A lack of strategies, a jungle of brands and insufficient financial control were the main points of criticism that the State Audit Office (LRH) mentioned four years ago and suggested suitable solutions. In some areas, these have now been implemented well, according to the evaluation report presented on Monday.
“Ländle-Metzg” brand was misleading
Ländle-Qualität-Marketing GmbH (LQM) in particular was heavily criticized in the last test report, among other things because of the “Ländle-Metzg” brand, which was rated as misleading because not all of its meat came from Vorarlberg, but only selected varieties.
Product certifications for meat
In the meantime there has been a reaction, says Brigitte Eggler-Bargehr, Director of the Court of Auditors: “This brand no longer exists. Instead, there are now product certifications for certain types of meat: Ländle veal, Ländle beef, Ländle pork, for example. ”The consumer now has clarity as to where the meat comes from.
Funding would have to be controlled
Although many recommendations have been implemented, the LRH still sees potential for improvement. The company is strongly supported by the state of Vorarlberg and has been able to increase its equity capital significantly in recent years. Now you should check the amount of the subsidies, says Eggler-Bargehr: “I believe that if you check subsidies carefully, then that’s the easiest way to save.”
Because grants are awarded for certain tasks or services, i.e. they have a certain purpose. But over-funding must be avoided, says Eggler-Bargehr: “To do this, it is also the responsibility of the sponsor to check whether this purpose has actually been fulfilled.”
Uniform accounting introduced
The bottom line is that the LRH report is significantly better than last time. Also at the Chamber of Agriculture – especially when it comes to bookkeeping: “At the end of last year, we received initial information that all units were accounted for using the same booking system, namely double bookkeeping, that is, as in the corporate division.” This is an important step so that they can be offset against each other at least in the same way, says Eggler-Bargehr.
Required for 20 years: cost accounting
Nevertheless, according to the evaluation report by the State Audit Office, there is still a lot to do. The implementation of cost accounting, for example, which is important for information, planning and control of costs and revenues, is still missing. The demand for it has been around for almost 20 years.
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