FACULTY’S NAME:

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

COURSE CODE AND SUBJECT:

ACB 41403
PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING

TITLE:
ARTICLE SUMMARY
MANAGING EVIDENCE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY: AN INFORMATION
GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE

PREPARED BY:

NAME MATRIC NUMBER

NUR ANIS IZYAN BINTI SHAHROM 047870

LECTURER NAME:
SIR MOHD HAFIZ BIN HARUN

DATE OF SBMISSION:
7 JANUARY 2021
Article Summary

Introduction

In a more accountable and open government, the new political environment in Malaysia has

made a growing demand. The responsibility lies with the National Audit Department (NAD)

and auditors of the public sector. Public auditors play a significant role in ensuring

compliance with quality and legal criteria for the execution of activities. As a source of

evidence of government failure the audit report produced has been used by the opposition

and non-governmental organisations. In the positive aspect, public money for the nation's

growth should be properly used, safeguarded and registered.

Issues Related

The public auditors’ jobs are limited due to a few factors:

i. Proof or documents are not correctly maintained

Public sector auditors typically take a long time to find facts or documentation needed

because the company does not manage its records properly. Unless the supporting

records can be found, the audit will fail and it will not be possible to produce an audit

report. The auditors will have great challenges as their reputation would be

threatened, not due to their inadequacy, but because confident and timely data and

records are not available.

ii. Privacy of registrations

Act 1972 of Official Secrets (Act 88) requiring documents and data to be classified

under high-secrecy, secrecy, confidentiality and confidentiality. For example, while

they are approved due to their confidential status, some of the meetings of the board
 of directors cannot be viewed by public auditors. The problems of confidentiality

would make it impossible for the auditors to give their opinion on the audit report.

iii. Poor information content or records

Often the details or documents are not correct, full and prompt. The reputation of

auditors in public meanwhile depends on their accuracy in producing the report. How

will the auditors report correctly if they are not complete? Consequently the creation

of trustworthy, timely records and information in the public sector is essential to

accurate documentation and registration.

iv. Total records and no specific assignment of liability

It is a crucial concern to be tackled urgently in records management.

Uncomprehensive records will lead to a tragedy, especially for national sovereignty,

since the failure to manage records has shown Malaysia to lose Batu Putih Island

and definitely cannot happen again. Failure to complete documents is primarily due

to the lack of clarification of employee accountability.

Conclusion

The reputation of the public auditor in providing an exact audit report would be compromised

if documents are short and incomplete. This condition cannot continue if the government is

serious about enhancing public departments' efficiency. The administration of the

government of the day is critical for handling proof of transparency. It is arguable, as

successful public auditing encourages, that information governance is crucial.