The-Accountant-Jul-Aug-2017
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EDITORIAL<br />
Dear Reader,<br />
In our cover story, we discuss trade<br />
secrets. Secrecy has been a part of<br />
trade for thousands of years; People<br />
who depend on making their money<br />
by selling something or providing<br />
a service which other people are unable<br />
to make or provide, defend their turf by<br />
raising barriers to entry. Trade secrecy is<br />
legal and protects relationships of trust.<br />
Secrecy allowed a region in China to profit<br />
for centuries by harvesting silkworms to<br />
produce silk – something that could be<br />
done in Kenya; not just secret formulas and<br />
designs, but even simple facts, such as the<br />
features that might be introduced in the<br />
next iPhone, or which country a business<br />
intends to go into next. In Kenya, there are<br />
eleven laws related to intellectual property,<br />
seven sets of regulations, three guidelines<br />
and fifty four treaties. Enforcing business<br />
secrets has nothing to do with a lack of<br />
transparency in government.<br />
Although it may seem paradoxical, trade<br />
secret laws can enable and encourage<br />
technology transfer, because these laws<br />
provide a commercially reasonable way<br />
to disseminate information. Although<br />
some aspects of secrecy laws, such as data<br />
exclusivity for drug companies can be<br />
controversial, there is a general agreement<br />
that confidential disclosure is beneficial in<br />
a modern economy.<br />
Meanwhile, an accounting transition is<br />
always a tricky affair. <strong>The</strong> commendable<br />
difference is that government has instituted<br />
elaborate plans to learn from experienced<br />
industry practitioners that have been<br />
contracted to assist in compliance with<br />
International Public Sector Accounting<br />
Standards requirements.<br />
Arguably, government sector accounts<br />
has many concepts and technical issues<br />
that obtaining a fair presentation of the<br />
financial affairs is more complex than it is<br />
in the private sector, hence this important<br />
effort appears complex and costly to effect.<br />
A common problem that has faced the<br />
early adopters is that government activities<br />
focus on macroeconomic approach and<br />
thus its management practices and data<br />
reporting methods are significantly<br />
different from the private sector. Accrual<br />
based financial reporting gives broader<br />
information, which cash accounting does<br />
not. It also gives a wider than ordinary view<br />
of the liabilities compared to the assets<br />
according to this writer. Find out more<br />
under Financial Reporting and Assurance;<br />
it is titled- Pushing the boundaries of<br />
Government sector financial reporting.<br />
In Business Practice and Development,<br />
we feature- Emerging Trends in<br />
Accounting. <strong>The</strong> author says that the<br />
Accountancy profession has contributed<br />
to the development and growth of ancient<br />
civilizations. From the Babylonians to the<br />
Egyptians, the need for records has satisfied<br />
the need to keep day to day affairs well<br />
structured, managed and planned for. <strong>The</strong><br />
development of accounting has over the<br />
years since then, developed to a necessity<br />
for modern day trade, governance and every<br />
day operations. Owing to how integral the<br />
service is, it is no wonder that there have<br />
been remarkable developments in that<br />
space. Scholarly articles, research papers,<br />
development of courses and other avenues<br />
have been utilized to further advance<br />
this field. In line with this development,<br />
Accounting has also benefited from the<br />
advancements in other fields as well. <strong>The</strong><br />
Enron Scandal brought to light the evils<br />
of poor accounting practices and the need<br />
for greater accountability and transparency<br />
in the operations of business. While the<br />
move for sustainability has lasted longer<br />
than this, the need for business to take<br />
up more responsibility has been greater<br />
appreciated since.<br />
In the Governance segment, the<br />
Infrastructural Problems in Kenya’s<br />
Public Universities are explored; the<br />
author wonders whether Public Private<br />
Partnerships (PPP) could be the solution.<br />
<strong>The</strong> writer further clarifies that Public<br />
Private Partnerships involves a contract<br />
between the public and private sector.<br />
It describes a government service or<br />
private business venture which is funded<br />
and operated through a partnership of<br />
government and one or more private sector<br />
companies. <strong>The</strong> worldwide experience has<br />
shown that Public Private Partnerships,<br />
if properly formulated, can provide a<br />
variety of benefits to the government. For<br />
example: A PPP can increase the value for<br />
money spent on infrastructure services by<br />
providing more-efficient, lower-cost, and<br />
reliable services; a PPP helps keep public<br />
sector budgets, and especially budget<br />
deficiencies, down; a PPP allows the public<br />
sector to avoid up-front capital costs and<br />
reduce public sector administration costs;<br />
the project life-cycle costs and project<br />
delivery time can be reduced by using a<br />
PPP. It can also improve the quality and<br />
efficiency of infrastructure services and<br />
facilitate innovation in infrastructure<br />
development, among other things.<br />
Finally, as the global work force is growing<br />
both intellectually and in size, the Kenyan<br />
work force is not left behind. <strong>The</strong> average<br />
Kenyan employee is becoming more<br />
hardworking and extremely aggressive.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is an increase in both healthy and<br />
unhealthy competition in the workplace;<br />
sometimes making the environment very<br />
hostile, especially for the victims. Bullying<br />
and mobbing are just some of the work<br />
place evils quickly taking root in our<br />
Kenyan work places. We feature this rather<br />
disturbing state of affairs in the workplace<br />
section.<br />
We have also incorporated all your regular<br />
features, including health, travel, institute<br />
news and pen off in this fascinating<br />
Journal. Enjoy!<br />
Mbugua Njoroge<br />
Editor<br />
JULY - AUGUST <strong>2017</strong> 3