The Act may appear to make significant changes to the responsibilities of accounting officers. In practice, these changes revolve mainly around the production, implementation, monitoring and reporting of each department’s strategic and operational plans.

The strategic plan focuses on outcomes over a three-year period, consistent with the MTEF, and the operational plan will eventually specify anticipated outputs and measurable objectives.

Separation of responsibilities

The Act reinforces the distinction between the responsibility of a Minister or MEC for policy and outcomes, and of the accounting officer for implementing the policy and achieving defined outputs.

The Minister or MEC (the executive authority) presents the department’s budget to the legislature, but the accounting officer is responsible for implementing and managing the budget in terms of measurable outputs once it has been adopted. The accounting officer is responsible for achieving the operational plan by promoting commitment to the plan throughout the department and, more fundamentally, by ensuring that all managers accept their financial management responsibilities.

Delegation by executive authorities

Accounting officers will be unable to fulfil their responsibilities unless they are appropriately empowered. Executive authorities must delegate certain personnel functions to their accounting officers in terms of the Public Service Regulations. The need for appropriate delegations has been reinforced by Cabinet’s approach, which locates both managerial and financial accountability at the same point.

Employment contracts must include performance standards

The Act stipulates that the employment contract of an accounting officer must be in writing and include performance standards, i.e. what is to be delivered by the department. These performance standards must be aligned to and be consistent with the measurable objectives in the operational plan and, therefore, the budget. In addition, the Act requires the employment contract to specify responsibilities for budgetary control and reporting, as well as the general responsibilities of accounting officers, as summarised below.

Concluding similar contracts with all members of top management in the department is considered good practice.

Delegation by accounting officers

Clearly, no accounting officer can personally undertake all the tasks expected of his or her department. The Act recognises this by allowing the accounting officer to delegate any power or duty under the Act in writing to an individual official (or post).

Delegator retains responsibility

However, the delegation does not divest the accounting officer of the responsibility for exercising the delegated power or duty – the ‘delegator’ must ensure that systems and processes are adequate to document, monitor and review the exercising of those powers or assigned duties. All officials in the department are accountable for their specific areas of responsibility.

Responsibilities of accounting officers

General responsibilities

In broad terms, the Act makes each accounting officer responsible for effective, efficient, economical and transparent use of resources. More specifically, he or she must ensure that the following are in place:

Responsibilities for budgetary control

The accounting officer is responsible for exercising proper budgetary control. This requires systems that prevent overspending of a vote or main division and warn of any impending undercollection of revenue or shortfall in budgeted revenue (which is to be reported to the executive authority).

Reporting responsibilities

The accounting officer is responsible for the submission of all reports, returns, notices and other information to the relevant legislature, executive authority, the relevant treasury or the Auditor-General, as required by the Act, and detailed in Chapter 4 of this Guide.