CURRENT ISSUES IN EXTERNAL ACCOUNTING OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES IN WEST GERMANY

The performance of private enterprises (profit/loss) can only be judged by the results of executed plans. As no single measure of performance can be computed for public authorities, decisions on the budget are central to their activities. Budget disclosure is crucial, whereas the public monitoring of its execution is peripheral. Depreciation charges in the public sector do not represent the same kind of loss of value as in the private one, and the meaning of the item equity is different, too. The sectoral accounting of the Bundesbahn is set up according to the criteria ‘range of production’ and ‘responsibility’ as opposed to the traditional divisional accounting of public enterprises. This leads to a fictitious profit in the so called commercial sector of the Bundesbahn.