Nazrul Islam Azad
Chief Accounts Officer
Ministry of Local Govt. Division,
LGRD & Co-operatives

Chief Accounts Officer’s (CAO) Office, Local Govt. Division, LGRD & Co-operatives Ministry under the administration of Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Bangladesh was established in 1985 by an Office Memorandum of Finance Division. CAO prepares Appropriation Accounts and Finance Accounts under the functional control of the CGA. CAO acts as the Financial Advisor of the Principal Accounting Officer (PAO) i.e. Secretary of Local Govt. Division in matters of accounts and financial issues. CAO assists PAO in the preparation of budget estimate and provides advice on expenditure control. Additionally CAO oversees the trend of expenditure and recommends PAO on financial discipline.

CAO Office Structure and Organogram
Up to January, 2016 the total manpower of this office is around 35. Chief Accounts Officer (CAO), Deputy Chief Accounts Officer (DCAO) and Asst. Chief Accounts Officer (ACAO) are from BCS (Audit & Accounts) Cadre. CAO is a Grade-5 (Equivalent Deputy Secretary) officer to the Govt. of Bangladesh.

Main Functions
According to the Citizen Charter Office of CAO undertakes the functions as below:

Pre-Audit functions:
w Settle pay, pension and other claims of persons/offices/agencies drawing money from her/his office within a reasonable time.
w Maintain GPF accounts of all subscribers and make advance/ final payment of GPF and issue Deposit Account Slip to all subscribers within 30 September.
w Fixation of pay of staffs and officers drawing pay from her/his office as per rule.

Management Team of CAO, Mininstry of Local Govt. Division, LGRD & Co-operatives.

Accounting Responsibilities:
w Incorporate monthly account in the next following month in central Integrated Budgeting and Accounting System (iBAS) within the schedule date specified by Controller General of Accounts.
w Rectify error detected in ministry account through Journal Entry.
w Reconcile with the departments drawing fund from own office.
w Draw Management Report from iBAS and discuss with PAO.
w Oversee the trend of collection of revenue and expenditure and advise PAO on financial discipline.
w Assist PAO in the preparation of budget estimate and provide him with advice on expenditure control.
w Liaise with CGA for collection of reports from the system.
w Prepare Annual Appropriation Account and obtain approval of PAO before sending it to CGA for onward transmission to Audit Office.

Administrative Functions:
w Impart training to the staff under her/him Settle audit observations against his office.
w Sanction rest & recreation leave and GPF advance to non-gazette staffs of his office.
w Prepare budget estimate and maintain record of accounts of his office.
w Supervise work, discipline and security of his office.

Glimpse of our Clients
Under this office there are 3 Grade-1 headed organizations and each of them are playing vital role in the development of the country. CAO is delivering huge service and rendering assistance to undertake various development ventures. Such as:

(1) Local Govt. Division, Ministry of LGRD & Co-Operatives
Around 115 officers of different level and 100 staffs are under pre-audit function of CAO/LGD. Additionally there are several development projects i.e. donor funded projects which receive lump sum and reconcile accounts with CAO. They are, Union Parishad Governance Project (UPGP), 2nd Local Governance Support Project (LGSP-2), and Urban Public Environmental Health Centre Development Program etc.
(2) Local Govt. Engineering Department (LGED)
One of the most influential and key department in Bangladesh; headed by Chief Engineer who has been upgraded to Grade-1 in 2015. LGED undertakes development works through projects which are mostly donor funded. The major donors are ADB and JICA.

Now on, LGED is carting about 123 development projects which contribute approximately 7% of the revenue budget of Bangladesh.

Under the pre-audit of CAO, there are around 1500 officers and staffs of LGED.

Every transaction of LGED has to be authorized by CAO. If the expenditure is executed in Dhaka Presidency then CAO directly pre-audits the claims. On the other hand if the execution area is outside Dhaka then CAO authorized the payment through transmitting Authority to the respective district/upazilla accounts offices.

(3) Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE)
Another Engineering department under the pre-audit function of this CAO office which is also Grade-1 headed govt. department. DPHE has cheque drawing authority to make payment to the service providers in different places of the country.

From this office Departmental Cheque is issued to respective Executive Engineer and the Departmental Accounts are prepared.

(4) City Corporations and Autonomous bodies
All city corporations receive grants-in-aid from Local Govt. Division. It is the responsibility of CAO to send authority to respective accounts office for further payments or Book Adjustment. In addition, CAO approves authority to WASA, Mosquito Control Office, grants to local govt. autonomous bodies and Anjuman-E-Mufidul Islam for burying dead people.

In-house Training Programs
For the improvement of skill and enrichment of knowledge CAO/LGD has been undertaking several in-house training programs since its inception. Resource persons from different offices with versatile wisdom and expertise are invited for lecture to the employees of the office.

Training comprises of IT, Public Procurement, Civil Works Pre-Auditing, Financial Rules, and Service Rules etc.
Relation Development
CAO/LGD arranges open seminar for discussion with the office Heads, Project Directors and other level of officers/staffs about service delivery at regular interval. In presence of CAO all officials interact lively to share their opinions and queries.

In addition, CAO/LGD has opened a webpage for service provider linked http://www.facebook.com/caolgd as well as e-mail addressed caolgdbd@gmail.com.

Complaint from any client is taken seriously and quick action executed by officers. Important Office Orders, Rules & Regulation and other related documents to settle financial dispute are right away uploaded in the facebook page. By this way CAO is contributing towards “Digital Bangladesh” movement.
Corporate Social Responsibility
CAO generously helps employees who need immediate treatment or medication. Every winter warm clothes are distributed to the people suffer from chilling cold. In time of floods or other natural disasters CAO helps poor people regarding pure water and sanitation.

Conclusion
The role of pre-audit is to ensure economy, effectiveness and efficiency in expenditure control. CAO/LGD keeps the maxim for proper operation. We feel proud that we have a chance to contribute in financial management of Bangladesh. We are committed to ensure service to our clients, regulate the pattern of expenditure and help govt. to alleviate poverty thus build a prosperous and happy country.