Accounting officer

The head of a department or the chief executive officer of a constitutional institution

Accrual accounting

A system of accounting in which items are brought to account as they are earned or incurred and not as money is received or paid

Benchmarking

A process of systematically measuring and comparing the products, services and processes of an organisation, internally and against other relevant organisations, and adopting the best practices

Budget

A systematic indication of the resources needed by and allocated to each organisational unit for carrying out its part of the strategic plan

Budgeting

The process of expressing, in numerical terms, a set of planned activities for a coming period

Cash flow statement

A financial statement that shows, for a financial period, the sources of cash inflows and how the cash was used, distinguishing between operating, investing or financing activities

Change management

The process of aligning an organisation’s people and culture with changes in organisational strategy, structure, systems and processes

Department

A national or provincial government department, or a constitutional institution

Effectiveness

The extent to which policy objectives, operational goals and other intended effects are achieved

Executive authority

Financial management

In the public sector, financial management focuses on transparency, prioritisation of scarce resources and value for money, i.e. providing the best possible services with the available resources.

Financial statements

Such statements consist of at least:

Financial year

The period 1 April to 31 March

Fruitless and wasteful expenditure

Expenditure that was made in vain and that could have been avoided had reasonable care been exercised

Generally recognised accounting practice

Accounting practice complying in material aspects with standards issued by the Accounting Standards Board

Irregular expenditure

Expenditure, other than unauthorised expenditure, incurred in contravention of or not in accordance with a requirement of any applicable legislation, including:

Key performance indicator

Key measures of performance for an organisation or business unit within an organisation; indicators of the critical success factors for the organisation

Main division within a vote

One of the main segments into which a vote is divided and which:

MEC for finance

The Member of the Executive Council of a province who is responsible or finance in the province

Minister

The Minister of Finance

National Treasury

Consists of:

Operational plan

The first year of the multi-year strategic plan, setting out specific actions to enable the organisation to achieve its overall strategic plan targets

Outcomes

The impact of government activity on society

Outputs

The products and services directly produced by an agency and delivered to external users

Provincial treasury

Consists of:

Risk management

The systematic application of management policies, procedures and practices to the tasks of identifying, analysing, assessing, treating and monitoring risk. This includes quantifying and assessing actual and potential risks and their associated losses, and developing management strategies to either assume control or eliminate these risks and losses.

Service delivery indicator

A quantification related to a specific function, included in a department’s service delivery improvement programme and used to monitor performance

Stakeholder

Any person or group who has an interest in or is affected, even unwittingly, by a particular issue

Targets

Quantified performance levels or changes in the level of performance o be attained at a specific future date

Treasury

The national Treasury or a provincial treasury, as may be appropriate n the circumstances

Unauthorised expenditure

Either of the following:

Vote

One of the main segments into which an appropriation Act is divided and which: