1 Introduction to Treasury Instructions
1.1 General
This document comprises:
- a summary of the relevant provisions of the Public Finance Act 1989 (the Act);
- a set of instructions in bold to be known as Treasury Instructions (the Treasury Instructions); and
- some guidance on the Instructions and the provisions of the Act.
The Treasury Instructions are issued under the authority of section 80 of the Act and are to be read in conjunction with the Act (all terms have the same meaning as in section 2 of the Act).
1.2 Date of issue
The Treasury Instructions contained within this document were issued on 10 July 2012, and apply as from then. All previous Treasury Instructions applying to departments as defined in the Act are hereby revoked.
1.3 Structure of Treasury Instructions
This document comprises six sections:
Section one: Introduction to the Treasury Instructions.
Section two: Principles for the development of accounting policies for external financial reporting. This section of the Treasury Instructions is to be complied with by the Government and departments when developing accounting policies for external financial reporting.
Section three: Accounting policies for external financial reporting by the Government of New Zealand. This section of the Treasury Instructions is to be complied with when providing reports on Crown revenue, expenditure, assets or liabilities, and when providing information for the preparation of the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand and Forecasts.
Section four: Accounting policy parameters for external financial reporting by departments. Departments must select their accounting policies within the parameters specified in this section of the Treasury Instructions.
Section five: Cost accounting policy parameters. Departments are required to provide a clear and concise statement of cost accounting policies in external financial reports, and this section of the Treasury Instructions provides criteria for disclosing cost accounting policies.
Section six: Operating instructions. This section of the Treasury Instructions is to be complied with when determining and operating departmental accounting and management systems.
A number of publications have been developed to assist departmental Chief Executives with the development and maintenance of appropriate accounting policies and systems. Departments can obtain these publications through the Treasury web site www.treasury.govt.nz.
1.4 Application of Treasury Instructions
The Treasury Instructions apply, subject to the provisions of the Act and of any regulations made under the Act, to all Chief Executives and all employees of any department as defined in the Act. It is the responsibility of every Chief Executive to ensure that the Treasury Instructions are complied with.
1.5 Access to Treasury Instructions
The current and only official version of the Treasury Instructions is on Treasury's web site (www.treasury.govt.nz).
Chief Executives are to ensure that all employees have sufficient access to the Act and to the current Treasury Instructions issued under the Act.
1.6 Review of Treasury Instructions
The Treasury Instructions are reviewed and updated annually. They are effective from 1 July of the year in which they are published. Each new version of the Treasury Instructions issued in this manner supersedes all previous versions of the Treasury Instructions.
