(A) Problems in fixed assets accounting
The current accounting methods for the purchase and construction of fixed assets are: loan: capital (business) expenditure loan: bank deposit; Borrow: fixed assets loan: fixed fund. This typical accounting method under the cash basis of government accounting is not obvious under the unified financial revenue and expenditure management model during the planned economy period. However, with the transformation of China's economy, the continuous reform of China's financial system, the expansion of administrative fixed assets investment and excessive expenditure pressure, many problems have been exposed, mainly in the following aspects.
When the financial power is scattered and the "self-created" financial resources of the unit are not uniform, especially when the unit purchases and builds fixed assets with liabilities, this accounting method (cash basis accounting) is difficult to keep the actual expenditure of the unit consistent with the total budget expenditure of the government, which can not accurately reflect the real financial operation of the government and seriously affect the quality of government accounting information. At the same time, in theory, this accounting method will make the whole government's expenditure show sawtooth fluctuation, which is very discontinuous and is not conducive to the government's effective fixed asset investment decision-making and budget.
Another problem of fixed assets accounting in administrative institutions is that fixed assets are not depreciated. On the one hand, depreciation reflects the value loss of fixed assets due to natural wear and tear or economic development, on the other hand, it also reflects the value compensation of future cash flow after fixed assets investment, and it is a part of product cost. In any case, from the former point of view, administrative institutions should accrue depreciation for fixed assets to reflect the real changes in the value of economic resources.
At present, the root of the problem of fixed assets accounting is that the concepts of income and expenditure under the cash basis have not adapted to the needs of the development of the new situation. Generally speaking, income and expenditure reflect the exchange results between different accounting entities with money as the medium. Income is the value inflow in money after providing products or services under the principle of equivalent exchange, and expenditure is the value outflow in money when an accounting entity obtains income, that is, the equivalent monetary value outflow when an accounting entity obtains products or receives services. However, the concept of expenditure that can be matched with income in an accounting period is different from general expenditure. At present, administrative institutions only account for all currency inflows or outflows caused by unclear investments or liabilities as income or expenses according to the cash basis principle, and at the same time simply match the expenses calculated according to this method with income, which confuses the different connotations of income and expenditure, especially the concepts of immediate expenditure and long-term expenditure, that is, there is no distinction between capital investment expenditure and profitable expenditure. The phenomenon that leads to the imbalance of unit surplus and even disorderly expenditure. When purchasing and building fixed assets, the entry of "loan: expenditure loan: bank deposit" just illustrates the confusion of expenditure concept and is difficult to reflect the real situation of value transfer. At the same time, it is even more confusing to supplement it with "loans: fixed assets loans: fixed funds". In actual accounting, many units only purchase and build other fixed assets except valuable fixed assets such as buildings, forming a "one-off". In addition, due to the lack of perfect accounting methods, the fixed assets of many public facilities are only accounted for, such as roads, bridges and related auxiliary facilities, which are not included in the accounts of relevant government departments.
(B) Problems in the financial management of fixed assets
Due to the softening of financial budget and final accounts, scattered financial power and unreasonable government revenue structure, the income mainly dominated by finance accounts for a low proportion of the total government revenue, while the extra-budgetary income (non-tax income) dominated by all units and departments is high, and the fiscal revenue at all levels is not concentrated, which makes the purchase and construction of fixed assets of all units that should be included in the unified management of the financial budget show obvious characteristics of "unit system". Due to the lack of an important part of unified (comprehensive) fixed assets budget and final accounts, centralized scientific and standardized financial budget and final accounts are difficult to achieve. The current financial budget and final accounts cannot reflect the income and expenditure of the whole government, and the purchase and construction of fixed assets are scattered, unbalanced and unreasonable in resource allocation.
The unitization of "ownership" of part of government revenue makes the preference of government departments, especially some administrative institutions with greater real power, the control of social resources flowing to the unit, the informal financial resources supporting the purchase and construction of fixed assets of the unit, and even the excessive expectation of informal financial resources urges the unit to purchase and build fixed assets in debt. The purchase, construction and investment of fixed assets in various localities and departments are out of control, blind construction and repeated construction, and waste of resources, image projects and face-saving projects abound, resulting in serious debt problems. Once the irregular financial rights such as arbitrary charges are controlled, there will be payment risks, and the result will be several political achievements and burdens. Eventually, it disrupted the economic order and adversely affected economic relations.
