Assurance of Quality of German National Accounts by Management The Organization Structure of German National Accounts Main Features of the Quality Management in German National Accounts The Integration of Quality Assurance Procedures into the Workflow

1. Organization Structure of German National Accounts National and Environmental Accounts, Labour market Division A Domestic Product, Production and Expenditure Division B National Income, General Government, External Economic Transactions Division C Input-Output- Accounts, National Wealth Accounts Division D Labour market Division E Environment- Economic Accounting A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 B2 A2 C2 D2 E2 B3 A3 C3 D3 E3 B4 A4 C4 E4 B5 A5 B6 B7 08. – 09.12.2009

2. Main Features of the Quality Management in German National Accounts Detailed time schedule - Internal delivery dates - Accounting deadlines - Balancing deadlines - Publication dates Application of internal sources - Close and mostly longstanding contacts between national accountants and the employees of specialized statistics - Discussions held with working parties on special statistics - No formal service level agreements - Specialized statistics are subject to quality control 08. – 09.12.2009

… Main Features of the Quality Management in German National Accounts Application of external sources - Data supply based on regulations or on gentlemen's agreements - Application of released data - Records of all (internal and external) sources, integrated into the calculations - Critical delays are discussed at management level Special section is responsible for the supervision of internal deadlines 08. – 09.12.2009

… Main Features of the Quality Management in German National Accounts Quality checks during the compilation process - Constant direct contact between the employees, responsible for particular accounting areas - Ad-hoc meetings at the working level - Source data are checked for plausibility - Discussions with other subject units/divisions 08. – 09.12.2009

… Main Features of the Quality Management in German National Accounts Additional procedures of quality assurance - Quality checks by means of sector accounts - Quality check on productivity and cross-sectional checks of national accounts and employment accounts - Cross check of GDP-figures found on the production and expenditure side and the SUT - Analysis of published figures over time - Feedback with the central bank - Feedback with important users of national accounts data 08. – 09.12.2009

3. Quality Assurance Procedures integrated into the Workflow The aim: Set a more formal framework of quality assurance procedures Prevent shortcomings in quality already during the compilation process Implement appropriate corrective actions in order to reduce the impact of errors on the further calculation process Improve the documentation of quality assurance procedures 08. – 09.12.2009

… Quality Assurance Procedures integrated into the Workflow The basic idea: The compilation of a NA aggregate or a certain component of an aggregate can be subdivided into processing steps: Collecting of data of all suitable surveys of economic statistics Data processing Presentation of the results Each processing step can be split into processing elements: Start date – Trigger – Supplier – Input – Execution – Output – Client - End 08. – 09.12.2009

Example - Description of the Processing Elements Responsible: Sub-process: Process. step: Compilation of the Rest of the World Account III B1 Calculation of Exports of Goods (P.61), quarterly data Collecting of data Supplier Start date Trigger Input Execution Output Client End (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) Central Bank (Deutsche Bundesbank) Time schedule, sent to the central bank Written request to the central bank, asking for the quarterly transmission of BoP data Tables with additions and deductions Data transmission by email Working table as a hardcopy IIIB1: Processing of exports of goods; IIIB1: Process.of non-life insurance claims (RoW); IIIA2: Process. of travel expenses (RoW); IIIB4: Transfers of General Govn. (RoW); IIIC4: Process. of services (RoW) Startdate + 0 days Foreign Trade Statistics of the Federal Statistical Office Monthly data on special trade at t+42 days Automatic data supply as soon as the monthly external trade statistics are completed Data on exports in special trade IIIB1: Processing of exports of goods 08. – 09.12.2009

Quality Assurance Procedures related to Processing Elements Responsible: Sub-process: Process. step: Compilation of the Rest of the World Account III B1 Calculation of Exports of Goods (P.61), quarterly data Collecting of data (P = Precaution Measures, C = Corrective Actions) Supplier Start date Trigger Input Execution Output Client End (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) P: Fixing a delivery schedule in good time P: Schedule Review P: Contacting the supplier by telephone P: Completeness check of the requested data P: Plausibility check of the delivered data P: Completeness check of the working tables P. Information to the client if a delay is to be expected C: Request for data transmission in case of a missed deadline C: Additional demand for missing data C. Manual correction; Experts‘ estimates in case of missing data P: Contacting the supplier by telephone at t+42 days C: Request for provisional figures 08. – 09.12.2009

… Quality Assurance Procedures integrated into the Workflow Splitting a process step into different elements makes it easier • to identify any needs for preventive actions • to implement corrective actions • to document the execution of the processing elements Θ Implementation of quality assurance procedures integrated into the workflow is demanding and extremely time consuming 08. – 09.12.2009

Summary Quality management of German national account has proved to be efficient and reliable Further improvements of the quality management, in particular a better and more standardized documentation would be useful Reasonable cost-benefit ratio is absolutely essential 08. – 09.12.2009