CHAPTER TWO

Other reporting standards

BESIDES IFRS THERE ARE MANY OTHER STANDARDS that have an important influence on business reporting. A selected portion of these standards are presented in this section, being those that have widespread usage. In particular:

• Public Sector Standards (IPSAS);
• statistics-focused standards;
• Standards of the International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC), being a standard setter that strictly focuses on valuation;
• Standards of the International Organization for Standardization (also commonly referred to as the ISO), being the largest standards organisation in the world, and that accumulates a significant amount of unit data and specifications.

2.1 INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING STANDARDS (IPSAS)

International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)

It is noteworthy that the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) plays a considerable role in relation to the accounting profession worldwide, as well as in relation to accounting standards for the private and public sectors. See www.ifac.org (Figure 2.1).

Note that this screenshot and the following text is an extract from the website of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and is used with permission of IFAC.

As per the related organisation overview, IFAC's mission is to serve the public interest by: contributing to the development, adoption and implementation of high-quality international standards and guidance; contributing to the development of strong professional accountancy organisations and accounting firms, and to high-quality practices by professional accountants; promoting the value of professional accountants worldwide; speaking out on public interest issues where the accountancy profession's expertise is most relevant.

Furthermore, IFAC's vision is that the global accountancy profession be recognised as a valued leader in the development of strong and sustainable organisations, financial markets and economies. In addition, as the global organisation for the accountancy profession, IFAC is committed to protecting the public interest by supporting the development of all sectors of the profession around the world.

Also, as per www.ifac.org/about-ifac/structure-governance, IFAC's structure and governance are designed to promote transparency, to facilitate collaboration with members and consultation with stakeholders, and to ensure the effective operations of the organisation. Founded in 1977, IFAC is a Swiss-registered association whose members are professional accountancy organisations. Still, ultimate governance of IFAC rests with the IFAC Council, which comprises one representative from each member. The Council meets once a year and is responsible for deciding constitutional and strategic matters and electing the board. As for overall direction and administration, this is provided by the IFAC Secretariat headquartered in New York. IFAC is staffed by accounting professionals from around the world.

In addition, as suggested in relation to its mission, IFAC contributes to high-quality international standards and guidance, helps build strong professional accountancy organisations and accounting firms, and supports high-quality practices by professional accountants – all necessary infrastructure for the effective functioning of the world's capital markets. Nevertheless, it must not be overlooked that IFAC speaks out on public interest issues where the accountancy profession's expertise is most relevant, and encourages accountability and transparency from governments around the world.

IFAC is comprised of 167 members and associates in 127 countries and jurisdictions, representing over 2.5 million accountants. IFAC strives to serve the public interest through the development of standards in the areas of accounting and reporting such as auditing, education, ethics, and public sector financial reporting; by advocating transparency and convergence in financial reporting; by providing best practice guidance for professional accountants employed in business; and by implementing a membership compliance programme.

As the global organisation for the accountancy profession, IFAC is committed to protecting the public interest by developing high-quality international standards, promoting strong ethical values, encouraging quality practice, and supporting the development of all sectors of the profession around the world. Thereby, one of the most important functions of the organisation is setting standards on auditing. This is done through the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). See www.ifac.org/auditing-assurance.

The IAASB functions as an independent standard-setting body under the auspices of IFAC. For that reason, the IAASB works to establish high-quality auditing, assurance, quality control and related services standards to improve the uniformity of practice by professional accountants throughout the world, thereby strengthening public confidence in the global auditing profession and serving the public interest.

International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB)

Introduction

It is in the aforementioned capacity of IFAC, wherein governmental financial integrity is promoted, and public interest is served, that we see the need for the sponsorship of professionalism and the setting of standards in the public sector. It is worth noting that most countries have public spending that amounts to a large proportion of gross domestic product (GDP).

Commonly, the magnitude of total government outlays can be as much as 60 per cent of GDP and, comfortably, in the region of 40 per cent. Some countries can have outlays well in excess of that level, which is common in developing nations. For related information as to trends in general government outlays, especially as a percentage of GDP, see Enhancing The Cost Effectiveness of Public Spending – Figure VI.1, page 3, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as is available at www.oecd.org/dataoecd/58/19/23466327.pdf.

Consider that this significant outlay by governments occurs without much in the way of transparency. Also, give thought to old fashioned reporting methods that can still be used in the public sector, as well as there being extensive lags before any reports are made available for the scrutiny of the general public. Of course, it must be admitted that valuation in the public sector is much more difficult when it comes to determining the value of infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, or natural resources, such as water reserves. Nevertheless, it is not much of a mental stretch to conclude that if entities in the public sector were to improve business reporting, especially if this was prepared in line with generally accepted reporting standards, then that should lead to tremendous savings, better decision making, as well as much increased cooperation with the private sector.

It is with those positive, and economically beneficial, possibilities in mind that standard setting in the public sector can be seen as being very necessary. This commendable endeavour is the particular responsibility of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) of IFAC, which focuses on the accounting, auditing and financial reporting needs of national, regional, and local governments, related governmental agencies, and the constituencies served by such public sector entities. Note that the following IPSASB text is an extract from the website of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and is used with permission of IFAC.

In effect, IPSASB is an independent standard-setting body within IFAC. Essentially, the IPSASB develops high-quality International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), guidance and resources for use by public sector entities around the world for preparation of general purpose financial statements. Since the standards are based on IAS and IFRS, it stands to reason that the IPSASB works closely with the IFRS Foundation on translations, as well as XBRL taxonomies. There is an objective to converge with IFRS, as is evident in the remainder of this section on IPSAS.

The IPSASB also issues and promotes benchmark guidance and facilitates the exchange of information among accountants and those who work in the public sector. See www.ifac.org/public-sector.

As an aside, in relation to IPSAS following IFRS, it was through the dedicated efforts of Kurt Ramin, one of the authors of this publication, and who worked at the IASB at the time, that a seminal agreement between IFAC and the IASB was signed. The result of that work is reflected in the strong link between IPSAS and IFRS. This is evident in the notice that appears at the start of all IPSAS, an example of which is shown in Figure 2.2.

