摘要：Understanding how the society’s resources are used for the Public Administration is very important in a democratic environment. Both society and public managers seek to analyze the cost-effectiveness of governmental actions. To ensure that public managers sought the best possible alternatives and not acted counter to the collective yearning, people need tools to monitor and evaluate government activities. In turn, public managers also need tools that help them make decisions that meet social demands and are among the best alternatives. Among other areas involved with this issue is the Cost Accounting. Its instruments and techniques can assist managers and society to evaluate the state performance. Due to the recent implementation of the Brazilian federal cost system, this research sought to comparatively analyze the main features of this system, having as parameters the recommendations made by IFAC (International Federation of Accountants). With this aim, we used a qualitative approach, an exploratory study being conducted with the use of the technique of comparative analysis. It was identified that, despite being in the initial phase, the Brazilian system follows many of the recommendations proposed by IFAC. However, the alignment of financial accounting information to international standards, the need for greater integration between the management systems and government allocation of direct costs are only relevant points that need to be improved in order to improve the quality of information produced by this system.
