Paper - Academic Registry and Council Secretariat - Queen Mary ...

TPB2012-015
Section 2 - Module Specification
Module Title Public financial management and accounting
Module Code
Credit Value 15 Level 7 Mode of Delivery On Campus Semester Semester 2
Module Organiser
Professor Colin Haslam, Professor in Accounting and Finance
Pre-requisite modules Co-requisite modules Overlapping modules
n/a n/a n/a
1) Content Description
Provide a description of the module, as it will appear in the Module Directory and on the Student Information
System (approx. 70-80 words).
This module provides understanding of the financial development and trajectory of central government finances in the
advanced economies. The first half of this module will introduce students to the challenges facing governments in the advanced
economies, and in particular, that of sustaining deficit financing. How have the components of central government revenues
changed over time relative to expenditures in GDP and the nature of accumulated sovereign debt (roll-over timings and
repayments schedule)? Students will examine the political context of public budgeting. We shall explore how the policy shift
towards macro-prudential management of these economies has impacted not only on monetary policy, but also on public
spending and cutback management, nationally and at regional and local levels of government. The module examines the link
between changing budgetary politics and pressure to develop innovative financial vehicles, as well as exploring some of the
medium-term financial risks to which these innovations can unintendedly give rise. The second half of this module will focus on
the importance for public management of reforms in accounting systems which require a shift toward resource-based and
accrual-based accounting. We examine the impact on managers' accountability for public expenditure of the convergence of
public sector with corporate international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and role of resource-based auditing . What are
some of the implications of adoption “corporate” financial accounting and performance key financial and non-financial KPIs? We
examine public-private partnerships such as the UK's Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) for financing public sector capital projects,
and issues of risk transfer and cost-effectiveness. We will consider changes financial practices and reporting in sub-national
public agencies (local authorities, health care, policing, etc), the possibilities in some countries for bond-financing for subnational
agencies, and their implications on their financial stability and organisational dynamics.
2) Module Aims
Specify the aims of the module, i.e. the broad educational purposes for offering this module.
The aims of this module are:
1. To establish an understanding as to how central governance financing regimes have changed over the last few decades
2. Understand the factors leading to the European sovereign debt crisis
3. Assess how changes in and threats to sovereign debt ratings have initiated macro-prudential management of the economy
4. Critically appraise the implications of recent trends in public financial management and the shift from cash based to accruals
based accounting in the public sector and their impact on organisations involved both in commissioning and in providing public
services
5. Equip students with an understanding of key performance indicators (KPI’s) across various levels and components of public
sector services