IPSAS Lessons Learned

Jesse Hughes, Professor Emeritus, Old Dominion University provided lessons learned on the adoption of IPSAS standards. He commented that people speak many languages around the world, but accounting is the language of management. He emphasized that we can't speak of improved public financial management without improving accounting system. "It is the glue that pulls everything together to see what the whole of government is doing."

Dr. Hughes sees IPSAS as one the strategies to improve public financial management. He also recommended that cash management should be separate from budgetary controls, that the Treasury Single Account (TSA) be used and Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) adopted by governments.

Dr. Hughes emphasized the need for improved education in public financial management. He described the benefits of accrual accounting in government. These benefits include:

• Better accountability and better decisions


• More meaningful understanding of costs for goods and services


• Basis for performance management

Dr. Hughes stated that if we get nothing else about accrual accounting, it ensures that you don't pass along your debt to children and grandchildren.

12 steps for transition to IPSAS was described by Dr. Hughes:

1. Develop organizational transition plan and coordinate with auditors


2. Train staff


3. Assess the information system changes required


4. Prepare Policy and Procedures Manual for approved IPSAS policies


5. Pilot test IPSAS policies and procedures in the new/upgraded information system


6. Prepare IPSAS-compliant opening and closing Statements of Financial Position.


7. Prepare proforma Statement of Financial Performance.


8. Prepare proforma Statement of Net Assets/Equity.


9. Prepare proforma Statement of Cash Flows


10. Prepare proforma Statement of Comparison of Budget to Actual Amounts


11. Prepare proforma IPSAS-complaint statements for controlled entities


12. Prepare proforma Consolidated Statements

Dr. Hughes suggests that IPSAS may tackle public private partnerships, fiscal sustainability and social security reporting standards. He showed the difference in size between the cash and accrual version of IPSAS.

Hughes implementing ipsas to improve public financial management

View more presentations from icgfmconference.

Hughes implementando las ipsas para mejorar la gestión de las finanzas publicas

View more presentations from icgfmconference.

Hughes implementing ipsas to improve public financial management

View more presentations from icgfmconference.

Project Management Perspective on the Adoption of Accrual-Based IPSAS

Caroline Aggestam considers the need to adopt a project management perspective with the adoption of accrual based IPSAS.
Moving from cash or modified accrual based accounting to full accrual accounting under International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) can be a challenging endeavor. Ensuring proper convergence to accrual based IPSAS entails not only a vast amount of work in the accounting arena of any given public sector entity or government but also often major changes in business processes and practices. By using a project management approach in adopting IPSAS an organization/government can make certain that, for example: the project gets necessary support from top management; a sound governance structure is put in place; communication and training plans are developed and managed; new accounting policies are written; and necessary alignment of business processes will take place in a timely manner.

Abstract
Moving from cash or modified accrual-based accounting to full accrual accounting under International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) can be a challenging endeavor. Ensuring proper convergence to accrual based IPSAS entails not only a vast amount of work in the accounting arena of any given public sector entity or government but also often major changes in business processes and practices. By using a project management approach in adopting IPSAS an organization/government can make certain that, for example: the project gets necessary support from top management; a sound governance structure is put in place; communication and training plans are developed and managed; new accounting policies are written; and necessary alignment of business processes will take place in a timely manner. Sound project management may facilitate cost-effective adoption of IPSAS and a broader strengthening of business practices across the implementing organization/government.

Aggestam a Project Management Perspective on the Adoption of Accrual Based IPSAS

A Prescriptive Model of the Transition to Accrual Accounting in Central Government

In the next paper Hassan A. G. Ouda returns to the issue of the introduction of accrual accounting. He describes a comprehensive model of the transition framework that aims at explaining the whole reform process including all relevant factors. The model takes into consideration the fact that the transition to accrual accounting is a major cultural, administrative and technical change and, in order to successfully be adopted, must take place in phases with a clear plan of progress established from the outset. However, the challenge of demonstrating the actual (as opposed to the assumed) benefits of moving to accrual accounting is not taken up in this paper.

A Prescriptive Model of the Transition to Accrual Accounting in Central Government

Investigating the Governmental Accounting Reform of Greek National Health System: Some Preliminary Evidence

Filippos Stamatiadis continues the debate over accrual accounting with a survey on its use in Greek hospitals. The results appear mixed as a fifth of the respondents said that they were not satisfied with the reform and the associated accrual based cost accounting system was implemented in less than a fifth of the hospitals.
Investigating Government Accounting Reform in the Greek National Health Service Some Preliminary Evidence

Norvald Monsen - Enterprise Cameralistics

Cameral accounting (CAM, see Monsen, 2008a) was developed for use in government organizations in the German speaking countries in continental Europe. It consists of two main versions, namely administrative cameralistics (ACAM, see Monsen, 2008b) and enter¬prise cameralistics (ECAM). The purpose of the latter version is to allow for reporting precisely the same type of information as the one reported within commercial accrual accounting. While the merchant’s double-entry bookkeeping method is used in com¬mercial accounting, a developed version of systematic single-entry bookkeeping is used in enterprise cameralistics. In this way, it is possible to continue to use cameral single-entry bookkeeping for all parts of a government organization, namely the single-entry bookkeeping method of administrative cameralistics (see Monsen, 2008b, for further details, including numerical examples) and the systematic single-entry bookkeeping method of enterprise cameralistics for government enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to explain the latter bookkeeping method to a non-German speaking audience.

Monsen - Enterprise Cameralistics

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business & Economics Research cameral accounting norvald monsen