I'istr.
LIMITED
/. 14/CAS.
16 October 1969 ENGLISH
Originals PREHCH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Sixth Gonference of African Statisticians
Addis Ababa, 22-31 October 1969
THE COMMON AGCOUUTIHG PLAU OF CENTRAL AFRICAN EGONOMIG AHD CUSTOMS UHIO1JF STATES
(Note presented "by the General Secretariat of the Central African Economic and Customs Union
(UDEAC)
M69-2715
THE JOI&T AGCOUUTIFG PLAH" OF IIDEAG STATES
IKTRODUCTIOS
The Treaty, instituting a Gentral Aff-ican Economic and Customs
Union (lIDEAC), which was signed at Brazzaville on 8 December 1964,
defined a number of fields in which standardisation was to be sought*
development plans, industrial co-operation, transport, investment codes,
and internal taxation. . .
.: Article 51 read's thus: ' " .
"The Secretary-General, after consulting with the Ministers
responsible for Planning, in Member States, shall prepare a plan for the ■■
■general industrialisation of the Union.". "■ . '
As the pursuit of this objective implied a thorough knowledge of
the industrial : structure of the Union, the Secretariat,, in co-operation with the national statistical services, undertook to carry out an industrial census in the Member States (1967)* The numerous difficulties which
statisticians have encountered in analysing the accounts of enterprises
(balance sheets, operating accounts, particulars of overhead expenses)
have made it necessary to have a Joint"Accounting System for. the. States of the-TJnion. Only by standardizing the accounting procedures can the . : accounts of enterprises be aggregated at Various levels (sectorial,
national.ior international) 'and the necessary comparison be carried out.
. . Moreover,., the standardisation of basic economic data is naturally- • one of the objectives of the Treaty of Brazzaville. The processing of this . information will make it possible to draw up national accounts the content of which will be known and. comparable from one State to another, and, at a later stage, to establish accounts at. Union.level, to serve as a basis
■for the harmonization of development^and transport policies.
Again, a standardised layout for accounts would greatly contribute to the fulfilment of the policy of aligning the. fiscal legislation at '
present pursued by the Union States. . .
These prospects have encouraged the General Secretariat of UBEAC
to prepare a general Accounting Elan suited to the Union's needs. '
"^fffff^j^gjy?^ 11 'i
t ~Q Pla°e held by the AG^^^ing Plan "in the Activities of the USFAO
Department of Statistic^ . *~ ~
concentrate o.eompiling basic-data, since it seemed unrealistic ."to £*&■
correct..solutions oy proces£ing incorrect data, whatever the quality of the programmes or; the,.power: of ; the machines used.- . LquaXlty 0±
llL.J'0 def=Lne,^e main trends °f a General Accounting ^Plan for the UDHAC
States, pursuant to a request made fcy the Cameroonian statisticians a
W « was at^enSd oy
t,^ ^j from the. UD^C States and the General
as welo. as hy two French accounting experts, Messrs
T8^ ^ ^^ ^^
In 1968, a preliminary plan was submitted for the
r1*98^1of the ^
1.3 The transactors concerned by the General Accounting Plan (Enter-
5
11 I:l:° : Heguirements of a new Accounting Plan .
^PerjeUCtf Of tile French-speaking, countries, the! results of
i 'ioGoun^ne P-^n, iiB made statisticians aware of the ■ risks ed in setting up theoretical' plans based on standards which are
et,™ noted that the SSA frequently fflakeS explicit
°l t accounting methods, e.g. Valuation of changes in stocks , -'A System of National Accounts", Hew York, 1968 let with
tgS^S!L!°Sg?lii?ati ±he traditional accounting sources
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11.2 .Such results lead to a contesting, not so much of the.principles of the analysis as,of the experimental methods used* UDEAC statisticians have therefore favoured the compiling of data by generalising the ...
standardisation of accounting by national transactors, on the basis of a specimen of national.accounts. To do. so, at first it seemed sufficient to extend, and modernize the technique most commonly used. In theUDSAC, ■ the technique, rests.on a classification according to the type of
expenditure and product involved, which already represents the main
"categories'1 of national accounts. Some far-reaching changes have ' ■
nevertheless been mades .
