ARUSHA, TANZANIA - The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) last year was the first winner of the 'Best Presented Financial Statements Awards' under Government Institutions Category by the National Board for Accountants and Auditors (NBAA).
The award was presented during the Accountants' Annual Dinner in Arusha. The NBAA introduced these Awards requiring entities to submit their financial statements to NBAA for evaluation to evaluate the standards of accounting in public firms.
Effective from July 2004, Tanzania adopted the International Accounting and Auditing Standards in order to expedite the level of compliance to these standards by entities in various sectors.
The aim of this exercise is to improve financial reporting across all sectors. In 2011, some 39 reporting entities submitted their financial statements for evaluation under eight categories including: Banking and Financial institutions, Manufacturing and Distribution, entities; Government Institutions, Pension and Provident Fund, entities; Insurance companies, entities; Utility (Water) Authorities, entities; Regulatory Agency and NGOs.
The financial statements for 2010 were evaluated in two stages namely preliminary and detailed stages. In preliminary stage financial statements were evaluated to check if they are for the year between January 2010 and December 2010, check audited financial statements with unqualified audit opinion, and if audited financial statements are being prepared as per the International Accounting Standards (International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) or International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs).
In order to win under Government Institutions Category, an entity has to score above 75% of the allocated points. TRA being the only entity which scored above the threshold of 75 becoming the only winner in this category.
The Award ceremony was graced by Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Gregory Teu.
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