Government financial decision making

Part of the Financial machinery of government series

About the course

This one day course provides a comprehensive understanding of public finances. You'll understand how financial decisions are made and who has authority to make them. Key to this is understanding the role of Parliament, Cabinet, committees and phases of the government budget cycle. You'll appreciate the vital role of accountability documents and the role of monitoring and advisory agencies. This course makes use of numerous real life examples and practical exercises.

For:

Principal Policy Advisers, Senior Policy Advisers, Policy Advisers, Policy Analysts, Business Analysts, Economists, Lawyers and Managers who require an understanding of government finances

Objectives:

After completing this course you will be able to:

Understand the government budget cycle
Understand governance and financial structures across state sector agencies
Improve alignment with key government priorities
Understand the role and scope of appropriations, estimates and imprest supply
Understand the parliamentary process, seven stages of passing a bill, the role of cabinet committees and parliamentary select committees
Identify the role of monitoring and advisory agencies to government
Link your agency's internal financial systems and processes into the government budget cycle

Topics:

The role of public sector financial management
Key government priorities and the role of the fiscal strategy report and the budget policy statement
The role and purpose of inputs, outputs and outcomes
The role of parliament - appropriations, estimates and imprest supply
Government reporting including monthly financial reports, annual financial reports and SOI's
The Public Finance Act 1989 and core public sector legislation
The role and appointment of departmental chief executives and crown entity boards

What our participants say:

'I enjoyed learning the deeper aspects of governance, annual reports, budgets and forecasts. It exceeded my expectations' - Pat Handcock, Area Commander, NZ Police.

Our training is:

Competency based: we enable participants to apply what they have learned when they return to work
Professionally designed to cater for all learning styles, with a mix of activities
Based on accelerated learning techniques to engage participants
Fully evaluated for continuous improvement
Customised for an agency's specific needs and issues and financial systems and processes

Participant feedback from 'Government financial decision making'