TNAG-1415-FCO40-1896-Public-finance-in-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 277

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(4) The term accounting officer means any head of department, imprest holder, collector of revenue or other officer whose duties involve responsibility in connection with public moneys; and for the purpose of these regulations includes a sub-accountant.

176. It is the duty of the Accountant General in his capacity as chief accounting officer:

(i) To see that the proper system of account is established in every department, including self-accounting departments, of the Governments; (ii) To exercise supervision over the receipts of public revenue and as far as possible to secure its punctual collection;

(iii) To bring promptly to account, under the proper heads and items, all money, whether revenue or other receipts, paid into the Treasury or accounted for to him;

(iv) To see that proper provision is made for the safe keeping of all public moneys, stamps, securities and valuable documents;

(v) To exercise supervision over all the officers of his department entrusted with the receipt or expenditure of public money, and over the sub-accountants, and to take precautions, by the maintenance of efficient checks, including surprise inspections, against the occurrence of fraud, embezzlement, or carelessness;

(vi) To supervise the expenditure and other disbursements of the Government; to take care that no payment is made which is not covered by proper authority, expressed or referred to on the voucher relating to it; and, in case of any apparent extravagance or of any apparent defect in the provision for a charge owing to the exhaustion or absence of a vote, to call the attention of Government in writing to the matter;

(vii) Promptly to charge in his accounts under the proper heads and items all disbursements of the Government, whether expenditure or other payments;

(viii) To render the accounts for audit and to prepare the Financial Statements and Returns.

177. The Accountant General shall report to Government any material irregularity connected with the public accounts that may have been brought to his notice.

178. Where any department has been constituted a self-accounting depart- ment (i.e. a department rendering accounts to the Accountant General, without vouchers) the senior accounting officer of that department shall be charged, in relation to his department, with the responsibilities of the Accountant General as laid upon the latter in this Chapter. The senior accounting officer of a self-accounting department shall, however, be subject to the general supervision of the Accountant General.

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