All the education boards have been criticised

It said this contributed to a three year backlog in the accounts being officially accepted by parliament.

The report said there were too few accountants and criticised the boards' corporate plans as "deficient".

The Department of Education, which commissioned the report, is deciding if it will act on its 17 recommendations.

The report was carried out by the Helm Corporation after troubled times for the boards.

Two of the five boards have been in serious financial trouble.

Accountants

The Belfast and South Eastern boards were criticised in the Jack report earlier this year, after overspending by �30m.

Later, the government auditor's office criticised the accounting systems of all five boards.

The latest report said the delay in having the accounts being accepted by parliament was "extremely serious".

The report also said that the information given to board members about finance was "variable" and "sometimes inadequate".

The format of the accounts was said to be confusing.

Among the report's recommendations, it calls for standardisation and for more accountants to be recruited by finance departments.

The Department of Education said it was looking at the report before deciding what to do about the recommendations.