Control function of finance and its application in public financial management

Subject. The article investigates the essence of control function of finance, its implementation in the system of economic relations, and application in the public administration sector.
Objectives. The aim is to substantiate the thesis that it is necessary to develop theoretical approaches to the implementation of control function of finance to improve public administration in the Russian Federation.
Methods. I employ universal methods of scientific knowledge, like analysis, synthesis, generalization, abstraction, and methods of modeling, induction and deduction.
Results. The study indicates boundaries of the difference between audit and financial control, demonstrates options for using the opportunities provided by the control function of finance within the financial system of the Soviet Union and the financial system of a modern democratic federal State with a market economy. Using the case of the health care reform failure in the Russian Federation, I show a possible negative impact of the control function of finance, if incorrect approach to its implementation is applied.
Conclusions. At present, it is impossible to implement the opportunities provided by the control function of finance in public administration in the Russian Federation, as there are no approaches to formulating the financial result of activities of institutions rendering public services. Nevertheless, it is necessary to apply certain methods to select optimal management decisions, since measuring the performance of public institutions in physical terms is either very cumbersome or impossible. I suggest using the experience of the Soviet Union in the development of financial indicators of enterprise performance.