In countries where the budget classifications are not integrated with the COA,
11
or
only partially integrated, there is risk of loss of important information undermining the
effectiveness of budget control and reporting.
For example, in this case it might be difficult
to identify with certainty the accounting implications of a given budgetary operation, and
reciprocally, identical accounting transactions may not reflect systematically equivalent bud-
getary operations.
12
Mechanisms such as a bridge table (e.g., as used under the old French
system) are used by some countries to link accounting data with budgetary operations when
budget classifications are not integrated with the COA.
Any improvements or changes to the budget classification should be implemented
only when the corresponding changes have been made to the COA structure
and fully
adopted by the IFMIS.
For example, there are several countries where a program segment
has been introduced in the budget classification, without corresponding changes to the COA
and IFMIS, and as a result budget outturn data is not available by programs.
The COA, as defined in this TNM, covers the full coding structure used for both
budgetary and financial accounting.
In a narrower sense, however, the term “COA” is
sometimes used to refer to only the later. For example, the term “plan comptable,” which has
usually been translated as “chart of accounts,” is used in France and Francophone African
countries to refer to the accounting classification used for the preparation of financial ac-
counts (called comptabilité générale).
III. Key Principles and Factors for the Design of a COA
Designing a COA is one of the first, if not the first, task that is performed when set-
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