(l) by systematizing classification by kind?
•■(2) by including in the accounts an analysis of capital flows.
It should be pointed out that: . .."...
The new provisions thus adopted are of as much interest to
statisticians as to firms, since they are suited to modern management, analyses which are brought within the reach of smaller concerns.,.
11.3 :The UDEAC statisticians do not propose to solve the problem of transition from microeconomy to macroeconomy. Their ambitions are
confined to establishing "intermediate systems" resembling the traditional international systems as closely as possible. These intermediate systems, proceeding from statistical sources to which modern data processing methods allow continuous reference, stand every change of becoming operational.
They can be-placed under "control" because they rest oh observation.
11.4 The connexion between "intermediate systems'1 and general systems should made it possible to improve the latter. In any pase, the most
abstract specimens will prove useful in indicating :the course of research.' Intermediate systems will, allow the testing of the theories they support.
11.5 . Having been devised for automatic processing, the traditional
statistical processing methods should only be used in the final synthesis.
They would rest on more solid bases and would add to the -interest of the ' study of 'national accounts. ■ .
III. The proposed Accounting-Plan ■ ■ ' .
The proposed Accounting Plan is summarized in three tables and one :■ ■
annex s ■ . ... _/ ■ . ■
111*1 Table 1. "Table of balances basic to management", gives the general operating account and the traditional profit and loss account in two columns instead of in two successive accounts. The system has the advantage of defining more precisely the concepts of operation during the period of account by separating them from related transactions*
rriirwiMHiUMnfli
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transactions, onbehalf of a third party, special transactions, transactions in previous periods of.account. This makes for a stricter definition by nature of expenses and products^ so. as to give a-clear idea of how the operations of an enterprise lead to'its financial accounts. . .
,..., - . .. ■ - ■
ill.2 A strict: classification of the charges clearly shows "intermediate
consumption",,and the permanent inventory* "stocks sold". It is possible ..
to compute some balances: value added, gross margin, operationaLresults
and other .than.operational results, results of the transfer-df assets, ' ;
profits before taxation^ net result to be assigned. This, latter balanceis, the traditional "result of the year" as it should be determined by
the commercial legislation in forc-e. - -
2 is the 31ogical outcome of Table 1. It gives capital flows whereas Table 1 describes only administrative flows. Tablesl and 2, when placed in close succession and after the balances are omitted, show a general balance of accounts,
111.4 Tables 1 and 2 describe the complete process of the flows which have affected.the enterprise during the financial year or the period concerned. Once the balances are omitted, they may be presented in the
form of two balanced columns (a third column is added to Table 2 in order'
to take into account, settled transactions in the matter of internal . ■ allocation, whereas the column giving the total in Table 1 alone holds' good from the standpoint of flows).111.5 The purpose of Table 2, which explains the process from origin to close, is'clearly to'show capital goods, the flows having affected these '' stocks, ^and financial movements. Where the period surveyed in a year,
the process of ihe balance from origin to close is thus explained. Table. 2
is therefore an invaluable instrument of economic.analysis. Financial analysts have hitherto drawn it up with the aid of means, other thanaccounting data. Under the new system, it is made direct from the accounts, which offers every guarantee of security. It should also.be noted that . projections can be made on the basis of Tables 1 and 2 and that they lend themselves to. the drawing up of budgetary and accounting estimates.
HIII.6 The balance sheet proposed differs very slightly from the traditional
1957 type plan, and there are.only.a few minor changes. By comparisonwith the traditional system s valuation procedures are simplified with a- view to. adapting them to present techniques.. Bearing in mind modern
technical possibilities9 an attempt has been made to systematise the simplest way of thinking in order to avoid any redundancy in the data.