Note that this screenshot and IPSAS text to follow is an extract from the website of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and is used with permission of IFAC.

It is particularly noteworthy that, in early 2012, the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) issued a public consultation on the assessment of suitability of IPSAS for the Member States of the EU. All citizens and organisations can participate in the consultation, although contributions from national governments, as well as national authorities and stakeholders, will be asked for directly. See gaap-ifrs.com/news/126306/.

The Preface

The Preface to IPSAS states that the IPSASB [formerly Public Sector Committee (PSC)] is a Board of IFAC that was formed to develop, and issue under its own authority, IPSAS. IPSAS are high-quality global financial reporting standards for application by public sector entities other than Government Business Enterprises (GBEs).

The IPSASB Consultative Group is appointed by the IPSASB. The Consultative Group is a non-voting group. It provides a means by which the IPSASB can consult with and seek advice as necessary from a broad constituent group. The Consultative Group is chaired by the Chair of the IPSASB. The Consultative Group is primarily an electronic forum. However, regional chapters of the Consultative Group meet with the IPSASB in conjunction with any IPSASB meetings in their region. All Consultative Group members are invited to these meetings. In addition, a full meeting of all members of the Consultative Group may be held if considered necessary.

The objectives of the IPSASB are to serve the public interest by developing high-quality public sector financial reporting standards and by facilitating the convergence of international and national standards, thereby enhancing the quality and uniformity of financial reporting throughout the world. The IPSASB achieves its objectives by:

• issuing IPSAS;
• promoting their acceptance and the international convergence to these standards;
• publishing other documents which provide guidance on issues and experiences in financial reporting in the public sector.

The IPSAS are the authoritative requirements established by the IPSASB. Apart from developing IPSAS, the IPSASB issues other non-authoritative publications including studies, research reports and occasional papers that deal with particular public sector financial reporting issues.

The IPSASB develops IPSAS which apply to the accrual basis of accounting and IPSAS which apply to the cash basis of accounting. IPSAS set out recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure requirements dealing with transactions and events in general purpose financial statements. The IPSAS are designed to apply to the general purpose financial statements of all public sector entities. Public sector entities include national governments, regional governments (for example, state, provincial, territorial), local governments (for example, city, town) and their component entities (for example, departments, agencies, boards, commissions), unless otherwise stated. The Standards do not apply to GBEs. GBEs apply IFRS which are issued by the International Government Business Enterprises.

Financial statements issued for users that are unable to demand financial information to meet their specific information needs are general purpose financial statements. Examples of such users are citizens, voters, their representatives and other members of the public. The term ‘financial statements' used in the standards covers all statements and explanatory material which are identified as being part of the general purpose financial statements.

When the accrual basis of accounting underlies the preparation of the financial statements, the financial statements will include the statement of financial position, the statement of financial performance, the cash flow statement and the statement of changes in net assets/equity. When the cash basis of accounting underlies the preparation of the financial statements, the primary financial statement is the statement of cash receipts and payments.

In addition to preparing general purpose financial statements, an entity may prepare financial statements for other parties (such as governing bodies, the legislature and other parties who perform an oversight function) who can demand financial statements tailored to meet their specific information needs. Such statements are referred to as special purpose financial statements. The IPSASB encourages the use of IPSAS in the preparation of special purpose financial statements where appropriate.

The IPSASB develops accrual IPSAS that:

• are converged with IFRS issued by the IASB by adapting them to a public sector context when appropriate. In undertaking that process, the IPSASB attempts, wherever possible, to maintain the accounting treatment and original text of the IFRS unless there is a significant public sector issue which warrants a departure;
• deal with public sector financial reporting issues that are either not comprehensively dealt with in existing IFRS or for which IFRS have not been developed by the IASB.

As many accrual-based IPSAS are based on IFRS, the IASB's ‘Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements' is a relevant reference for users of IPSAS. The IPSASB has also issued a comprehensive Cash Basis IPSAS that includes mandatory and encouraged disclosures sections.

The Cash Basis IPSAS encourages an entity to voluntarily disclose accrual-based information, although its core financial statements will nonetheless be prepared under the cash basis of accounting. An entity in the process of moving from cash accounting to accrual accounting may wish to include particular accrual-based disclosures during this process. The status (for example, audited or unaudited) and location of additional information (for example, in the notes to the financial statements or in a separate supplementary section of the financial report) will depend on the characteristics of the information (for example, reliability and completeness) and any legislation or regulations governing financial reporting within a jurisdiction.

The IPSASB also attempts to facilitate compliance with accrual-based IPSAS through the use of transitional provisions in certain standards. Where transitional provisions exist, they may allow an entity additional time to meet the full requirements of a specific accrual-based IPSAS or provide relief from certain requirements when initially applying an IPSAS. An entity may at any time elect to adopt the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with IPSAS. At this point, the entity shall apply all the accrual-based IPSAS and could choose to apply any transitional provisions in an individual accrual-based IPSAS.

Having decided to adopt accrual accounting in accordance with IPSAS, the transitional provisions would govern the length of time available to make the transition. On the expiry of the transitional provisions, the entity shall report in full in accordance with all accrual-based IPSAS.

IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements', includes the following requirement:

An entity whose financial statements comply with International Public Sector Accounting Standards should disclose that fact. Financial statements should not be described as complying with International Public Sector Accounting Standards unless they comply with all the requirements of each applicable International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

IPSAS 1 also requires disclosure of the extent to which the entity has applied any transitional provisions.

Within each jurisdiction, regulations may govern the issue of general purpose financial statements by public sector entities. These regulations may be in the form of statutory reporting requirements, financial reporting directives and instructions, and/or accounting standards promulgated by governments, regulatory bodies and/or professional accounting bodies in the jurisdiction concerned.

The IPSASB believes that the adoption of IPSAS, together with disclosure of compliance with them, will lead to a significant improvement in the quality of general purpose financial reporting by public sector entities. This, in turn, is likely to lead to better informed assessments of the resource allocation decisions made by governments, thereby increasing transparency and accountability.

