Accounting Q&A · Government Accounting · Topic 10
Practise 25 government accounting questions on economy, efficiency and effectiveness using five worked public-sector cases. Try each answer before revealing it. The cases are illustrative. Check the applicable reporting framework and local budget rules.
A clinic spends 120,000 delivering 6,000 visits
1. What should the accountant establish?
Calculate an average cost of 20 per visit.
2. What evidence should be obtained?
Obtain comparable cost and visit data.
3. What calculation or procedure would help?
Check whether the numerator and denominator cover the same services.
4. What limitation or alternative matters?
Lower cost per visit can hide reduced quality.
5. What should happen next?
Track waiting times and outcomes alongside unit cost.
A contract costs less but equipment breaks more often
6. What should the accountant establish?
Assess economy against required quality.
7. What evidence should be obtained?
Collect purchase, repair and downtime records.
8. What calculation or procedure would help?
Compare total ownership costs across options.
9. What limitation or alternative matters?
The lowest initial price may not be the best value.
10. What should happen next?
Document service standards and life-cycle costs.
A programme vaccinates 10,000 residents against a target of 12,500
11. What should the accountant establish?
Calculate 80% of the output target.
12. What evidence should be obtained?
Verify counts and target definitions.
13. What calculation or procedure would help?
Check for repeat counting and compare eligible populations.
14. What limitation or alternative matters?
Output does not directly establish population health impact.
15. What should happen next?
Review coverage and outcome data.
A waste collection route serves more households with unchanged hours
16. What should the accountant establish?
Assess efficiency using comparable service measures.
17. What evidence should be obtained?
Gather route, staffing and service quality data.
18. What calculation or procedure would help?
Compare households served per hour across periods.
19. What limitation or alternative matters?
Changes in route density may explain the gain.
20. What should happen next?
Control for route differences and track missed collections.
A job programme reports higher employment after training
21. What should the accountant establish?
Assess effectiveness and the credibility of attribution.
22. What evidence should be obtained?
Collect follow-up results and comparison evidence.
23. What calculation or procedure would help?
Consider other causes such as labour market changes.
24. What limitation or alternative matters?
Before-and-after figures alone may not isolate programme impact.
25. What should happen next?
Report the evidence strength and uncertainty.