September is the new December. Christmas festivities may be starting earlier than ever before, but local authorities are also having meetings with auditors to finalise accounts earlier than has been the case, until fairly recently. It is interesting to note that the system currently allows for the same time to prepare and approve a set of accounts as to audit them. Those discussions range from confrontational to conciliatory, from constructive to less so. One creeping, and disappointing trend I've noticed in the last couple of years is the number of financial directors who are ambivalent about a qualification of their authority's accounts. Reasons for this vary, but generally, it is because of the financial directors' inability to accede to what they consider to be unacceptable changes to the accounts caused by application of esoteric and irrelevant accounting standards. Debates like that help no-one, and require a change of mindset of all involved, including the audit authorities. While financial directors recognise the need for a consistent approach to accounting standards to ensure comparisons can be drawn within and outside of local government, that needs to be tempered by a recognition of local needs as well. It's time for the pendulum to swing a little the other way to a more liberal use of pragmatism and auditor discretion. n Gareth Moss is director of finance for Bridgend CBC
