KPMG Consulting delivers tangible business solutions to government

KPMG Consulting`s newly re-branded Public Sector Division has made numerous in-roads into aligning national and provincial government in accordance with the recent Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

"Legislation is driving change at all levels in government as the Act prescribes control measures for government finances to ensure sound management of revenue expenditure, assets and liabilities," says Carin Strickett, Partner at KPMG Consulting. "KPMG Consulting has been assisting a number of national departments and provincial administrations within government with the implementation of these changes, from transformation of existing cash based to accrual based accounting systems, training in re-capacitation of staff and financial planning. We have transferred our knowledge around world class financial implementations to ensure this change is well supported at all levels of government."

As part of KPMG Consulting`s commitment to ensuring this change is achieved as smoothly as possible, the organisation has provided the Gauteng Provincial Government with six trained accountants for a two-year period, as the PFMA outlines the need for each government department to be headed by a chief financial officer. "The Gauteng Government needed to fill 11 posts, however, they could not find the right candidates who met with their expectation for six of these posts. Therefore KPMG Consulting as part of a consortium has provided internal resources to them in addition to Gauteng seconding one of their staff members to our offices for further training and development," says Strickett.

In terms of further provision of support, KPMG Consulting has provided staff training around financial management to the Gauteng and Eastern Cape Provincial Governments. Additionally, KPMG Consulting has started with the implementation of PFMA based financial management control systems with the Gauteng, Northern Province, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces.

"KPMG Consulting has been able to understand the specific needs of government through our extensive experience, as we were active participants in the compilation of the modernised public finance management legislation (the PFMA)," says Strickett. "We believe that the government has made numerous strides in becoming a competitive force in financial management."