公共部门会计：转变政府或无价值的计算？【外文翻译】.doc

本科毕业论文（设计） 外 文 翻 译 外文题目 Public sector accounting:Transforming government or bean counting? 外文出处 Chartered Accountants journal,2009：44-46. 外文作者 Martin Clarke 原文： Public sector accounting:Transforming government or bean counting? The father of modern economics, Adam Smith, felt that public services were best performed when their consequences resulted in reward. However the reward is not constant; it can be improved with time, effort and skill (diligence). A primary role of government is to provide public services both efficiently (at the lowest cost) and effectively (to the highest degree of benefit). Throughout history, the decision process within government bodies has been criticised as being overly bureaucratic resulting in inefficient and ineffective consequences. To ensure the greatest reward from public services, the public sector needs a framework to measure and manage both the diligence employed in providing public services, and the consequences of its actions. Accounting provides part of this framework, however it has limitations. In discussing the transforming power of accounting in the public sector, three elements are considered. First, is accounting just bean counting? Second, where have transformations occurred within the public sector due to accounting? And third, where (and why) has accounting failed at transforming the public sector? Accounting-adefintion In arguing whether accounting is simply a “bean counting” exercise, or whether it plays a crucial role in the transformation of government, its definition must first be agreed. The traditional role of accounting was indeed double entry bookkeeping and the recording of financial information. The Italian friar-mathematician, Luca Pacioli, is credited with inventing the system in the late 1400s. However, it is naive (or simply offensive!) to believe that over the past 500 years, accounting has not evolved. Technology is just one example of this