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IY<" The.prospects open fro -the UDEAC Department;of Statistics through
■" the establishment of the Accounting Plan
The Accounting Plan should result in coherent statistical processing, IV.l With the use of the Accounting Plan in the automatic- processing
of new accounting documents which have "become mandatory, the traditional 'type"of balances of national accounts will be possible. An appropriate
programme will suffice to ensure approved accounts such as "production account", ."operating account", "appropriation account", "capital account", reconciliation, and "financial .accounts".. ' ; ■"■'''""
1V.2 "One of the immediate applications of automatic processing should
"be the drawing up and'yearly up-datihg of the traditional tables of national accounts. The table of inter-industry transactions and sector accounts will be based on a preliminary inventory of all the magnitude
which result (or should result) from the automatic processing of current
economic data! foreign trade, government consumption, etc.
IV»3 To bring this work to a satisfactory close, UDEAC.statisticians should concern themselves with the processing of economic data. They will endeavour to participate in the mechanisation of public accounts., which they will adopt as to produce consolidated economic data. Modern techniques in public administration are moving in the same direction, but they will be satisfactory only if introduced by specialised
statisticians.
IV.4 Integrated processing calls for common nomenclatures for the various economic transactors. Let us, for instance, consider the enterprise in respect of which observation should in future make it possible to determine intermediate consumption. Experience has shown t&at in general enterprises provide detailed breakdowns of their major items of intermediate consumption. Only a relatively small amount of "overhead charges" is not subject to a breakdown. A statistician must conoern.himself with nomenclatures for the regrouping to be established according to the transactor's needs and possibilities.
The same information will probably be useful to the economist. One May therefore admit an aggregate item permitting analysis. A similar course will be followed in classifying enterprises. An analysis of their production will serve as a basis for a classification by and for the establishment of sector accounts, which naturally lead to a two-way classification of outputs by industry and commodity.
The final sector table is set up by adding the dat successively received.
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TV.5 "In "constructing'an.- infer-industry 'table, 'it Ts he"ce;ssary in the first place "'to "'"define1 the branches'in"'a practical manner, according to the actual situation observed locally. The existence of an integrated enterprise hardly.ever justifies its division.into branches. The
branch-product relation poses further problems even in this sphere. \ Automatic processing will for along time continue to give way to
traditional computing. This trend' should, however, continually recede. ; IV.6 The considered system should in time permit an evaluation of
industrial productions better than what can be done at present because of
the possibility of obtaining weights if' not in quantum, at.least in
terms of value for certain sectors. Thus,"the application of the rules
of^ the Accounting Plan leads to a better knowledge of production in Building and Public Works, because it establishes a coherent system for1 recording producer-client transactions.TABLE1 TABLEDPBALAVCX3BASICTO1UUUIBEEHI Debit AooountSo.OperationOtherthan operationOperation group07Otherthan operation Zo 81 61 62 4 65 66 67 68 82 a* as. 85
