List of internal and external users of public sector accounting

Bisola was asked in a government accounting class to list the internal and external users of public sector accounting information. This wasn’t a very difficult task for her, since she has an idea from his class in financial accounting. So she went ahead and let it out.

First of all, users are those that need financial information from the use of public sector accounting standards, laws, and norms. They need the information to make decisions. The decision can be made if the government is using taxpayer money efficiently if the government needs additional funding, and so on.

Internal users are those that cannot influence the activities of the government and its resources. They need the information to know if they require more borrowing or can rely on current resources. More so, the information provided to them helps them manage present resources and make others accountable for their actions.

External users’ decisions can influence the activities of the government. Taxpayers can go on strike causing the government to lose money. The international money lenders may decide not to provide funds to the government. Thereby affecting the use of funds for capital expenditure. Below, we list the internal and external users of government accounting information.

List of internal users of public sector accounting

• The president of the federal republic of Nigeria
• Each state governor
• Ministers of each federal ministries
• Commissioners of state ministries
• Director general of each government department and agency. Example, EFCC
• Heads of government business enterprises. For example, the governor of the central bank of Nigeria
• Permanent secretary of MDAs
• The accountant general office
• The auditor general office
• Civil servants
• Public servants
• Union of civil and public service

List of external users of public sector accounting

• The house of Senate
• The house of representatives
• External auditors
• Taxpayers
• Other members of the public
• Governors of states other than the reporting state
• Foreign countries
• The international communities
• International financial institutions like the world bank
• Other international lenders
• Local lenders for example banks
• Trade unions
• Opposition parties
• Local and international researchers

Final words

In the next two articles, we will explain each of the aforementioned internal and external users of government accounting information.