Both can be useful. As with other parts of budgeting, whether it's accrual or cash, I'm not sure that there's necessarily a right answer. Sometimes looking at capital versus operating expenditures instead of looking at program areas can be useful. Looking at standard objects like salaries and benefits and utilities you pay for can be useful as well.
I believe that different ways of breaking down the same number can be extremely useful in trying to tease out what's actually happening. Different approaches can be useful in trying to answer basic questions about how government expenditures are changing over time and whether they're delivering the services they should be.