second officer is available and specific sanction has been obtained from the Accountant General. Puan Jamilah as the collector is responsible for safekeeping and the proper use of all receipts, licenses and unused receipts books as according to TI65. TI66a stated that, the collector should ensure all unused receipts are securely locked up under her own control or by a senior officer who is not involved in the making collections and issuing receipts. b) Surcharge is one way of fine imposed to any person who is or was in the employment of Federal government or State government. According to Section 18 of the Financial Procedure Act 1957 the groups of government officers who will surcharged are those who: (i) has failed to collect any moneys owing to the Federal Government or the Government of the State for the collection of which he is or was responsible. (ii) is or was responsible for any improper payment of public moneys o the Federal Government or the Government of the State or for any payment of public moneys which is not duly vouched (iii) is or was responsible for any deficiency in, or for the destruction of, any public moneys, stamps, securities, stores, or other property of the federal Government or the Government of the State (iv) being or having been an accounting officer, fails or has failed to keep proper accounts or records

c) There are few reasons why government needs systems and procedures, such as: (i) Diverse government objectives, where among the objectives of the government is to meet legal and statutory requirement (ii) Large annual expenditure at all level. The government has large expenditure for the operation and development of the country (iii) To ensure accountability of public moneys. The government is entrusted with the public money whereby the payer wants to know how the government controls and manages it, and to keep proper accountability of it (iv) To take care of public interest, whereby the government also has the duty to serve to the public