The IPSASB acknowledges the right of governments and national standard setters to establish accounting standards and guidelines for financial reporting in their jurisdictions. Some sovereign governments and national standard setters have already developed accounting standards that apply to governments and public sector entities within their jurisdiction. IPSAS may assist such standard setters in the development of new standards or in the revision of existing standards in order to contribute to greater comparability. IPSAS are likely to be of considerable use to jurisdictions that have not yet developed accounting standards for governments and public sector entities. The IPSASB strongly encourages the adoption of IPSAS and the harmonisation of national requirements with IPSAS.

IPSAS Standards – summary and word count comparison

In relation to the aforementioned link between IPSAS and other standards, the following table shows standards that were developed, as per the related IFRS and IAS. A word count, for comparative purposes, is also provided. The overall size of the related publication of the IPSAS is well over 460,000 words, with the actual standards amounting to most of that, as summarised in Table 2.1. This not only helps to identify the size of standard, in terms of text, but also indicates the comparative importance, as well as the associated complexity.

TABLE 2.1 IPSAS summary.

For a short summary of IPSAS, see www.iasplus.com/en/binary/ifac/ipsasb/ipsassummary.pdf.

Contents of Table 2.1 are based on details available at www.ifac.org/publications-resources as well as at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

Note that the Institute for IPSAS is a private entity based in Bern, Switzerland. Its aim is to be a platform for public sector employees enabling the exchange of information and experiences relating to accounting and the submission of accounts in public bodies. Its main function is to run informative events and training courses on IPSAS and their implementation. The home page of this IPSAS-focused association at www.ipsas.org.

Without question, the public sector constitutes a large part of most economies, being a significant contributor to gross national product, national employment and capital investment around the globe. However, financial reporting in the public sector is very different. Many governmental departments and entities, for instance, have long based decision making on insufficient financial information (such as not considering accruals, or the amount of capital employed). These problematic issues underpin the increasing importance of IPSAS. For this reason, it is worth seeing a brief summary of each IPSAS, as follows, each of which is available in separate documents.

IPSAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the manner in which general purpose financial statements should be presented in order to ensure comparability both with the entity's own financial statements of previous periods and with the financial statements of other entities. To achieve this objective, this Standard sets out overall considerations for the presentation of financial statements, guidance for their structure, and minimum requirements for the content of financial statements prepared under the accrual basis of accounting. The recognition, measurement and disclosure of specific transactions and other events are dealt with in other IPSAS.

Scope

This Standard should be applied in the presentation of all general purpose financial statements prepared and presented under the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with IPSAS.

General purpose financial statements are those intended to meet the needs of users who are not in a position to demand reports tailored to meet their specific information needs. Users of general purpose financial statements include taxpayers and ratepayers, members of the legislature, creditors, suppliers, the media, and employees. General purpose financial statements include those that are presented separately or within another public document such as an annual report. This Standard does not apply to condensed interim financial information.

This Standard applies equally to the financial statements of an individual entity and to consolidated financial statements for an economic entity, such as whole-of-government financial statements.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC). The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Economic Entity
  • Future Economic Benefits or Service Potential
  • Government Business Enterprises
  • Net Assets/Equity
• Purpose of Financial Statements
• Responsibility for Financial Statements
• Components of Financial Statements
• Overall Considerations
  • Fair Presentation and Compliance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards
  • Accounting Policies
  • Going Concern
  • Consistency of Presentation
  • Materiality and Aggregation
  • Offsetting
  • Comparative Information
• Structure and Content
  • Introduction
  • Identification of Financial Statements
  • Reporting Period
  • Timeliness
• Statement of Financial Position
  • The Current/Non-current Distinction
  • Current Assets
  • Current Liabilities
  • Information to be Presented on the Face of the Statement of Financial Position
  • Information to be Presented Either on the Face of the Statement of Financial Position or in the Notes
• Statement of Financial Performance
  • Information to be Presented on the Face of the Statement of Financial Performance
  • Information to be Presented Either on the Face of the Statement of Financial Position or in the Notes
• Changes in Net Assets/Equity
• Cash Flow Statement
• Notes to the Financial Statements
  • Structure
  • Presentation of Accounting Policies
  • Other Disclosures
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Appendix 1 – Illustrative Financial Statement Structure
• Appendix 2 – Qualitative Characteristics of Financial Reporting
• Comparison with IAS 1

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 2 Cash Flow Statements

Objective

The cash flow statement identifies the sources of cash inflows, the items on which cash was expended during the reporting period, and the cash balance as at the reporting date. Information about the cash flows of an entity is useful in providing users of financial statements with information for both accountability and decision making purposes. Cash flow information allows users to ascertain how a public sector entity raised the cash it required to fund its activities and the manner in which that cash was used. In making and evaluating decisions about the allocation of resources, such as the sustainability of the entity's activities, users require an understanding of the timing and certainty of cash flows. The objective of this Standard is to require the provision of information about the historical changes in cash and cash equivalents of an entity by means of a cash flow statement which classifies cash flows during the period from operating, investing and financing activities.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should prepare a cash flow statement in accordance with the requirements of this Standard and should present it as an integral part of its financial statements for each period for which financial statements are presented.

Information about cash flows may be useful to users of an entity's financial statements in assessing the entity's cash flows, assessing the entity's compliance with legislation and regulations (including authorised budgets where appropriate) and for making decisions about whether to provide resources to, or enter into transactions with an entity. They are generally interested in how the entity generates and uses cash and cash equivalents. This is the case regardless of the nature of the entity's activities and irrespective of whether cash can be viewed as the product of the entity, as may be the case with a public financial institution. Entities need cash for essentially the same reasons, however different their principal revenue producing activities might be. They need cash to pay for the goods and services they consume, to meet ongoing debt servicing costs, and, in some cases, to reduce levels of debt. Accordingly, this Standard requires all entities to present a cash flow statement.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Benefits of Cash Flow Information
• Definitions
  • Cash and Cash Equivalents
  • Economic Entity
  • Future Economic Benefits or Service Potential
  • Government Business Enterprises
  • Net Assets/Equity
• Presentation of a Cash Flow Statement
  • Operating Activities
  • Investing Activities
  • Financing Activities
• Reporting Cash Flows from Operating Activities
• Reporting Cash Flows from Investing and Financing Activities
• Reporting Cash Flows on a Net Basis
• Foreign Currency Cash Flows
• Extraordinary Items
• Interest and Dividends
• Taxes on Net Surplus
• Investments in Controlled Entities, Associates and Joint Ventures
• Acquisitions and Disposals of Controlled Entities and Other Operating Units
• Non-cash Transactions
• Components of Cash and Cash Equivalents
• Other Disclosures
• Effective Date
• Appendix – Cash Flow Statement (For an Entity Other Than a Financial Institution)
• Comparison with IAS 7

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 3 Net Surplus or Deficit for the Period – Fundamental Errors and Changing in Accounting Policies

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the classification, disclosure and accounting treatment of certain items in the financial statements so that all entities prepare and present these items on a consistent basis. This enhances comparability both with the entity's financial statements of previous periods and with the financial statements of other entities.

