Internal Users of public sector accounting (PSA) are those whose decisions cannot affect the government business enterprises or MDAs negatively. For example, the decision of the president of a country on a particular ministry will not bring the entity to an end. He may change the minister but the ministry remains. Below, we explain thirteen internal users.
Read: List of internal and external users of public sector accounting
The president
The president of a country is an internal user of the public sector accounting information. He needs to know if the funds allocated to each MDAs are used efficiently and effectively. He or she wants to know if a portion of the resources in the ministry has been siphoned.
State governors
The state governors of a country need government accounting information for similar reasons as the president. In addition, they need to know if they are performing better compared to other state governors.
Ministers
Ministers are appointed by the president to oversee each ministry of the country. In Nigeria, there is a minister of trade and finance, a minister of aviation, among others. They need the information to ensure that the economic resources allocated to them are used for the purpose it was made.
Commissioners
Commissioners play similar roles to ministers. However, their role is limited to their state. They are appointed by the governor of each state. Therefore, they must report their stewardship activities to the governor. With PSA, commissioners can be transparent and accountable.
Director general
Director generals or DGs of government departments also manage their offices and everyone under them. They are also provided with resources to manage their departments. And must report how the resources were utilized. More so, they may be saddled with regulating one aspect of the economy. For example, the DG of the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission is responsible for regulating telecommunication companies in Nigeria.
Heads of government business enterprises
These perform similar roles to ministers, commissioners, and director generals. However, the entities they control are allowed to earn profit. Therefore, they must report their bottom line to the controlling ministry and the president. For example, the security and exchange commission boss reports to the Nigeria minister of finance.
Permanent Secretary
Permanent secretaries act on behalf of ministers. That means they report to the minister of that ministry. So, with government accounting information, they can provide reports required by the ministers. One of such reports is the yearly budget estimates.
The accountant general office
The accountant general office is saddled with the responsibility of managing all receipts and payments of government funds in the four corners of Nigeria. Therefore, he makes sure that all MDAs use the correct public sector accounting systems. So that accurate and reliable information can be provided to users.
The auditor general office
This ensures that all ministries, departments, and agencies as well as government business enterprises comply with laid down rules, procedures, laws, statutes, and international accounting standards for public entities.
Civil servants
Civil servants use government accounting information to know when to request an increase in the minimum wage. They may also act as whistle browsers to authorities. They do this by reporting malpractices and corruption in the ministries.
Public servants
Public servants also require PSA information for similar reasons as civil servants.
Union of civil and public service
These are labor unions formed by civil and public servants. An example is the Nigerian labor congress. This union agitated for a pay rise and to protect the interest of members from government policies that could hurt them.
Final words
The influence of internal users does not weigh that of external users. However, their impacts are normally felt within and outside the country. However, their decisions cannot affect the resources of the economy.
