The implementation of COSO’S ICIF in Bulgaria’s municipal administrations

The paper overviews the implementation of COSO’s Internal Control – Integrated Framework (ICIF) model in Bulgaria’s municipal administrations. It presents the results of a study on the practice of developing and implementing Financial Management and Control Systems (FSMS). The aim of the study was to review objectively the actual status of Bulgarian municipalities’ FSMS and thus to identify some of their shortcomings and inconsistencies with the ICIF model. The results show that the legal framework for financial control in Bulgaria’s public sector organizations is appropriate to the elements and principles of the revised ICIF, but also that its practical implementation is inefficient due to the formal attitude towards the requirements and the lack of appropriate “tone at the top” in some organizations. A proposal is made for introduction of a certification regime for public sector organizations with regard to the implementation of FSMSs based on COSO’s ICIF