July 10, 2020 – The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB) said in a statement today that it supported recommendations in the Auditor General’s Report and was especially concerned that “many of the serious deficiencies identified are not new”.
“The Auditor General’s Report 2019 reflects recurring issues on the Government’s financial reporting that we have seen in the past years. However, through two special audits, it reveals the grave problems of legal fees paid by certain State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and procurement practices of the Barbados Water Authority for the period 2007-2018.
“As an organisation which seeks to promote, foster and maintain the highest standards of accounting, and which is committed to global best practices, ICAB is concerned that many of the serious deficiencies identified are not new, but have been ongoing for several years,” the statement said.
These include errors in the recording of certain financial information, a lack of appropriate documentation to verify the accuracy of certain information and the long-outstanding audits of certain SOEs. Of greater concern, is that no apparent remedial actions appear to have been taken.
“It is unacceptable that basic accounting principles such as the recording of transactions, recognition of transactions in the correct period and ledger and bank reconciliations are not being performed which have led to the Auditor’s inability to verify amounts submitted in the Statements of Revenue and Financial Position reported by the Barbados Revenue Authority. This lack of accurate and timely information seriously questions the transparency and accountability in financial management and the trust and reliability over the information for sound decision making.”
ICAB said proper accounting principles are especially important as Barbados is at a critical stage, made more challenging by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic).
The accounting body made reference to the new Public Finance Management Act 2019, which imposes higher standards of financial reporting, transparency and accountability for central government and SOEs.
For more details click here
