THE AUDIT DEPARTMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE ENUGU STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

In the past, when audit or auditing is not well known, many account used the opportunity to look public companies because there was no one to examine and give evidence to what they have done, but this has changed since everybody has know known the importance of audit department. So this chapter examines the regulatory framework for enforcing accountability in the ministry of fiancé Enugu state and Infact in the entire civil service. In finance management, this is to account that is to furnish a reckoning (to someone) of none received and paid out and audit is seen as an exercise which is carried out in order to lend credence to statement prepared by directors of the company (who are not the owners) for use by the owners of business (shareholders), the creditors, the employees, the government, etc. What accountability does is to provide answers related to stewardship. What why whom, whose, which and how. What is to be accounted for Whom is to account for it To whom should the account be submitted Does responsibility go with commensurate authority Why should accounts be rendered? These questions are necessary to satisfy a host of interest such as policy makers, public oicers, social scientists, the general public audits, on the other hand attempt to state that the account (or accountability) is satisfactory.

1.2 DISTINCTION BETWEEN ACCOUNTANCY AND AUDITING

Originally the work of professional accountants was confined largely to the checking of the arithmetical accuracy of the detailed records in books of account. The agreement of the trail balance, and the preparation of account I Infact, to what may be described as “accountancy work”, but nowadays a very large part of a professional accountants work is that of auditing. The difference between accountancy and auditing is not clearly understood by many business men, it being thought that if accounts are prepared by a professional accountant, be necessary guarantee their accuracy. This however, is far from being the case it is necessary to draw a distance line of demarcation between accountancy thing complication of the accounts therefore and auditing which is the examination of the completed records and the subsequent submission of a report thereon. If an accountant is instructed merely to prepare account from a set of books the work involved would be that of agreeing the tried balance, and thereafter preparing the profits and loss account and the balance sheet.