Good data, better decisions: new guidance for government reporting
This UK’s National Audit Office (NAO), in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), recently published new guidance on how governments can harness financial reporting data for more effective decision making.
The guidance highlights the growing need for near real-time, high-quality, and digital disclosures in the public sector, and takes aim at the chronic underinvestment in reporting infrastructure across UK central government.
Outdated systems and manual workarounds make it harder to respond to fiscal shocks, allocate resources, or track the effectiveness of public spending. But the solution isn’t just more reports – it’s better reports. That means modern, interoperable systems that generate useful, timely information; not just for auditors, but for strategic decision-makers too.
One important aspect not sufficiently addressed is the role of structured, digital information in making public data more actionable. Digital information is more efficient and powerful. Structured data can be analysed, audited, and integrated into AI-driven workflows. From fraud detection to performance benchmarking, the ability to extract insights from machine-readable reports can significantly raise the bar for public financial management.
For governments under pressure to do more with less, strong reporting isn’t just about compliance, it’s about capability. Good quality data, effective reporting, and data that is usable, digital, and sharable across departments can support better decision making.
Explore the full guidance and ICAEW’s perspective here.
