TA to conclude content of specified training material for the standard chart of accounts (SCOA)

Detailed description of project Back

The National Treasury has been committed to a long-term financial management reform agenda since 1999. The aim is to improve accountability and modernise the accounts of government; primarily by bringing budget and expenditure reporting in line with international best practice.A significant aspect of the reform was the introduction of a Standardised Chart of Accounts (SCOA) and Economic Reporting Format (ERF) for national and provincial government departments in 2004. In this SCOA a standard list of expenditure items aligned with international accounting and economic reporting standards replaced the original “standard item” configuration in the financial systems.

The SCOA in essence comprises the coding of items used for classification, budgeting, recording and reporting of revenues and expenditures within the accounting system, in order to facilitate the recording of all transactions affecting assets and liabilities. A key departure from the previous chart of accounts was that the item labels were now centralised and coordinated by the National Treasury’s SCOA Classification Committee, as opposed to an open chart readily amended by practitioners in departments. This standardised chart guaranteed that each single line item to record spending would be used by all national and provincial departments and hence, allowed for readily available aggregated data. This implementation also diminished the number of duplications in the accounts to a great extent.

This assignment focuses on ensuring that the next round SCOA capacity-building initiatives are accompanied with formalised training content. The intention is to develop a advanced course for Budget Managers and “Non-Finance” officials.

Type of services provided

The core services were provided by Senior PFM Training specialist. Core Services included:

• Development of the advanced course for Budget Managers and “Non-Finance” officials. Material to review includes:

• Learners Workbook;
• Formative and summative assessment booklets and assessments;
• Post course assessment booklet;
• Assessor and Facilitators guides;
• All other documentation that will form part of the course material.

• Post course assessments:

• SCOA and ERF for Budget Managers and non finance officials;
• SCOA and ERF for Budget Managers and non finance officials – Advanced;
• SCOA and ERF for Practitioners;
• SCOA and ERF for Practitioners – Advanced.