Accordingly, this Standard requires the classification and disclosure of extraordinary items and the separate disclosure of certain items in the financial statements. It also specifies the accounting treatment for changes in accounting estimates, changes in accounting policies and the correction of fundamental errors.

The disclosure of extraordinary items in the cash flow statement is required by IPSAS 2, ‘Cash Flow Statements'.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in presenting surplus or deficit from ordinary activities and extraordinary items in the statement of financial performance and in accounting for changes in accounting estimates, fundamental errors and changes in accounting policies.

This Standard deals with, among other things, the disclosure of certain items of net surplus or deficit for the period. These disclosures are made in addition to any other disclosures required by other IPSAS, including IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements'.

The tax effects of extraordinary items, fundamental errors and changes in accounting policies are not considered in this Standard as they are not relevant for many public sector entities. IAS 12, ‘Income Taxes', contains guidance on the treatment of tax effects. Where IAS 12 refers to unusual items, this should be read as extraordinary items as defined in this Standard.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Future Economic Benefits or Service Potential
  • Government Business Enterprises
  • Net Assets/Equity
• Net Surplus or Deficit for the Period
  • Extraordinary Items
    • Distinct from Ordinary Activities
    • Not Expected to Recur in Foreseeable Future
    • Outside the Control or Influence of the Entity
    • Examples of Extraordinary Items
    • Disclosure of Extraordinary Items
• Surplus or Deficit from Ordinary Activities
• Changes in Accounting Estimates
• Fundamental Errors
• Benchmark Treatment
• Allowed Alternative Treatment
• Changes in Accounting Policies
• Adoption of an International Public Sector Accounting Standard
• Other Changes in Accounting Policies – Benchmark Treatment
• Other Changes in Accounting Policies – Allowed Alternative Treatment
• Effective Date
• Appendix
• Comparison with IAS 8

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm

IPSAS 4 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates

Objective

An entity may carry on foreign activities in two ways. It may have transactions in foreign currencies or it may have foreign operations. In addition, an entity may present its financial statements in a foreign currency. The objective of this Standard is to prescribe how to include foreign currency transactions and foreign operations in the financial statements of an entity and how to translate financial statements into a presentation currency.

The principal issues are which exchange rate(s) to use and how to report the effects of changes in exchange rates in the financial statements.

Scope

An entity that prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting shall apply this Standard:

International or national accounting standards dealing with the recognition and measurement of financial instruments apply to many foreign currency derivatives and, accordingly, these are excluded from the scope of this Standard. However, those foreign currency derivatives that are not within the scope of these international or national accounting standards (e.g. some foreign currency derivatives that are embedded in other contracts) are within the scope of this Standard. In addition, this Standard applies when an entity translates amounts relating to derivatives from its functional currency to its presentation currency.

This Standard does not apply to hedge accounting for foreign currency items, including the hedging of a net investment in a foreign operation. Accordingly, entities may apply the relevant international or national accounting standards dealing with hedge accounting.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that GBEs apply IFRS which are issued by the IASB. GBEs are defined in IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements'.

This Standard applies to the presentation of an entity's financial statements in a foreign currency and sets out requirements for the resulting financial statements to be described as complying with IPSASs. For translations of financial information into a foreign currency that do not meet these requirements, this Standard specifies information to be disclosed.

This Standard does not apply to the presentation in a cash flow statement of cash flows arising from transactions in a foreign currency, or to the translation of cash flows of a foreign operation (see IPSAS 2, ‘Cash Flow Statements').

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Functional Currency
  • Monetary Items
  • Net Investment in a Foreign Operation
• Summary of the Approach Required by this Standard
• Reporting Foreign Currency Transactions in the Functional Currency
  • Initial Recognition
  • Reporting at Subsequent Reporting Dates
  • Recognition of Exchange Differences
  • Change in Functional Currency
• Use of a Presentation Currency Other than the Functional Currency
  • Translation to the Presentation Currency
  • Translation of a Foreign Operation
  • Disposal of a Foreign Operation
• Tax Effects of Exchange Differences
• Disclosure
• Transitional Provisions
  • First-Time Adoption of Accrual Accounting
  • Transitional Provisions for All Entities
• Effective Date
• Withdrawal of IPSAS 4 (issued 2006)
• Basis for Conclusions
• Table of Concordance
• Comparison with IAS 21

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm

IPSAS 5 Borrowing Costs

Objective

This Standard prescribes the accounting treatment for borrowing costs. This Standard generally requires the immediate expensing of borrowing costs. However, the Standard permits, as an allowed alternative treatment, the capitalisation of borrowing costs that are directly attributable to the acquisition, construction or production of a qualifying asset.

