Basics of Budget III – who maintains Government accounts?

For your company, you will have Finance & Accounts (F&A) department. For Government of India (GOI), who will look after the accounts?

Controller General of Accounts maintains the accounts of the GOI. It is headed by a Chief Controller of Accounts (CCA). The Principal Accounts Officers (PAO) at head office and at the field level (across Country) is authorized to release payments on behalf of the Government and to collect revenues of the government.

Consolidation of Accounts – the accounts are consolidated on a monthly basis at the various Ministries head office. The accounts received from all the ministries are than consolidated in the Office of Controller General of Accounts (CGA). These monthly accounts are reviewed by CGA and present it to Finance Minister. (Similar to large companies where in the branch accounting is done and then consolidates the accounts at head office of each subsidiary company and later sent to holding company)

Banker – Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the banker of the Government. Other banks such as SBI, Axis, ICICI Bank etc act as agents of RBI.          

Cash basis of accounting – Government wants the business community to maintain their accounts on accrual basis. But the Government accounts are maintained on cash basis. Only the actual receipts realized and the payments made during the year are recorded.

Auditing – The accounts of GOI are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The Finance Minister presents the audited Appropriation and Finance Accounts to the Parliament. That budget cycle starts with presenting the Budget and ends with presenting the audited accounts by the FM.

 

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About B E Kumar Prasad

B E Kumar Prasad
He is a Practicing Chartered Accountant in Bengaluru, India. He has 28+ years of experience in income tax, business setup, and NRI matters. He is also an Insolvency Professional, Registered Valuer (F&SA) and Social Auditor.Prasad welcomes your comments and questions. Please email him at simplifiedlaws20@gmail.com

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2025 years ago

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