Section 1

Officers responsible for controlling the various votes of the estimates, as listed in the estimates, are Accounting Officers. The concept of the Accounting Officer is important. Technical knowledge of accounts is not necessary to enable the Accounting Officer to discharge himself of the responsibility which his signature implies. An Accounting Officer cannot delegate responsibility. All he/she can delegate is work. He assumes full responsibility for both the work which he/she personally performs and the work which he delegates to his subordinates. In other words, although the Accounting Officer has - and must have - accounts staff to exercise in detail functions of financial control, this in no way relieves him of any of his responsibilities. He is, in fact, held personally and pecuniarily liable to the Legislature through the Public Accounts Committee for the administration of the vote for the services under his control. If the affairs of his department or office are under discussion by the Public Accounts Committee, he appears in person to answer their questions. It is his duty to see that the votes are not overspent, any records which may be maintained by the Accountant General being, for this purpose, no more than a secondary check. Accounting Officer.