The purchase and construction of fixed assets lacks a unified supervision mechanism. At the same time, there are a lot of rent-seeking phenomena. The financing plan for fixed assets is insufficient and there is a lack of democratic decision-making. The leader has the final say, and there is no constraint from outside the unit. The budget and final accounts of the purchase and construction projects are not true. The introduction of open competition mechanisms such as bidding is relatively lagging behind. The government procurement control below the county level has not yet entered the right track, and the value of fixed assets is distorted. Illegal acts in the purchase and construction of fixed assets lead to the loss of state-owned assets, the spread of corruption, and often the phenomenon of "the building is built, and the official has fallen".
After the purchase and construction, the management of the stock and flow of fixed assets is not strict, and there is a widespread phenomenon of "re-purchasing construction and neglecting management". The use, maintenance, disposal, lease, lending, allocation and scrapping of fixed assets are not standardized, and the efficiency of asset use is not high, which is also easy to cause waste and loss of assets.
The main reasons for the debt dilemma caused by the purchase and construction of fixed assets by local finance and departments are that the powers are beyond their due scope, the expenditure control is improper, and the powers are beyond the actual financial scope, resulting in the spillover of local financial expenditures and financial difficulties in eating.
Second, the theoretical basis of fixed assets accounting and management reform in administrative institutions
(A) the theory of public finance-the principle of purchasing public goods
Establishing public finance framework is the requirement of the development of market economy. The social demand in the market economy determines the scope and scale of government public affairs. The government provides different public goods through public affairs activities, and the society buys public goods through taxes or other forms of payment. These are the basic contents of public finance theory.
The purchase of public goods is a process of public choice. The scope and scale of public goods purchase are determined through public choice, and the expenditure activities of public goods are constrained on this basis. At the same time, in the boundary of government economic activities, that is, in the specific behavior of economic transactions, the market is used as a reference to control expenditure and evaluate performance, so as to determine public goods. The theory of public goods purchase will have a far-reaching impact on the purchase of fixed assets and the management of construction expenditure.
(B) accounting hypothesis theory-the principle of subjectivity and the principle of stages
Each administrative agency has different responsibilities and authorities in the process of exercising public management or organizing the production of public goods, which is the embodiment of social division of labor in the field of public management and the need of social decentralization. Each unit is an independent accounting entity, which is the basis of departmental budget.
The principle of installment payment is an existing accounting assumption under the cash basis. The emphasis on the principle of installment in the reform of fixed assets accounting and financial management further embodies the essence of the principle of installment. The main reason is that the financial activities in the field of public management are more complicated under the framework of market economy and public finance. Only by accounting by stages according to the operating characteristics of value can we better reflect the operating performance.
(C) accrual theory-the principle of matching
In addition to the attributes of technical specifications, from the perspective of the goal of accounting behavior, the essential feature of accounting is fiduciary responsibility. In modern society, the characteristics of government accounting fiduciary responsibility are more obvious-entrusted by the audience to manage money for everyone. Under the cash basis, all kinds of income, liabilities and expenses are mixed together, which mainly provide cash flow information, while the deeper accounting information is vague. Accrual basis is the theoretical basis for improving information quality, reforming government budget and accounting technology, and also the premise for implementing effective financial management and correctly evaluating financial benefits.
Accounting information under accrual basis can better reflect the financial situation and value operation in government economic activities, especially the generally comparable government operating costs. After the introduction of accrual basis, cash flow management under cash basis should become one of the important methods of medium and long-term financial budget. Combined with the accounting information provided by accrual basis, we can determine the relationship between government medium and long-term debt financing, taxation, investment and general expenditure.
(D) the theory of sustainable development-the principle of asset value compensation
Investment in fixed assets is the foundation of social and economic development. The sustainability of government infrastructure investment is itself a part of social sustainable development. First of all, in the initial investment of infrastructure, we should predict a gradual demand structure, and then predict the future returns, so as to find out the time series law of value compensation, avoid unnecessary investment risks, and ensure the benign and sustainable relationship between social and economic subjects.
