General Outlines of the System of Accounts

Article 15. The general outlines of the system of accounts of the Central and State
Governments, briefly stated, are as follows :—
(a) All receipts in India on behalf of the Central and State Governments are paid
into a Treasury or the Bank. Except as provided in clause (b) below, the initial accounts
of such receipts are maintained at the Treasury

(b) Receipts realized in the Railway, Defence, Posts and Telegraphs, Public
Works, Forest and any other departments which may be authorized in this behalf are paid
into a Treasury or the Bank in lump and are accounted for at the Treasury merely as
receipts on behalf of such departments. The detailed accounts of such receipts are kept by
the departmental officers concerned.

(c) Payments in India on behalf of the Central and State Governments are
ordinarily made either at a Treasury or the Bank; some department’s officers are,
however, authorized to withdraw sums in lump from a Treasury or the Bank for making
payments. In the former case, the initial accounts of payments are kept at the Treasury. In
the latter case, such accounts are maintained by the departmental officer concerned;
The accounts referred to in this clause do not relate to the accounts maintained by
Government Servant in respect of expenditure incurred from permanent advances.

(d) At the beginning of each month each Accountant-General receives from the
Treasuries under his jurisdiction monthly accounts supported by the requisite schedules,
vouchers, etc., in respect of the transactions which took place in the Treasury during the
previous month. All State and those Central Treasuries, which render accounts to State
Accountants-General, submit a double set of accounts, one for transactions of the State
Governments and the other for transactions of the Central Government. Central
Treasuries, which render accounts to the Accountant-General, Central Revenues, furnish
however only a single account, in which any transactions on behalf of State Governments
are accounted for under the appropriate Remittance head pending adjustment against the
balances of the State concerned.

(e) Officers of the Civil Departments who pay their receipts into the Consolidated
Fund or the Public Account or withdraw moneys for expenditure there from or from the
Contingency Fund in lump, submit detailed any accounts of their transactions to the
respective Account Officers. Some Departmental Officers are required to render to the
Account officer compiled accounts with suitable abstracts of their transactions classified
under prescribed heads of accounts

(f) From the accounts furnished by Treasuries and Civil Departmental Officers,
departmental classified abstracts are compiled by the Civil Account Officers showing the
monthly receipts and payments pertaining to each department for the whole account
circle classified under the relevant major, minor and detailed heads. Separate classified
abstracts are maintained for each department, each group of small departments or each
major head or group of major heads of account not relating to any particular department
or departments according to local convenience. This transaction is adjustable against a
department or against a major head not relating to any particular department which are
intimated to the Civil Account Officer by another Account Officer as well as all book
adjustments against a departmental or other major head which are initiated in the Account
Office itself are also incorporated in the relevant Departmental Classified Abstracts so
that the latter may include monthly all transactions of whatever nature connected with the
receipts and payments pertaining to each department or major head of account. From
these classified abstracts, separate Departmental Consolidated Abstracts showing the
progressive totals month by month under major/minor and detailed heads of revenue
receipts and service payments are compiled. Separate Consolidated Abstracts are
maintained for each department or major head of account or for a group of departments
or major heads of account as may be found convenient.

The Departmental Classified Abstracts and the Departmental Consolidated
Abstracts for the Central Departments are compiled separately from those for
Departments of the State Government.

(g) The transactions relating to Debt and Remittances heads appearing in the
Treasury Cash Accounts and lists of payments, and in the Departmental and other
Abstracts are collected for the whole circle of account under each head of account from
month to month in a Detail Book. From the figures in the Detail Book, the Consolidated
Abstract of Debt and Remittance transactions is prepared showing the progressive totals
month by month under each such major and detailed heads as may be found necessary.
Separate Detail Book and Consolidated Abstracts are compiled for Central and
State transactions.

(h) The final stage of compilation is the preparation of the Abstract of Major head
totals showing the receipts and disbursements by major heads during and to end of the
Departmental Consolidated Abstracts and the Consolidated Abstracts of Debt and
Remittance transactions. From these Consolidated Abstracts are also compiled the
monthly and the annual accounts of the Central and State Governments.
The cash balance of each Government in the books of the Accountants-General at
the close of the month will then be reconciled with the balances shown in the Cash
Accounts recorded by Treasury Officers and with the statements of closing balance
received from the Central Accounts Section of the Reserve Bank.

(i) Departmental officers of the Posts and Telegraphs and Railway Departments
submit accounts of their transaction to the respective Posts and Telegraphs and Railway
Account Officers. The Posts and Telegraphs and Railway Account Officers render their
monthly accounts to the Accountant-General, Posts and Telegraphs and the Railway
Board, respectively and the latter two consolidate the accounts of the entire transactions
of these two departments. The accounts of Defence Services as a whole are compiled by
the Controller-General of Defence Accounts on the basis of particulars of receipts and
disbursements furnished by the various Defence Account Officers.

(j) A copy of the monthly accounts of each State Government is submitted to it by
Accountant-General concerned. The Accountant-General, Central Revenues, received
from each Civil Account Office an abstract of the account of the transactions of the
Central Government compiled by it for each month and these accounts together with the
accounts for the month prepared in his office are consolidated into a single monthly
account for submission to the Central Government. The Accountant-General, Posts and
Telegraphs and the Railway Board submit the consolidated monthly accounts of their
respective departments separately to the Central Government.

(k) Each Civil Account Officer works out the progressive figures during the year
of the Central and State accounts of his circle. On closing the accounts for March (Final),
the Central and State accounts of each circle for transactions of the whole year are
submitted by each Civil Account Officer to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.

(l) The consolidated annual accounts of the Posts and Telegraphs, Railways and
Defence Services are submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor-General by the
Accountant-General, Posts and Telegraphs, the Railway Board and the Comptroller
General of Defence Accounts respectively.