Accountancy in Central Government: The Work of the Accountancy Services Division of the Department of Industry

The recently announced appointment of Mr. Kenneth Sharp as head of the Government Accountancy Service and Accountant Adviser to the Department of Industry may have brought to some people's notice a fact of which few in the accountancy profession seem to be aware, namely that there are in central government a not inconsiderable number of qualified accountants performing functions similar to those performed by practising accountants in the profession. Much of the work which they do brings them into contact with their professional colleagues outside the Civil Service and some description of the work of one of the larger groups of qualified accountants in central government may therefore be of some interest to industrialists and their financial advisers.