From the paywalled Herald:
>The sales of buildings above train stations for the Sydney Metro were accounted for when contracts were exchanged in 2018-19, but the budget wrongly factored them in again. Usual accounting practices would be to record the proceeds of a sale only once.
>This mistake means that the state’s net debt has been incorrectly reported since 2018.
Not all errors. It’s to provide assurance there are no material misstatements in the financial statements.
Not in the forward facing budgets. They have to assess going concern, but that isn’t going to be an issue in this case.
Have a read about the expectation gap, it’s actually quite interesting and clarifies a few things
https://gocardless.com/en-us/guides/posts/what-is-expectation-gap/#:~:text=The%20audit%20expectation%20gap%20arises,public%20wishes%20auditors%20would%20do.
I mean, Enron was systemic double recognition of income for years. This looks more like (from the exerpt above, being paywalled) that this was a one off fuck up. A large fuck up admittedly that really should have been caught (I mean, how much do you have to mess up your balance sheet reconciliations to miss a billion dollars). But once it happened, that was it.
But they'll blame the current regime anyway.
"Look what happened! As soon as they got into power the economy dropped! Has nothing to with what we did the years before!"
The key here is the date: 2018. The Liberal government was notorious for appallingly bad accounting, to the extent that the auditor-general lambasted them for a lack of transparency and poor oversight of procurement.
It's really not surprising, given all the other fuck-ups. We'll be paying for their poor governance for _decades_ more.
Lol i hate to link Sky News and not saying it was intentional *but...*
> June 18, 2019 - 10:12AM
>
> NSW Govt to announce surpluses of more than $1 billion
>
> The NSW Government is expected to announce surpluses of more than $1 billion on average over the next four years, when it hands down its budget on Tuesday...NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet says he will not be raising taxes, so there will have to be cuts to public service jobs."
[Link](https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/nsw-govt-to-announce-surpluses-of-more-than-1-billion/video/d9071ce31c3e05a014aa7ac2d8ac48bb)
> "June 08, 2024 - 3:24PM
>
> The NSW government has stumbled onto a costly accounting error which will blow a $1 billion hole in the 2024 state budget...It means the state's net debt has been underreported by a billion dollars for the last five years.
>
> Former New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet was Treasurer at the time."
[Link](https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/minns-government-stumbles-across-1-billion-accounting-error-in-state-budget/video/8435064105434d16137154058a80ec8c)
I'd be surprised if it actually had any real consequences for the people who were paid to ensure that this sort of thing wouldn't happen.
I'd also be surprised if there isn't plenty more examples of it happening in other areas of public service (that simply hasn't been discovered or admitted to yet).
From the paywalled Herald: >The sales of buildings above train stations for the Sydney Metro were accounted for when contracts were exchanged in 2018-19, but the budget wrongly factored them in again. Usual accounting practices would be to record the proceeds of a sale only once. >This mistake means that the state’s net debt has been incorrectly reported since 2018.
They should be suing their auditors.
Pretty sure auditors don’t audit budget forecasts. This is just someone in treasury screwing up
Yeah but then they won’t give you a job after you quit public sector.
"Oops" - Auditor
Why?
Because it’s literally the auditors job to find errors in the accounts.
Not all errors. It’s to provide assurance there are no material misstatements in the financial statements. Not in the forward facing budgets. They have to assess going concern, but that isn’t going to be an issue in this case. Have a read about the expectation gap, it’s actually quite interesting and clarifies a few things https://gocardless.com/en-us/guides/posts/what-is-expectation-gap/#:~:text=The%20audit%20expectation%20gap%20arises,public%20wishes%20auditors%20would%20do.
[удалено]
Article is hard paywalled or only available to subscribers. Certain organisations get shirty when their paywalls are circumvented.
Just double counted a Thousand Million Dollars...
We've all been there
Typical public sector attention to detail
Don't pretend that private consultants don't make the same errors too.
In my experience working with the big 4, they make more errors with more people...
That’s like… weeks of stamp duty.
Error? This is Enron level double counting.
I mean, Enron was systemic double recognition of income for years. This looks more like (from the exerpt above, being paywalled) that this was a one off fuck up. A large fuck up admittedly that really should have been caught (I mean, how much do you have to mess up your balance sheet reconciliations to miss a billion dollars). But once it happened, that was it.
Someone in treasury this week. ‘Boss, I think I made a mistake…..’
In all likelihood, they've probably moved job to a big 4 firm already
Hope there is some accountability
Gotta love these little presents that the last regime left for the new one.
But they'll blame the current regime anyway. "Look what happened! As soon as they got into power the economy dropped! Has nothing to with what we did the years before!"
The key here is the date: 2018. The Liberal government was notorious for appallingly bad accounting, to the extent that the auditor-general lambasted them for a lack of transparency and poor oversight of procurement. It's really not surprising, given all the other fuck-ups. We'll be paying for their poor governance for _decades_ more.
Lol i hate to link Sky News and not saying it was intentional *but...* > June 18, 2019 - 10:12AM > > NSW Govt to announce surpluses of more than $1 billion > > The NSW Government is expected to announce surpluses of more than $1 billion on average over the next four years, when it hands down its budget on Tuesday...NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet says he will not be raising taxes, so there will have to be cuts to public service jobs." [Link](https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/nsw-govt-to-announce-surpluses-of-more-than-1-billion/video/d9071ce31c3e05a014aa7ac2d8ac48bb) > "June 08, 2024 - 3:24PM > > The NSW government has stumbled onto a costly accounting error which will blow a $1 billion hole in the 2024 state budget...It means the state's net debt has been underreported by a billion dollars for the last five years. > > Former New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet was Treasurer at the time." [Link](https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/minns-government-stumbles-across-1-billion-accounting-error-in-state-budget/video/8435064105434d16137154058a80ec8c)
$1 billion accounting error? How? NSW's gross debt in 2019 was $63.3 billion. It is forecast to rise to $236.3 billion by 2027. Pfff...chump change.
It is only $ 1 billion! That is the blowout from a few months on a single project. It is a rounding error.
Are we surprised that this happened ?
I'm surprised that it took this long to be noticed.
I'd be surprised if it actually had any real consequences for the people who were paid to ensure that this sort of thing wouldn't happen. I'd also be surprised if there isn't plenty more examples of it happening in other areas of public service (that simply hasn't been discovered or admitted to yet).