Three, the administrative institutions of fixed assets accounting and management reform suggestions
(A) to strengthen the construction of government credit, strengthen the government's awareness of preventing financial risks.
Market economy is a credit economy, and it is impossible for a society and country lacking credit to establish a perfect market economy system in any case. Government credit plays an important role in the purchase and construction of social credit system. Good credit is guaranteed by a perfect system, such as distortion of various statistical data, confusion of guarantee, confusion of performance items and so on.
The problems existing in the financial system and actual management are important aspects that affect government credit. The main manifestations are that the tax-sharing financial system is not perfect, the financial rights and responsibilities of governments at all levels are not matched enough, the local governments' responsibilities exceed their financial resources, there is a de facto expenditure overflow phenomenon, which has not been adjusted for a long time, the control and supervision of actual expenditures are weak, and the risk awareness of government financial management is gradually weakening. On the contrary, financial risks are getting bigger and bigger, and realistic financial problems and financial risks coexist.
Scientific financial management, strengthening risk awareness and strengthening financial management reform are the breakthrough of doing a good job in government credit construction and the key to solving financial problems. In the face of obvious spillover of local fiscal expenditure or recurrent expenditure of the whole finance, there must be spillover of higher-level fiscal revenue or future fiscal revenue in order to maintain the periodic balance of fiscal revenue and expenditure. Therefore, it is necessary to scientifically plan intergovernmental fiscal transfer payments or formulate medium-and long-term revenue and expenditure plans, so as to more fully estimate the uncertainty in the future. Otherwise, it is necessary to re-recognize the scale of expenditure and reduce and control unnecessary expenditure, which is an important content of financial risk management and risk budget for current problems.
(2) Strengthening government and departmental debt management.
Judging from the law of revenue and expenditure flow of government funds, except for the needs of economic growth and its periodic adjustment, the government revenue and expenditure that can match the income are generally unified. However, due to the influence of economic growth factors, especially in the process of industrialization and marketization in China, the characteristics of investment growth are obvious, and government investment is also affected by it. The capital flow required for investment is very large, and the general fiscal revenue of the government cannot meet the investment demand at a certain time or point, so the government must raise funds. The present value of general expenditure and investment expenditure should be compensated by future fiscal revenue and its growth.
Government debt should be reflected in the financial budget and final accounts as liabilities rather than income, and government debt must also be guaranteed by standardized income expectations. The liabilities of the government and units should be included in the departmental budget management as an important content, and the special budget for fixed assets projects should be implemented in the departmental budget. Expenditure management in government procurement and financing related to fixed assets purchase and construction projects should be based on special budgets, otherwise the relevant units should bear their own risks, and the heads of administrative institutions and relevant departments should also bear joint liability. In specific management, a strict program control system must be established and implemented.
Strengthening the debt management of governments and departments must be combined with the division of financial rights and powers among governments at all levels, and with the improvement of the tax-sharing financial system, and the level of income compensation for debt repayment must be clearly defined. There are two modes to choose from for debt repayment, one is debt at the same level, the other is debt at the same level, and the other is income transfer at other levels. The transfer payment under the tax-sharing system is in the process of perfection. The power to regulate revenue, especially tax revenue, is highly centralized, as is the power of the government to publicly borrow money. With the needs of macro-control, income is also concentrated in the central government. Under this system, the central government should solve the problem of reasonable debts in places with insufficient financial resources due to actual construction needs, and then use the concentrated financial resources that will increase in the future to pay off the national debt.
(C) the integration of fiscal expenditure management mechanism
Budget, finance, extra-budget, overall evaluation, accounting center, government procurement, and so many departments in the financial system have overlapping functions in the expenditure management of administrative institutions. Setting up these departments overemphasizes the division of labor, but ignores the internal control, coordination and communication of the financial system and information sharing among departments.
Focusing on how to manage financial revenue and expenditure well under the framework of public finance, it is necessary to reorganize many institutions with overlapping functions in the existing financial system. In the management of fiscal expenditure, the financial system should pay attention to internal containment and establish a transparent and open mechanism, and prevent new management problems such as decentralized corruption and centralized corruption. In specific work, emphasize the necessary procedures and steps. Through decentralized control of power, an effective control chain is formed between departments, the internal consumption cost is reduced, and an expenditure management mechanism with controllable business, decentralized power, efficient operation, interactive cooperation and transparent management is formed. Only by accurately positioning the internal expenditure management of the financial system, scientifically and reasonably setting up internal institutions and covering fixed assets can the expenditure management of the whole administrative institution be effectively carried out.
