People carried out economic activities aimed at satisfying their needs (both of individual, families, and natural institutions) and organizing communities (sociopolitical institutions). While in the past needs satisfaction was mainly based on breeding, hunting, fishing, agriculture and, later on, on commerce (exchange of goods), after the industrial revolution a new institution appeared and developed: the enterprise, which goal is to leverage the capability of people to satisfy their needs. Using scientific, technological, organizational knowledge, enterprise activities combine limited resources to produce goods and services with a higher and higher usefulness that are sold to individuals and families (for private consumption), and to public administration (for public consumption). So it can be said that a third type of institution was added in the economic chain. Modern accounting systems are defined financial because the transfers of goods and services among institutions generate money inflows or outflows that are an objective measure of the economic value both for the seller and the purchaser (in market exchange or transaction) or both for public administration and tax payer from one hand, and donation and charity grant recipient and giver on the other hand (in non market exchange or transaction) . They have fourfold functions:
•To generate “evidence” on the economic effect of the administration (the perspective of evidence based financial management);•To assess the “quality” of the administration (financial reporting system);•To provide “a set of information” useful for good administration in the future (planning, programming, budgeting system);•To support “managerial responsibility systems” (management control and performance management).
The book offers to the reader a fairly broad perspective of the financial management issue in the public sector and is one of the rare attempt of researcher and scholars who want to contribute to the international scientific debate maintaining their own roots, the “Economia Aziendale” perspective.
