Debate: Which is more useful to local government representatives—the annual budget or financial statements?

The call for papers for the Public Money & Management/ICAEW/CIPFA theme on ‘Maximizing the use of local government accounts’ posed many interesting questions. To begin a debate and encourage more research, we focus on two topics raised in this call, drawing on our own empirical evidence from a broader ongoing study by two of the authors on the usefulness of local authority accounting information in the context of Ireland. First, we offer some insight into the notion that the annual budget document is more useful to local government representatives than other sources of accounting information. Second, we question the extent and effectiveness of training that is provided to local government representatives in comprehending budgets and financial statements.