Public Sector Accounting (PSA)

Public Sector Accounting (PSA) is a key enabler for good governance and economic growth. Financial information is of critical importance for both accountability and decision-making purposes, in particular when it comes to investment in public infrastructure. According to the International Monetary Fund, governments, which use high quality accrual basis accounting information, are economically more successful than those merely considering budget execution.

Building on the success of the previous event on May 19, this SIT continued the discussion by exploring additional international models for Public Sector Accounting education and reviewing the local and regional approaches to promoting accounting education in the Public Sector from PAOs prospective. During the session, members had the opportunity to learn from one country outside of the region (Zambia) as well as two PULSAR countries (Albania and Georgia) and compare these experiences to other relevant models in the CoP member countries.

A World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) Senior Officials’ Workshop took place in Vienna, Austria on November 29, 2022. It convened more than 140 high-level delegates of key CFRR programs, including senior government officials and policy makers from program countries, international development partners, professional and academic speakers, and experts from key international and European Union (EU) institutions.

The Public Sector Accounting and Reporting (PULSAR) Program held a joint workshop on December 1, 2022, for members of its Communities of Practice: on Financial Reporting (FinCoP) and Education (EduCoP). The EduCop was also joined by the members of The Strengthening Auditing and Reporting in Countries of the Eastern Partnership (STAREP) Program. The workshop was organized by the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) as part of events marking 15 years of CFRR activities.

The main objectives of the event were:

1. Introduce the members of both assessment team (Armenia and Ukraine).
2. Provide general and more specific information useful for the PULSE assessment process.

The workshop was hosted by the Georgian MOF. The event was attended by 96 participants from 12 countries, including 11 PULSAR beneficiary countries (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine), and Kazakhstan.

Consolidation is one of the essential and, at the same time, challenging processes in terms of implementation of PSA reforms. IPSAS 35 “Consolidated Financial Statements” provides specific guidance on consolidation, which uses an economic perspective that is based on the concept of control. However, the consolidation in public sector possess is particularly challenging given its complex organization and wide range of decentralized and subnational entities, including State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which, often use different accounting framework.

Based on the list of priority topics discussed in the previous events, the main topics during this ninth workshop were: (i) link between Public Asset Management (PAM), Public Investment Management (PIM), and PSA; (ii) IPSASB news and recent developments; (iii) role of internal and external auditors to support PSA reforms; (iv) sustainability reporting in public sector.