The PULSAR program hosted a joint Smart Interactive Talk (SIT) of Financial Reporting (FinCoP) and Education (EduCoP) Communities of Practice.

The webinar “Financial Reporting and Consolidation in times of COVID-19” was held online via KUDO Platform, on July 7, 2020, 8:00 am - 9:00 am EST.

Governments must lead response to pandemic through policy, coordination, funding and implementation, requiring fast and agile action. At the same time, governments themselves are negatively impacted, as social distancing: (i) prevents them from working as usual; (ii) requires new processes and technologies to continue essential business operations and provision of basic public services. There is also a need to balance responsiveness with accountability.

In this context, timely preparation of interim and annual financial statements and their consolidation is one of the basic elements of sound financial management, which is also critical for ensuring proper levels of transparency and accountability, especially, in times of uncertainty like now.

The main objective of this virtual workshop was to:

1. Discuss good international practices of preparation and consolidation of financial statements in times of emergencies, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
2. Showcase experience of 2 PULSAR member countries - Croatia and Ukraine.