In these recent times, government policy and fiscal measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly reinforced and brought to fore the need for strong public financial management (PFM). The impact and repercussions of the interventions will reverberate through most economies in the world for a long time to come.

One of the central and strategic focus areas for the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) for many years is promoting the importance, value and benefits of high-quality PFM. CAPA strongly believes that this can be achieved through a collective effort between the accountancy profession and other stakeholders across local, regional and international levels.

To support this, CAPA is excited to announce the launch of a new case study, the second installment in CAPA’s Public Sector Case Study Series, to support professional accountancy organisations (PAOs) in their engagement with the public sector.

‘Case Study 2: Malaysia’ focuses on how the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) engaged with the government to assist in introducing accrual accounting into the public sector and to strengthen the accounting cohort working in the public sector.

“This case study was developed as a follow-up to CAPA’s earlier publication ‘Professional Accountancy Organisations – Engaging with the Public Sector’, which aimed to identify the current extent and nature of the accountancy profession’s engagement with the public sector, and to encourage PAOs to consider increasing their level of engagement. This main publication provides suggestions to PAOs and other stakeholders on how they might respond to the seven key messages identified and the actions they can take to further engage with the public sector,” CAPA Chief Executive, Brian Blood, explained.

“MIA is delighted to collaborate with CAPA on this case study. We believe by sharing our experience and lessons learnt to support the Malaysian government in their PFM strategic reform journey, other PAOs and stakeholders will have a launch pad as they embark on their own journeys. This exercise has further demonstrated the importance of such engagements, and reinforces MIA’s focus on the public sector,” MIA Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Nurmazilah Dato’ Mazlan, commented.

The case study provides the key approaches as well as practical examples of how MIA successfully engaged with the public sector, the initiatives’ outcomes and the benefits derived from those initiatives. Further, MIA shares their tops tips and success factors to assist other PAOs seeking to effectively engage with the public sector.

Both CAPA and MIA strongly advocates the important role that the accountancy profession has to play to support and help improve public sector financial management.

To access an electronic copy of ‘Case Study 2: Malaysia’, click here.

To access an electronic copy of the main publication ‘Professional Accountancy Organisations – Engaging with the Public Sector’ and ‘Case Study 1: India’, go to: Public Financial Management > PFM Publications