Calculationofgrossmargin Stocksold Balance!grossmargin Calculationofvalueadded im'tHMEDIATECOISDHFTIOH Kanmaterials&seni-finishedgoods IransportB Otharsservice* Valueadded Calculationofoperatingandotherresults Expanse*orvariouslosses Personnel Dutiesandtaxes Interest Appropriationfordepreciationandotherfunds Creditbalance!Resultfroaoperation Creditbalance!Otharremit Calculationofreoeiiitsfronsalesofagnate Originalvalueoftransfer«d•lmentsofassets Additionalexpensesfroatransfer CreditBalanoeisurplusfromtransfer Calonlationofnetoutcometoafogetax Operatingoutooae(lass) Otheroutooae(loss) fieprealationfronsal* BalancesiSetresult(beforetax)tprofit Calculation Provisionaloolleotlons(orflsaalninlsus) Balanoeovad Calculationofnetoutcomefortheperiod Taxonprofit Balaao*■letprofit
71 72 73 80 §L. 82
Calculationof(awedjwtrein Salesof|good* Caaoulationofvalueadded .Outputaold atookorontput .Worksdonebytheanterpriaetoeowneooount .arpanae*tobeinobilisedortransfered osossUHan Calculationofoparatingaadotherrasults TALOEADDED ProfitorBisoellaneouapxooaads SubvantioBs;ofoperation Interactanddividends BecoverieBfroadebtredemptionandseouritieB DebitbslanoeiHesultfrosoperation DebitbalancetOtherresult CalculationofreoeintafromBalesofacBeta Saleprioe(orooupemMtion) Sepreaistionofassetssold Debitbalances■DEPRBCIATIObPBOHTBAXSlm CalculationofnetreHuItbeforetax Operatingresult(profit} Otterresult(profit) Valuea3dedfromtransfer Betresult(beforetaz)iloaa Calculationoftaxonresult ExoeBBpaid BalanoBitaxonresult Calculationofnetresultoftheperiod
Profit Debit
balance*iHotresult(loss)
1, TABLE2 BALAHDS807PATBMGHIAl,ACCQDBT3 B
S 3E s B B fc 34 36 44 B aE |
So.of aooount 20 21 22 23 30 31 33
ana35 and37 38 24 25 26. 40 41 et45 ***\42) 43{ .46)
50 52 54 55 56 57 58 ■■■''■&
ITEMS Intangibleaaaetsandfixedvalues FIXEDASSETS Land Otherfixedassets Otherfixedassetsinprogress STOWS Goods Materialsand.supplies Panting Semi-finishedandfinishedproducts Workinprogressandproductionin progreaa Foodsunderconsi&nmsnt OTHSRFIXEDASSMB Advancesendpayaantsforvertin progress... Loans&credits*long&mediumtera Securities(otherthanshorttera) VALUESRECBIVAflTM-;SHORTKBW Advancesandpayments.to.Huppj.MS -Clients(underoneyear) Partnersandalliedcompanies (debitaccounta) Otherdebtors Shorttermbills Shorttermloans BillsAwarrantsreceivable ■LKlUIDASSETS Cheques&oaehableooupons Bank4postalorders Caoh Aaoountsfromdepartmentsof advenoes&credits.. EegularlBBtionAoooantaofflon ofIdninlstration—debitbalano* Totals
teblt jalEooesat Ltbeginniag afDBSied Balanoee' fonrard X ^
PatrimonialmOTenentaxitbin period_ ErternalPlonointerns. InoreaseeDecrease 1
+or- from one aocount to another 0'
'Debit .balances "at
endo nerlod Balanoe icarried fonrard a
~ 5 7 3 g 1
ffo.of aooemi 87 68 10 11 1? 14 16 17 40 41 44 42,43,46 j | j t I i
51 53 56 47
iras 5etreaulta -oftw>period(toseteslde.) -Appropriationofthenetresultof thepreaeadlngperiod morticationeAuroiri£ions Provisionforrisksandcharges Provisionfordepreciation CAPITALAMIRESESV2S Uapital Reaerves Balancetonextaooounta Capitalgrants LOBQMBmem™TEBMDEBT Loans-Sonde Otherloansanddebts,longterm Lndsbadluatera ROBTT£BUHEFTS Supplies(lessthanoneyeax) lientav-^dvanoesandidovnpayaents reoeiveda axtnersAalliedCompanies (oreditaooounts) theroredltors ihorttermloans ills&warrantspayable anks-idTanoBHreceivedofless banDOSyear(oreditbalano«») egularleationaaoountsoffloic fadministration.-oredit balance. fotala Credit balanoaa
a
beginnine of oariod Balanoes brought forvard
Patrimonialaoveoentsvitb period Externalflon Deoreaae Profit
Inoreas Loss T
interns fit™ *or- from one aocount *°.
Credit atendof tieriod Balance carried forward ProfitorLoss Z
SB
8 3 C
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