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Statement of Accountable Officer's Responsibilities
In accordance with an accounts direction (reproduced on page 97) issued under Section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 the Scottish Ministers are required to prepare resource accounts for each financial year in the form and on the basis set out in the Government Financial Reporting Manual, detailing the resources acquired, held, or disposed of during the year and the use of resources by the Scottish Ministers during the year.
The resource accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and must give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Scottish Executive, the net resource outturn, resources applied to objectives, recognised gains and losses and cash flows for the financial year.
The Permanent Secretary is the most senior member of the staff of the Scottish Administration and as the Principal Accountable Officer is the Accountable Officer responsible for preparing the accounts and submitting them to the Auditor General for Scotland.
In preparing the accounts the Accountable Officer was required to comply with the Government Financial Reporting Manual ( FReM) and in particular to:
- observe the accounts direction including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and apply suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis;
- make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis;
- state whether applicable accounting standards as set out in the FReM have been followed and disclose and explain any material departures in the accounts; and
- prepare the accounts on a going concern basis.
The responsibilities of the Principal Accountable Officer are described in the Memorandum to Accountable Officers from the Principal Accountable Officer published in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.
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