Scope

This Standard should be applied in accounting for borrowing costs. This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

This Standard does not deal with the actual or imputed cost of net assets/equity. Where jurisdictions apply a capital charge to individual entities, judgment will need to be exercised to determine whether the charge meets the definition of borrowing costs or whether it should be treated as an actual or imputed cost of net assets/equity.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Borrowing Costs
  • Economic Entity
  • Future Economic Benefits or Service Potential
  • Government Business Enterprises
  • Net Assets/Equity
  • Qualifying Assets
• Borrowing Costs – Benchmark Treatment
  • Recognition
  • Disclosure
• Borrowing Costs – Allowed Alternative Treatment
  • Recognition
  • Borrowing Costs Eligible for Capitalisation
  • Excess of the Carrying Amount of the Qualifying Asset Over Recoverable Amount
  • Commencement of Capitalisation
  • Suspension of Capitalisation
  • Cessation of Capitalisation
  • Disclosure
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Comparison with IAS 23

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 6 Consolidated Financial Statements – Accounting for Controlled Entities

Objective

The objective of this Standard is the preparation and presentation of consolidated financial statements for a group of entities under the control of a parent.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in the preparation and presentation of consolidated financial statements for an economic entity.

This Standard should also be applied in accounting for controlled entities in a controlling entity's separate financial statements.

Consolidated financial statements are encompassed by the term ‘financial statements' included in the Preface to IPSAS. Therefore, consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with IPSAS.

This Standard applies to the preparation and presentation of consolidated financial statements, and accounting for controlled entities, by all public sector entities other than GBEs.

GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

This Standard establishes requirements for the preparation and presentation of consolidated financial statements, and for accounting for controlled entities in the separate financial statements of the controlling entity. Although GBEs are not required to comply with this Standard in their own financial statements, the provisions of this Standard will apply where a public sector entity that is not a GBE has one or more controlled entities that are GBEs. In these circumstances, this Standard should be applied in consolidating GBEs into the financial statements of the economic entity, and in accounting for investments in GBEs in the controlling entity's separate financial statements.

This Standard does not deal with:

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below. (Note that there is no Objective provided.)

• Definitions
  • Economic Entity
  • Future Economic Benefits or Service Potential
  • Government Business Enterprises
  • Net Assets/Equity
• Presentation of Consolidated Financial Statements
• Scope of Consolidated Financial Statements
  • Establishing Control of another Entity for Financial Reporting Purposes
  • Control for Financial Reporting Purposes
  • Regulatory and Purchase Power
  • Determining whether Control Exists for Financial Reporting Purposes
• Consolidation Procedures
• Accounting for Controlled Entities in a Controlling Entity's Separate Financial Statements
• Disclosure
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Comparison with IAS 27

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 7 Accounting for Investments in Associates

Objective

The objective of this IPSAS is to reduce alternatives in the application of the equity method and in accounting for investments in associates in separate financial statements.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in accounting by an investor for investments in associates where the investment in the associate leads to the holding of an ownership interest in the form of a shareholding or other formal equity structure.

This Standard provides the basis for accounting for ownership interests in associates. That is, the investment in the other entity confers on the investor the risks and rewards incidental to an ownership interest. The Standard applies only to investments in the formal equity structure (or its equivalent) of an investee. A formal equity structure means share capital or an equivalent form of unitised capital, such as units in a property trust, but may also include other equity structures in which the investor's interest can be measured reliably. Where the equity structure is poorly defined it may not be possible to obtain a reliable measure of the ownership interest.

Some contributions made by public sector entities may be referred to as an ‘investment' but may not give rise to an ownership interest. For example, a public sector entity may make a substantial investment in the development of a hospital that is owned and operated by a charity. While such contributions are non-reciprocal in nature, they allow the public sector entity to participate in the operation of the hospital, and the charity is accountable to the public sector entity for its use of public monies. However, the contributions made by the public sector entity do not constitute an ownership interest, as the charity could seek alternative funding and thereby prevent the public sector entity from participating in the operation of the hospital. Accordingly, the public sector entity is not exposed to the risks nor does it enjoy the rewards which are incidental to an ownership interest.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below. (Note that there is no Objective provided.)

• Definitions
  • Cost Method
  • Economic Entity
  • Equity Method
  • Future Economic Benefits or Service Potential
  • Government Business Enterprises
  • Net Assets/Equity
  • Significant Influence
• Consolidated Financial Statements
• Separate Financial Statements of the Investor
• Application of the Equity Method
  • Impairment Losses
  • Income Taxes
  • Contingencies
  • Disclosure
  • Effective Date
  • Comparison with IAS 28

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 8 Financial Reporting of Interests in Joint Ventures

Objective

The objective of this IPSAS is to report effectively the investments in subsidiaries in associates.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in accounting for interests in joint ventures and the reporting of joint venture assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses in the financial statements of venturers and investors, regardless of the structures or forms under which the joint venture activities take place.

This Standard provides the basis for accounting for interests in joint ventures. This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below. (Note that there is no Objective provided.)

• Definitions
  • Binding Arrangement
  • Economic Entity
  • Forms of Joint Venture
  • Future Economic Benefits or Service Potential
  • Government Business Enterprise
  • Net Assets/Equity
• Jointly Controlled Operations
• Jointly Controlled Assets
• Jointly Controlled Entities
  • Consolidated Financial Statements of a Venturer
    • Benchmark Treatment-Proportionate Consolidation
    • Allowed Alternative Treatment-Equity Method
    • Exceptions to Benchmark and Allowed Alternative Treatments
  • Separate Financial Statements of a Venturer
• Transactions Between a Venturer and a Joint Venture
• Reporting Interests in Joint Ventures in the Financial Statements of an Investor
• Operators of Joint Ventures
• Disclosure
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Comparison with IAS 31

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 9 Revenue from Exchange Transactions

Objective

The IASC ‘Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements' defines income as ‘increases in economic benefits during the accounting period in the form of inflows or enhancements of assets or decreases of liabilities that result in increases in equity, other than those relating to contributions from equity participants'. The IASC definition of income encompasses both revenue and gains. This Standard uses the term ‘revenue', which encompasses both revenues and gains, in place of the term ‘income'. Certain specific items to be recognised as revenues are addressed in other Standards and are excluded from the scope of this Standard. For example, gains arising on the sale of property, plant and equipment are specifically addressed in Standards on property, plant and equipment and are not covered in this Standard.

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the accounting treatment of revenue arising from exchange transactions and events.

The primary issue in accounting for revenue is determining when to recognise revenue. Revenue is recognised when it is probable that future economic benefits or service potential will flow to the entity and these benefits can be measured reliably. This Standard identifies the circumstances in which these criteria will be met and, therefore, revenue will be recognised. It also provides practical guidance on the application of these criteria.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in accounting for revenue arising from the following exchange transactions and events:

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

This Standard does not deal with revenue arising from non-exchange transactions.