(d) Reform accounting methods related to fixed assets.
Financial budgeting and accounting should be changed from cash basis to accrual basis. Under the accrual basis, the purchase and construction of fixed assets is only a change in value form, and it is not treated as an expenditure commensurate with income. Depreciation of fixed assets reflects the corresponding costs in the production process of public goods. Other general expenses are also accounted for on the accrual basis, regardless of whether the money is paid or not. For the time being, it is assumed that local finance and departments have no debt rights, local finance has expenditure overflow, and the purchase and construction of fixed assets are all under the control of departmental budget and government procurement. The main accounting entries related to the purchase and construction of fixed assets between units and finance under the accountability system are listed below.
1, budget unit accounting:
When the purchase and construction are not paid, borrow: construction in progress (or fixed assets) loan: payable.
Payment for purchase and construction: Borrow: loans for projects under construction (or fixed assets): bank deposits.
When paying accounts payable: debit: accounts payable loan: bank deposit.
When allocating funds: debit: bank deposits and loans: financial transactions at corresponding levels.
When drawing depreciation according to the budget standard: debit: expense credit: depreciation.
At the end of the year, the expenditure will be transferred to the balance, and the subject of "financial transactions at the same level" will be transferred to the balance with the expenditure amount approved by the department budget: debit: balance loan: expenditure (business); Debit: financial current loan at the same level: balance.
When the finance directly allocates the purchase and construction payables to the payee, the entries of the budget unit are: Borrowing: Loans payable: Financial transactions at the same level.
2. Financial accounting and control of unit expenditure:
When allocating funds to the unit: borrowing: budget unit current loan: treasury deposit.
At the end of the period, make entries according to the expenditure approved by the department budget: debit: general budget expenditure loan: contact the budget unit.
The payable for purchasing and constructing fixed assets on behalf of the company shall be paid directly to the payee, and the entry is: debit: current loan from the budget unit: treasury deposit.
3. Accounting related to finance:
When the superior finance transfers funds to the subordinate finance, or transfers debt repayment funds to the subordinate finance, the superior finance should make an entry: debit: borrowing from the subordinate finance: treasury deposit. Lower-level finance should make entries: debit: treasury deposit loan: payable to higher-level finance.
The treatment of local fiscal excess is still regarded as fiscal expenditure at the same level. When the higher-level finance gives subsidies to the overflowing expenditure gap, it borrows from the national treasury deposit loan and is subsidized by the higher-level finance. The higher-level finance makes the opposite entry: debit: subordinate subsidy expenditure loan: treasury deposit. The allocation of the above funds should be based on the budget under the tax-sharing system.
Reform the framework of financial budget and final accounts and government financial report.
1. Prepare surplus budget and performance report.
After the implementation of accrual basis in financial budget and accounting, it is necessary to adjust accounting elements and financial reporting framework to improve the quality of government accounting information. According to the concept of revenue and expenditure under accrual basis, the report of surplus budget and final accounts can reflect the real operating performance of the government, and the fiscal deficit under accrual basis will be replaced by revenue and expenditure under accrual basis.
2, the preparation of government balance sheet
The traditional concepts of government budget accounting and fiscal deficit can not reflect the real situation of government assets and liabilities, and many assets formed by investment under government liabilities have obvious economic value. Whether it is sold or cashed, the basic theory should be to promote economic growth through government investment and bring future income spillover. Some assets, which are quasi-public goods after investment, can get a certain return during the economic use period, such as the tolls of highways and bridges. Therefore, the compilation of government consolidated balance sheet can reflect the whole picture of government economic activities and government economic resources.
3. Prepare the government cash flow statement.
The income and expenditure accounting results under the cash basis reflect the fund balance of each budget year through the real cash flow statement, and combine the reform of centralized receipt and payment of the state treasury to strictly control the phenomenon of false income and false expenditure under the cash basis.