CONTROLLERSHIP AS A GOVERNANCE INSTRUMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Abstract

Controllership is considered a Corporate Governance instrument, to the extent that it can contribute to reduce information asymmetry ad conflicts of interest, deriving from agency problems between organizational owners and managers, by making available information that permit valuing the organization and the extent to which its goals are achieved. Disclosure and accountability are basic pillars of Corporate Governance as well as Controllership. The Public Sector Committee (PSC) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) developed a study on governance for the public context, considering that governance principles should be present in public entities, reflected in four dimensions, two of which related to control and to the availability of external reports (Federação Internacional dos Contadores [IFAC] (2001). The main goal in this research is to identify which information the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU) makes available on its website comply with the type and contents of IFAC recommendations for control and external reports, as governance dimensions in the public sector. Through a bibliographic and documentary research, it was verified that only information related to budgetary and financial reports comply with the type and contents recommended by IFAC. The research also revealed that information related to internal audit and annual Government accountability partially address the contents recommended by IFAC.