Public sector entities may derive revenues from exchange or non-exchange transactions. An exchange transaction is one in which the entity receives assets or services, or has liabilities extinguished, and directly gives approximately equal value (primarily in the form of goods, services or use of assets) to the other party in exchange. Examples of exchange transactions include:

In distinguishing between exchange and non-exchange revenues, substance rather than the form of the transaction should be considered. Examples of non-exchange transactions include revenue from the use of sovereign powers (for example, direct and indirect taxes, duties and fines), grants and donations.

The rendering of services typically involves the performance by the entity of an agreed task over an agreed period of time. The services may be rendered within a single period or over more than one period. Examples of services rendered by public sector entities for which revenue is typically received in exchange may include the provision of housing, management of water facilities, management of toll roads, and management of transfer payments. Some agreements for the rendering of services are directly related to construction contracts, for example, those for the services of project managers and architects. Revenue arising from these agreements is not dealt with in this Standard but is dealt with in accordance with the requirements for construction contracts as specified in IPSAS 11, ‘Construction Contracts'.

Goods includes goods produced by the entity for the purpose of sale, such as publications, and goods purchased for resale, such as merchandise or land and other property held for resale.

The use by others of entity assets gives rise to revenue in the form of:

This Standard does not deal with revenues:

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Revenue
• Measurement of Revenue
• Identification of the Transaction
• Rendering of Services
• Sale of Goods
• Interest, Royalties and Dividends
• Disclosure
• Effective Date
• Appendix
• Comparison with IAS 18

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 10 Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies

Objective

The objective of this IPSAS is to establish specific guidance for entities reporting in the currency of a hyperinflationary economy so that the financial information provided is meaningful.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard to the primary financial statements, including the consolidated financial statements, of any entity that reports in the currency of a hyperinflationary economy.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

In a hyperinflationary economy, reporting of operating results and financial position in the local currency without restatement is not useful. Money loses purchasing power at such a rate that comparison of amounts from transactions and other events that have occurred at different times, even within the same reporting period, is misleading.

This Standard does not establish an absolute rate at which hyperinflation is deemed to arise. It is a matter of judgment when restatement of financial statements in accordance with this Standard becomes necessary. Hyperinflation is indicated by characteristics of the economic environment of a country which include, but are not limited to, the following:

It is preferable that all entities that report in the currency of the same hyperinflationary economy apply this Standard from the same date. Nevertheless, this Standard applies to the financial statements of any entity from the beginning of the reporting period in which it identifies the existence of hyperinflation in the country in whose currency it reports.

GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below. (Note that there is no Objective provided.)

• Definitions
• The Restatement of Financial Statements
  • Statement of Financial Position
  • Statement of Financial Performance
  • Surplus or Deficit on Net Monetary Position
  • Cash Flow Statement
  • Corresponding Figures
  • Consolidated Financial Statements
  • Selection and Use of the General Price Index
• Economies Ceasing to be Hyperinflationary
• Disclosures
• Effective Date
• Appendix – Restatement of Financial Statements
• Comparison with IAS 29

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 11 Construction Contracts

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the accounting treatment of costs and revenue associated with construction contracts. The Standard:

• identifies the arrangements that are to be classified as construction contracts;
• provides guidance on the types of construction contracts that can arise in the public sector; and
• specifies the basis for recognition and disclosure of contract expenses and, if relevant, contract revenues.

Because of the nature of the activity undertaken in construction contracts, the date at which the contract activity is entered into and the date when the activity is completed usually fall into different reporting periods.

In many jurisdictions, construction contracts entered into by public sector entities will not specify an amount of contract revenue. Rather, funding to support the construction activity will be provided by an appropriation or similar allocation of general government revenue, or by aid or grant funds. In these cases, the primary issue in accounting for construction contracts is the allocation of construction costs to the reporting period in which the construction work is performed and the recognition of related expenses.

In some jurisdictions, construction contracts entered into by public sector entities may be established on a commercial basis or a non-commercial full or partial cost recovery basis. In these cases, the primary issue in accounting for construction contracts is the allocation of both contract revenue and contract costs to the reporting periods in which construction work is performed.

Scope

A contractor which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in accounting for construction contracts.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Construction Contracts
  • Contractor
• Combining and Segmenting Construction Contracts
• Contract Revenue
• Contract Costs
• Recognition of Contract Revenue and Expenses
• Recognition of Expected Deficits
• Changes in Estimates
• Disclosure
• Effective Date
• Appendix
• Comparison with IAS 11

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 12 Inventories

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the accounting treatment for inventories under the historical cost system. A primary issue in accounting for inventories is the amount of cost to be recognised as an asset and carried forward until the related revenues are recognised. This Standard provides practical guidance on the determination of cost and its subsequent recognition as an expense, including any write-down to net realisable value. It also provides guidance on the cost formulas that are used to assign costs to inventories.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in the context of the historical cost system in accounting for inventories other than:

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

The inventories referred to in paragraph (c) above may be measured at net realisable value at certain stages of production. This occurs, for example, when agricultural crops have been harvested or mineral ores have been extracted and sale is assured under a forward contract or a government guarantee, or when a homogenous market exists and there is a negligible risk of failure to sell. These inventories are excluded from the scope of this Standard.

The inventories referred to in paragraph (d) previously are not encompassed by IAS 2, ‘Inventories', and are excluded from the scope of this Standard because they involve specific public sector issues that require further consideration.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Inventories
• Measurement of Inventories
  • Cost of Inventories
  • Costs of Purchase
  • Costs of Conversion
  • Other Costs
  • Cost of Inventories of a Service Provider
  • Techniques for the Measurement of Cost
  • Cost Formulas
  • Net Realisable Value
  • Distributing Goods at No Charge or for a Nominal Charge
• Recognition as an Expense
• Disclosure
• Effective Date
• Comparison with IAS 2

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 13 Leases

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe, for lessees and lessors, the appropriate accounting policies and disclosures to apply in relation to finance and operating leases.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in accounting for all leases other than:

However, this Standard should not be applied to the measurement by:

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

This Standard applies to agreements that transfer the right to use assets even though substantial services by the lessor may be called for in connection with the operation or maintenance of such assets. On the other hand, this Standard does not apply to agreements that are contracts for services that do not transfer the right to use assets from one contracting party to the other. Public sector entities may enter into complex arrangements for the delivery of services, which may or may not include leases of assets.

