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Financial management

Financial management is the system by which the resources of an organisation are planned, directed, monitored and controlled to enable the organisation's goals to be met.

Good financial management means an organisation anticipates and responds to changing circumstances and risks, delivers programmes to budgets and plans, constantly improves efficiency and services, and provides accurate and meaningful information to its stakeholders. All of this is more important than ever given big cuts in public spending, increasing delivery of services locally and through contracts, new financing mechanisms, greater demand due to demographic changes and new risks, such as cyber crime.

Financial management must therefore be a key part of public bodies' strategic and operational decisions and plans; they must have the financial information needed to make decisions and monitor operations; and their staff must have the right financial and commercial skills.

Find out more about lessons and good practice identified in NAO's work across government in Asset sales and privatisation; Cost reduction and affordability; Fraud, error and debt management; Infrastructure finance; and Managing assets and liabilities.

Key NAO publications: Good practice from the Excellence in Reporting in the Public Sector Award (Apr 2017); The choice of finance for capital investment (Mar 2015); Delivering value and accountability – CIMA and NAO expert panel report (Oct 2014); Reporting financial management information to the Board (Jan 2012); and Financial Management Maturity Model (Jan 2010)

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NAO clock tower

Due diligence processes for potential donations

With charities such as museums and galleries relying increasingly on donations to supplement public grant funding, this report summarises the issues faced and best-practice management of the risks associated with donations as a source of income.

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Published:
4 Aug 2017
Office building

Progress on the government estate strategy

Departments have continued to reduce their estates and government is now getting better value for money. The Government Property Unit, however, has not yet made much progress towards its more challenging objective of creating an integrated estate.

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Published:
25 Apr 2017
Good practice from the Excellence in Reporting in the Public Sector Award

Good practice from the Excellence in Reporting in the Public Sector Award – Building Public Trust in Corporate Reporting Awards

The Building Public Trust Awards recognise outstanding corporate reporting that builds trust and transparency. This interactive document illustrates a range of good practice examples in public sector reports.

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Published:
18 Apr 2017
Houses

Delivering the defence estate

The MoD has developed a strategy that identifies the estate it needs and the 25% of its estate it can dispose of by 2040. However, the strategy and current funding levels allow only for a partial reversal of the decline in the condition of the remaining estate. There is a significant risk that the poor condition of the estate will affect the Department’s ability to provide the defence capability needed.

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Published:
15 Nov 2016
Parliament Street and Whitehall road signs

Managing the welfare cap

The welfare cap is encouraging a greater understanding of spending on some benefits and tax credits across government, but it is important that processes for managing the cap are reliable.

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Published:
27 Apr 2016