Table Of ContentFinancial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector is a very
successful text for non-financial majors. In the book Gary Bandy
manages to explain the essentials of the financial world in a profound
and clear way. It is the standard work for our finance classes.
Dr. Tom Overmans, Utrecht University School of Governance
The latest edition of this excellent text by Gary Bandy has been updated
post-pandemic, with the crisis illustrating just how important it is to
have national and local government agencies that have appropriate
public financial management systems for financial stewardship, value
for money and equity. The book is particularly useful for students of
public management/public administration, but is also written with non-
financial public managers in mind, to help them understand the financial
aspects of their jobs.
Laurence Ferry, Head of Department and Professor
in Accounting at Durham University (UK) and Senior
Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Rutgers University (USA)
This is a must read for any public management student. Gary Bandy
brings the subject to life through an engaging combination of academic
theory and practical application.
Dr Ian C Elliott, Associate Professor of Public
Leadership and Management, Northumbria
Your book is the best resource on this topic and my version of the second
edition has been a great reference for many years now.
Andrew Kendall, Chief Commercial Officer,
Alternative Futures Group
Financial Management and
Accounting in the Public Sector
The importance of public financial management for the health and
wellbeing of citizens became dramatically apparent as governments
sought to respond to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Now,
governments and other public sector organizations face the challenge of
recovering from the pandemic whilst also seeking to achieve Sustainable
Development Goals, with squeezed budgets and ever-increasing demands
for public services.
Public sector managers are confronted daily with targets and demands
that are often set in confusing accounting and financial language. In
Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector, Gary
Bandy employs a clear and concise narrative to introduce the core
concepts of public financial management to help those managers to
deliver programmes, projects and services that are value for money. As
the author puts it, managing public money is an art, not a science.
This third edition has been revised and updated throughout, offering:
• a structure that is more clearly linked to the stages of the public
financial management cycle;
• greater coverage of transparency and accountability issues;
• a broader view of public procurement to include goods, works and
services and effective contract management; and
• an increased focus on public spending in the context of a post-
COVID environment.
With a glossary of terms to help managers understand and be
understood by accountants, as well as learning objectives, discussion
questions and exercises, this practical textbook will help students of
public management and administration to understand the financial and
accounting aspects of managing public services.
Gary Bandy has been an independent public financial management
consultant since 2005. He has advised organizations in the charity
sector, education, policing, local government and the private sector.
Gary has an MPA from Warwick Business School and has taught public
financial management at several universities in the United Kingdom as
well as sharing his expertise with civil servants in many places, including
Rwanda, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan.
MASTERS IN PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
Series Editor: Stephen P. Osborne
Providing students and practitioners a series of concise and coordinated learning
resources, this series offers an integrated and up-to-date collection of applied textbooks
across public management and administration.
Books in the series go beyond the “toolkit” or “recipe” format, instead encouraging
readers to develop the core managerial skills and critical thinking required to excel in
the field.
Contracting for Public Services Strategic Management in the Public
Carsten Greve Sector
Paul Joyce
Managing Change and Innovation in
Public Service Organizations Performance Management in the Public
Stephen P. Osborne and Kerry Brown Sector
Wouter van Dooren, Geert Bouckaert and
John Halligan
Ethics and Management in the Public
Sector
Strategic Leadership in the Public
Alan Lawton, Karin Lasthuizen and
Sector
Julie Rayner
Paul Joyce
Managing Local Governments
Marketing Management and
Designing Management Control Systems
Communications in the Public Sector
that Deliver Value
Martial Pasquier and Jean-Patrick
Emanuele Padovani and David W. Young
Digital Government
Making and Managing Public Policy Managing Public Sector Reform in the
Karen Johnston Miller and Digital Era
Duncan McTavish Miriam Lips
Financial Management and Accounting Research Methods in Public
in the Public Sector Administration and Public Management
Gary Bandy An Introduction
Sandra van Thiel
Risk and Crisis Management in the
Public Sector
Lynn T. Drennan, Allan McConnell and
Alistair Stark
For more information about this series, please visit: www .routledge .com /
Routledge -Masters -in -Public -Management /book -series /PUBMAN
Financial
Management
and Accounting
in the Public
Sector
Third Edition
Gary Bandy
Designed cover image: © Vadim Sazhniev / Getty Images
Third edition published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Gary Bandy
The right of Gary Bandy to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2011
Second edition published by Routledge 2014
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-16891-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-15730-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-25083-8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003250838
Typeset in Perpetua and Bell Gothic
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
To Charlie, the latest generation.
Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Foreword xiii
Preface to the third edition xv
About the author xviii
Acknowledgements xix
Abbreviations xx
1 The context of public financial management 1
2 Public sector budgeting 38
3 Taxation and other sources of income 86
4 Budget execution 134
5 Using financial information to make decisions 176
6 Public procurement 203
7 Measuring performance and value for money 240
8 Accountability and financial reporting 279
9 Audit 332
ix
