AN APPRAISAL OF ACCOUNTING SYSTEM IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR (A CASE STUDY OF BOARD OF INTERNAL REVENUE ENUGU STATE) BY NNAMANI UGOCHUKWU J.C ACC/2006/241 DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTNACY FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCE CARITAS UNIVERSITY AMORJI NIKE ENUGU STATE JULY, 2010 An Appraisal of Accounting System In the public Sector (A case study of board of Internal Revenue Enugu State) By Nnamani Ugochukwu J.c Acc/2006/241 Department of Accountancy Faculty of Management & Social Science Caritas University Amorji – Nike,Enugu Submitted to Department of Accountancy Caritas University In partial fulfillment of Degree of the Requirement for the award of the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in Accounting July, 2010 CERTIFICATION This is to certify that this work was submitted by Nnamani Ugochukwu J.C ACC/2006/241 of the Department of Accountancy, Caritas university, Amorji nike, Enugu, Enugu State in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of a B.Sc in Accountancy Mr Agu C.I Supervisor Date Mr Ugwu C.C Head of Department Accountancy Date External Supervisor Date DEDICATION This project work is dedicated to the king of kings who made it possible for me to reach this stage in life, for his mercies, love, protection and guidance throughout the completion of my program and to my lovely parent Mr and Mrs Sunday Okechukwu Fredrick Nnamani (J.P.) for their untiring efforts towards my academic pursuit ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My utmost gratitude goes to God almighty, who has made this academic feat possible My beloved parent Mr and Mrs Suday Okechukwu Nnamani (J.P) deserve every commendation for their efforts in giving me proper orientation; for their understanding, encouragement, and for that most valuable financial support and unending prayers My beloved siblings Ndidiamaka, Ezinne and Chinecherem Nnamani, they were always encouraging and praying for me I also extend my unalloyed gratitude to all who has in one way or the other contributed towards the actualization of this dream Worthy of mention include: Barr And Mrs SAN Chukwuani, Mr and Mrs.Davidson Ownmi and also Mr and Mrs Andy Egbo (National) for their contribution and love shown to me during the course of this work and also has been one of the brain behind my achievement I am equally grateful to my project supervisor Mr Agu C.I for his patience, prompt attention, suggestion, strict and careful scrutiny of this work I shall not fail to acknowledge the role of all the lecturers in department of accountancy especially my H.O.D Mr Collins Ugwu, Mr P.U Nsoke, Mr Frank Ovute and Chinedu Enekwe for their time, academic encouragement, training and assistance Finally, my appreciation goes to Obiora Onyiorah, Ugwuanyi Emmanuel, Ohanwe Emeka, Chisom Mbata, Anya, Chioma Ani, Chinelo, C.Y., G Money, Keke-money, Fabian, Pamela, Ekwe, Chika (MVB), Nnamdi Ukeje, ATM money (Course Rep.), Adaobi, Chika Agu Loveth, phnatex, Lorita, Chineye Ochili and Onyi Madubuko for their support, love, and care throughout my stay in school ABSTRACT This write up is the result of a studying of the accounting process in the public sector The work is principally aimed at providing an insight into the accounting system of Board of Internal revenue Enugu State, its inefficience, problems and ways these problems could be effectively be managed This work is divided into five chapters namely; The first chapter which is the introduction of the topic, the researcher defined public sector accounting, the purpose and objective as well as the significance of the study In chapter two, the researcher focuses on the review of related literature as it is related to the research topic and such review include historical development of government accounting, Basis of accounting and sources of cash and recording media In chapter three, the researcher indicated the research method used in detail; also it was in chapter four that the data used were collected, presented, analyzed and show the responses to the area being investigated which were documented along with their percentage relating to the question asked In the last chapter, the researcher discussed the result obtained from data analysis in chapter four and also a useful and constructive suggestion was put down as that any interested party may be wee guided TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover page: Title page:………………………………………………………… Certification:……………………………………………………… Dedication:……………………………………………………… Acknowledgement:……………………………………………… Abstract:………………………………………………………… Table of contents:……………………………………………… CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study:…………………………… 1.2 Statement of the Problem:…………………………… 1.3 Objective of the study:……………………………… 1.4 Significance of the study:…………………………… 1.5 Research question:…………………………………… 1.6 Scope and Limitation of the study:……………… 1.7 Definition of terms:………………………………… CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Introduction:………………………………………… 2.2 Historical Development of Government Accounting: 2.3 Financial Information:…………………………………… 2.4 Sources of cash and Recording Media:………… 2.5 Nature and purpose of Government Accounting: 2.6 Fund Accounting classification:………………… 2.7 Basis of Accounting:………………………………… 2.8 Depreciation:…………………………………………… CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN 3.1 Research design ……………………………………… 3.2 Sources of data ………………………………………… 3.3 Population of the study ……………………………… 3.4 Determination of sample size and techniques…… 3.5 Method of data collection …………………………… 3.6 Procedure of data analysis …………………………… CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 4.1 Section A (Personal Data)…………………………… 4.2 Section B (Cash)………………………………………… 4.3 Section C (Cheque)…………………………………… 4.4 Section D (Stocks/Supplies) ………………………… CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Summary of findings ………………………………………… 5.2 Conclusion ……………………………………………………… 5.3 Recommendation ……………………………………………… References Bibliography Appendix CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY History has it that the concept of accountability of public funds dates backs to the history of ancient Greece As old as theory is, it would not be erroneous to say that the idea has been equally lost to antiquity although not much is known about it, this makes the subject, government accounting to remain a myth Accounting in the public sector has received such a wide attention from scholars that the field of public sector accounting scans to be neglected .. .An Appraisal of Accounting System In the public Sector (A case study of board of Internal Revenue Enugu State) By Nnamani Ugochukwu J.c Acc/2006/241 Department of Accountancy Faculty of Management... POPULATIONS OF THE STUDY Initially, the target population of this study covers all the staff of the board of Internal Revenue Enugu State Those in the accounting section were of special interest of this... study will look into the nature of the accounting system of the sample ministry; how the system operates, the relevance of the system to the environment, problems and prospects of the system LIMITATION