Public Sector Certificate Program Level I

• know the typical legislative authorities and provisions defining how governments receive, disburse and manage public funds

• explain the elements of governance and decision-making in public sector environments, including how government staff work and communicate with elected officials and their staff, federal members of Parliament, members of provincial parliaments and city councillors

• understand government stakeholders, including the public, and their expectations of accountability, transparency, value for money and the sustainability of taxpayer-funded spending

• explain the government planning and budgeting process, which culminates in an annual budget

• describe the steps in the government planning and budgeting process

• understand the difference between operating and capital budgets, and between funding for operations versus funding for capital

• ability to prepare a budget component for a program, division or other small segment that will be rolled up into the overall budget

• understand public sector accounting as a basis of government financial reporting and the role of sovereign governments in that process

• explain and prepare, or support the preparation of, the statements, notes, schedules and other components of a typical set of public accounts

• evaluate which government agencies, government business enterprises and other government organizations are part of the Government Reporting Entity (GRE)

• evaluate whether an organization needs to be consolidated with its host ministry or department and perform consolidations where indicated

• apply public sector GAAP measures to government transactions.

• explain and account for all government revenues, including taxes, transfers and non-tax revenue

• describe the different types of government transfer payments

• use financial analysis of program-specific financial reports and annual financial statements to assess the financial strength of agencies and not-for-profit organizations delivering government programs

• compare and contrast performance measurement in government, not-for-profit and for-profit organizations

• describe the concept of public sector auditing and the accountability relationship with the public

• assess financial control and related risks associated with government program delivery, including third- party organizations such as agencies

• identify process weaknesses and recommend appropriate financial and internal controls to address identified weaknesses

• apply internal audit procedures to assess value for money in government program delivery

• understand the types of internal and external audits most frequently encountered in a public sector context

• explain the methodology applied in these engagements including value-for-money audits (versus audits that focus on fair presentation)