The Controller and Accountant-General, Mr Christian Sottie, has stressed the need for the prompt delivery of financial statements of all transactions nation-wide, in order to conform to international standards. He said contemporarily when securities were listed on the international markets, it was inexcusable to delay accounting reports, and, therefore, directed that all accounting reports should now be submitted to the headquarters on weekly basis. Mr Sottie said this in a speech read on his behalf at the opening session of the National Accounting Workshop for 150 officers of the Controller and Accountant-General's Department (CAGD) serving in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), at Ho in the Volta Region. He urged the participants to update their knowledge on all financial laws that guide their operations, warning that the inability to live up to expectation would be a breach of financial discipline and would attract severe sanctions. Mr Sottie said ignorance of the financial laws would be no excuse against prosecution and, therefore, entreated them to be well informed on the laws. He said the public service was dynamic and subject to change in terms of resources such as skills, technology and laws. He stated that the workshop had the aim of overhauling the human resource base to cope with contemporary challenges and also better manage other resources for maximum gains. Mr Sottie announced that very critical areas to be articulated at the workshop included re-engineered business processes and documentation; budget and public expenditure management systems; the medium term expenditure framework chart of accounts; coding of revenue and expenditure transactions, and Cap 30 pension processing and documentation. He said these fell within the ambit of the several reforms in the public financial management sector, adding that it was envisaged that the workshop would strengthen the capacity for the effective and efficient management of the financial system of the public sector. The Volta Regional Director of CAGD, Mr Christian Sekyi, said the workshop was a breakthrough in the annals of the department, saying that hitherto employees were only given induction courses after appointment. He stressed the need for the participants to prepare accurate data that would help stakeholders. Mr Sekyi stressed the need for the staff at the regional offices to endeavour to scrutinize all returns very well to avoid the rejection of reports at the national headquarters. The Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service, Mrs Olivia Sosu, who chaired the function, expressed the hope that the workshop would help inject probity and accountability in the accounting profession in the public sector. According to her, many workers did not understand the deductions on their pay slips but after the workshop, the knowledge acquired must reflect positively at workplaces. Source: Daily Graphic