This Standard does not apply to lease agreements to explore for or use natural resources such as oil, gas, timber, metals and other mineral rights, and licensing agreements for such items as motion picture films, video recordings, plays, manuscripts, patents and copyrights. This is because these types of agreements have the potential to raise complex accounting issues which need to be addressed separately.

This Standard does not apply to investment property. Investment properties are measured by lessors and lessees in accordance with the provisions of IPSAS 16.

GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Hire Purchase Contracts
  • Incremental Borrowing Rate of Interest
• Classification of Leases
• Leases and other Contracts
• Leases in the Financial Statements of Lessees
  • Finance Leases
  • Operating Leases
• Leases in the Financial Statements of Lessors
  • Finance Leases
  • Operating Leases
• Sale and Leaseback Transactions
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Appendix 1 – Classification of a Lease
• Appendix 2 – Accounting for a Finance Lease by a Lessor
• Appendix 3 – Accounting for a Finance Lease by a Lessee
• Appendix 4 – Sale and Leaseback Transactions that Result in Operating Leases
• Appendix 5 – Calculating the Interest Rate Implicit in a Finance Lease
• Comparison with IAS 17

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 14 Events After the Reporting Date

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe:

The Standard also requires that an entity should not prepare its financial statements on a going concern basis if events after the reporting date indicate that the going concern assumption is not appropriate.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in the accounting for, and disclosure of, events after the reporting date.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
• Authorising the Financial Statements for Issue
• Recognition and Measurement
  • Adjusting Events After the Reporting Date
  • Non-adjusting Events After the Reporting Date
  • Dividends/Distributions
• Going Concern
• Restructuring
• Disclosure
  • Disclosure of Date of Authorisation for Issue
  • Updating Disclosure about Conditions at the Reporting Date
  • Disclosure of Non-adjusting Events after the Reporting Date
• Effective Date
• Comparison with IAS 10

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 15 Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation

Objective

The dynamic nature of international financial markets has resulted in the widespread use of a variety of financial instruments ranging from traditional primary instruments, such as bonds, to various forms of derivative instruments, such as interest rate swaps. Public sector entities use a wide range of financial instruments from simple instruments such as payables and receivables to more complex instruments (such as cross-currency swaps to hedge commitments in foreign currencies) in their operations. To a lesser extent, public sector entities may issue equity instruments or compound liability/equity instruments. This may occur where an economic entity includes a partly privatised GBE that issues equity instruments into the financial markets or where a public sector entity issues debt instruments that convert to an ownership interest under certain conditions.

The objective of this Standard is to enhance financial statement users' understanding of the significance of on-balance-sheet and off-balance-sheet financial instruments to a government's or other public sector entity's financial position, performance and cash flows. In this Standard, references to ‘balance sheet' in the context of ‘on-balance-sheet' and ‘off-balance-sheet' have the same meaning as ‘statement of financial position'.

The Standard prescribes certain requirements for presentation of on-balance-sheet financial instruments and identifies the information that should be disclosed about both on-balance-sheet (recognised) and off-balance-sheet (unrecognised) financial instruments. The presentation standards deal with the classification of financial instruments between liabilities and net assets/equity, the classification of related interest, dividends, revenues and expenses, and the circumstances in which financial assets and financial liabilities should be offset. The disclosure standards deal with information about factors that affect the amount, timing and certainty of an entity's future cash flows relating to financial instruments and the accounting policies applied to the instruments. In addition, the Standard encourages disclosure of information about the nature and extent of an entity's use of financial instruments, the financial purposes that they serve, the risks associated with them and management's policies for controlling those risks.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard for the presentation and disclosure of financial instruments.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

This Standard should be applied in presenting and disclosing information about all types of financial instruments, both recognised and unrecognised, other than:

This Standard does not apply to an entity's net assets/equity interests in controlled entities. However, it does apply to all financial instruments included in the consolidated financial statements of a controlling entity, regardless of whether those instruments are held or issued by the controlling entity or by a controlled entity. Similarly, the Standard applies to financial instruments held or issued by a joint venture and included in the financial statements of a venturer either directly or through proportionate consolidation.

Some economic entities in the public sector may include entities that issue insurance contracts. Those entities are within the scope of this Standard. However, this Standard excludes the insurance contracts themselves from its scope. For the purposes of this Standard, an insurance contract is a contract that exposes the insurer to identified risks of loss from events or circumstances occurring or discovered within a specified period, including death (in the case of an annuity, the survival of the annuitant), sickness, disability, property damage, injury to others and interruption of operations. However, the provisions of this Standard apply when a financial instrument takes the form of an insurance contract but principally involves the transfer of financial risks, for example, some types of financial reinsurance and guaranteed investment contracts issued by public sector insurance and other entities. Entities that have obligations under insurance contracts are encouraged to consider the appropriateness of applying the provisions of this Standard in presenting and disclosing information about such obligations.

This Standard does not apply to financial instruments that arise from obligations from employee benefit schemes or obligations of a government to provide social benefits to its citizens for which it receives no consideration, or consideration that is not approximately equal to the fair value of the benefits, directly in return from the recipients of those benefits (such as old age pensions, unemployment benefits, disability benefits and other forms of financial assistance provided by governments).

