What are the State’s accounting principles?

The State keeps budgetary accounts designed to verify the Government’s compliance with parliamentary authorization and general accounts designed to measure changes in the State’s assets. In addition, the State keeps accounts designed to analyze the costs of the various actions undertaken or services rendered within the framework of the programs, and accounts for materials, values and securities. The State’s accounts include the results of the budgetary accounts and those of the general accounts: they must be regular and accurate and give a true and fair view of the implementation of the budget and of the evolution of the State’s assets and financial situation. The budgetary accounts trace the budget implementation operations from the commitment phase to the payment phase. It is kept in simple part by the authorizing officer and the accounting officer, each insofar as they are concerned, in accordance with the budgetary nomenclature of the finance law for the year in question. Budgetary revenues and expenditures are recorded according to the following principles

revenues are entered in the accounts under the budget for the year in which they are collected by a public accountant
expenditure is entered in the accounts, successively at the time of commitment and payment, under the budget for the year in which it is committed by the authorizing officers and then paid by the public accountants
all expenditure must be charged to the appropriations for the year in question, regardless of the date of the debt.
The authorizing officer shall keep subsidiary budgetary accounts for the settlement and issue of revenue on the one hand, and subsidiary budgetary accounts for the settlement and authorization of expenditure on the other. The public accountant keeps auxiliary budgetary accounts that provide information on receipts for revenue operations and payments for expenditures. It allows the identification of outstanding debts and outstanding payments. However, budgetary expenses committed and liquidated during the fiscal year may be paid after the end of the fiscal year, during a complementary period which may not exceed thirty days. In addition, when an amending finance act is promulgated during the last month of the calendar year, the revenue and expenditure transactions it provides for may be executed during this complementary period. General accounting is based on the principle of recognition of rights and obligations. Transactions are accounted for in the year to which they relate, regardless of the date of payment or receipt. It is kept on a double-entry basis in accordance with the general chart of accounts. The rules applicable to the State’s general accounting are based on internationally accepted accounting standards. Their purpose is to produce the State’s General Account, which includes

• the trial balance
• the net position table or balance sheet, or a statement summarizing the State’s financial assets and liabilities
• the income statement
• the cash flow statement
• the government’s financial transactions table
• the attached statement.

The Minister of Finance provides sectoral Ministers with all the accounting information concerning them to help them control their budget and improve their management.