Volumes of the public accounts

Each year, the government publishes two volumes of the public accounts. These documents provide information on its financial situation.

Volume 1 presents the results of the government’s activities and its financial situation. It includes the government’s consolidated financial statements, which indicate, among other things, its revenues, expenditures, annual results as well as its assets, liabilities and accumulated deficit. This volume also provides an analysis of these financial statements, in order to increase their usefulness and transparency.

Volume 1 – Consolidated Financial Statements of the Gouvernement of Québec (PDF 1.99 Mb)

Volume 2 presents the financial information on the Consolidated Revenue Fund. In particular, it compares expenditures incurred by government departments and budget-funded bodies with the appropriations authorized by Parliament. It also includes a comparison of the special funds’ expenditures with approved forecasts.

Volume 2 – Financial Information on the Consolidated Revenue Fund: General Fund and Special Funds (PDF 9.44 Mb)

This volume contains the consolidated financial statements of the Gouvernement du Québec for the period April 1 to March 31. It also includes an analysis of these consolidated financial statements.

Consolidated financial statements

The government’s consolidated financial statements consist of:

• the government’s statement of responsibility;
• the independent auditor’s report prepared by the Auditor General of Québec;
• the five consolidated financial statements:
  • consolidated statement of operations and accumulated operating deficit,
  • consolidated statement of financial position,
  • consolidated statement of change in net debt,
  • consolidated statement of remeasurement gains and losses,
  • consolidated statement of cash flow;
• accompanying notes and appendices.

They include the financial data of all entities making up the government (that is, the government’s reporting entity).

The consolidated financial statements make it possible to:

• compare actual amounts with those planned in the government’s original budget;
• direct decisions in various aspects of fiscal policy.

Analysis of the consolidated financial statements

The analysis that accompanies the consolidated financial statements:

• explains the differences in results for the current fiscal year compared to the original budget and the results of the previous year;
• reports on the application of the Balanced Budget Act;
• presents changes in indicators of the government’s financial situation;
• explains main trends over 10 years, including those relating to consolidated revenues and expenditures.

Overview of the government’s financial situation

None of the five financial statements alone provides all the information relevant to decision-making or to the analysis of the government’s financial situation. To get a clear picture of the government’s current financial situation, it is necessary to consider all the information contained in Volume 1 of the public accounts and their interrelationships.

This volume presents amounts spent from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and compares them with amounts authorized by Parliament.

Consolidated Revenue Fund

This fund is a tool for controlling and managing public funds. Parliamentary consent is required to withdraw sums from it. This consent is obtained after the passage of legislation.

The Consolidated Revenue Fund is divided into two categories: the general fund and the special funds.

General fund

The general fund is primarily composed of:

• government tax revenues;
• expenditures of government departments and budget-funded bodies.

Expenditures from the general fund are authorized by Parliament following the vote on appropriations. The term appropriations means the amount of expenditures and investments authorized for the implementation of government programs.

Special funds

Special funds are created by the passage of legislation. Each special fund shows the revenues collected and expenditures incurred for one or more specific services.

Expenditures from special funds are authorized by Parliament when it approves their annual forecasts.

Volume 2 reports

The government presents two reports in Volume 2:

• the report of excess expenditures and other costs over appropriations;
• the report of special funds’ excess expenditures and investments over approved amounts.

Report of excess expenditures and other costs over appropriations

This report concerns the general fund. It indicates whether the budget appropriations were sufficient to cover the expenditures incurred and other costs borne by government departments and budget-funded bodies.

If expenditures and other costs exceed the budget appropriations authorized for the year, the government departments and budget-funded bodies concerned must use the budget appropriations for the following year.

The budget appropriations for the following year must cover the expenditures for the coming year and the overruns of the previous year.

If the budget appropriations for the following year are not sufficient, additional appropriations must be voted.

Report of special funds’ excess expenditures and investments over approved amounts

This report indicates whether expenditures and investments from special funds exceed the approved amounts.

Any overrun of the special funds must be approved by Parliament.

Difference between expenditures in the two volumes

The total expenditures are not the same in Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the public accounts. This discrepancy is due to two reasons.

First, Volume 2 presents only expenditures authorized by Parliament. As for Volume 1, in addition to these expenditures, it also presents those of the following entities, which are approved by their own boards of directors:

• non-budget-funded bodies;
• facilities serving northern and Indigenous communities;
• organizations in the education network;
• organizations in the higher education networks.

Second, the consolidated financial statements of Volume 1 only show expenditures related to transactions with third parties outside the government, such as a private business or a taxpayer. In addition to these expenditures, Volume 2 includes those related to transactions with the various organizations that make up the government (for example, subsidies granted by a department to a government body). These expenditures are not shown in the consolidated financial statements of Volume 1 because the consolidation process eliminates internal government transactions.