Additional guidance on the presentation and disclosure of specific types of financial instruments can be found in international and/or national accounting standards. For example, IPSAS 13, ‘Leases', contains specific disclosure requirements relating to finance leases.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
• Presentation
  • Liabilities and Net Assets/Equity
  • Classification of Compound Instruments by the Issuer
  • Interest, Dividends, Losses and Gains
  • Offsetting of a Financial Asset and a Financial Liability
• Disclosure
  • Disclosure of Risk Management Policies
  • Terms, Conditions and Accounting Policies
  • Interest Rate Risk
  • Credit Risk
  • Fair Value
  • Financial Assets Carried at an Amount in Excess of Fair Value
  • Hedges of Anticipated Future Transactions
  • Other Disclosures
• Transitional Provision
• Effective Date
• Appendix 1 – Implementation Guide
• Appendix 2 – Examples of the Application of the Standard
• Appendix 3 – Examples of Disclosure Requirements
• Comparison with IAS 32

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 16 Investment Property

Objective

The objective of this IPSAS is to prescribe the accounting treatment for investment property and related disclosure requirements.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in accounting for investment property.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

This Standard deals with accounting for investment property including the measurement in a lessee's financial statements of investment property held under a finance lease and with the measurement in a lessor's financial statements of investment property leased out under an operating lease. This Standard does not deal with matters covered in IPSAS 13, ‘Leases', including:

This Standard does not apply to:

GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Investment Property
• Recognition
• Initial Measurement
• Subsequent Expenditure
• Measurement Subsequent to Initial Recognition
  • Fair Value Model
  • Inability to Measure Fair Value Reliably
  • Cost Model
• Transfers
• Disposals
• Disclosure
  • Fair Value Model and Cost Model
  • Fair Value Model
  • Cost Model
• Transitional Provisions
  • Initial Adoption of Accrual Accounting
  • Fair Value Model
  • Cost Model
• Effective Date
• Appendix – Decision Tree
• Comparison with IAS 40

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 17 Property, Plant and Equipment

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the accounting treatment for property, plant and equipment. The principal issues in accounting for property, plant and equipment are the timing of recognition of the assets, the determination of their carrying amounts and the depreciation charges to be recognised in relation to them.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in accounting for property, plant and equipment, except:

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

This Standard applies to property, plant and equipment including:

The transitional provisions provide relief from the requirement to recognise all property, plant and equipment during the five-year transitional period.

This Standard does not apply to:

However, this Standard does apply to property, plant and equipment used to develop or maintain the activities or assets covered in (a) or (b) directly above but which are separable from those activities or assets.

This Standard also does not apply where other IPSAS or, in the absence of an IPSAS, other relevant international guidance, permits the initial recognition of the carrying amount of property, plant and equipment to be determined using an approach different from that prescribed in this Standard. For example, IAS 22, ‘Business Combinations', provides guidance on valuing property, plant and equipment when it is acquired in a business combination. However, in such cases all other aspects of the accounting treatment for these assets, including depreciation, are determined by the requirements of this Standard.

This Standard does not deal with certain aspects of the application of a comprehensive system reflecting the effects of changing prices (see IPSAS 10, ‘Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies'). However, entities applying such a system are required to comply with all aspects of this Standard, except for those that deal with the measurement of property, plant and equipment subsequent to its initial recognition.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
• Recognition of Property, Plant and Equipment
  • Infrastructure Assets
• Initial Measurement of Property, Plant and Equipment
  • Components of Cost
  • Exchanges of Assets
• Subsequent Expenditure
• Measurement Subsequent to Initial Recognition
  • Benchmark Treatment
  • Allowed Alternative Treatment
  • Revaluations
  • Depreciation
  • Review of Useful Life
  • Review of Depreciation Method
• Recoverability of the Carrying Amount – Impairment Losses
• Retirements and Disposals
• Disclosure
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Appendix – Illustrative Disclosures
• Comparison with IAS 16

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 18 Segment Reporting

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to establish principles for reporting financial information by segments. The disclosure of this information will:

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in the presentation of segment information.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

This Standard should be applied in complete sets of published financial statements that comply with IPSAS.

A complete set of financial statements includes a statement of financial position, statement of financial performance, cash flow statement, a statement showing changes in net assets/equity, and notes, as provided in IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements'.

If both consolidated financial statements of a government or other economic entity and the separate financial statements of the parent entity are presented together, segment information need be presented only on the basis of the consolidated financial statements.

In some jurisdictions, the consolidated financial statements of the government or other economic entity and the separate financial statements of the controlling entity are compiled and presented together in a single report. Where this occurs, the report which contains the government's or other controlling entity's consolidated financial statements needs to present segment information only for the consolidated financial statements.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Definitions from other IPSAS
• Reporting by Segments
  • Reporting Structures
  • Service Segments and Geographical Segments
  • Multiple Segmentation
  • Reporting Structures Not Appropriate
• Definitions of Segment Revenue, Expense, Assets, Liabilities and Accounting Policies
  • Attributing Items to Segments
  • Segment Assets, Liabilities, Revenue and Expense
• Segment Accounting Policies
• Joint Assets
• Newly Identified Segments
• Disclosure
  • Additional Segment Information
  • Other Disclosure Matters
  • Segment Operating Objectives
• Effective Date
• Appendix 1 – Illustrative Segment Disclosures
• Appendix 2 – Summary of Required Disclosures
• Appendix 3 – Qualitative Characteristics of Financial Reporting
• Comparison with IAS 14

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 19 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities, Contingent Assets

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to define provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets, identify the circumstances in which provisions should be recognised, how they should be measured and the disclosures that should be made about them. The Standard also requires that certain information be disclosed about contingent liabilities and contingent assets in the notes to the financial statements to enable users to understand their nature, timing and amount.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in accounting for provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets, except:

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

This Standard applies to financial instruments (including guarantees) that are not carried at fair value.

This Standard applies to provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets of insurance entities other than those arising from contracts with policyholders.

This Standard applies to provisions for restructuring (including discontinuing operations). In some cases, a restructuring may meet the definition of a discontinuing operation. Guidance on disclosing information about discontinuing operations is found in IAS 35, ‘Discontinuing Operations'.

Social benefits

For the purposes of this Standard ‘social benefits' refer to goods, services and other benefits provided in the pursuit of the social policy objectives of a government. These benefits may include:

In many cases, obligations to provide social benefits arise as a consequence of a government's commitment to undertake particular activities on an ongoing basis over the long term in order to provide particular goods and services to the community. The need for, and nature and supply of, goods and services to meet social policy obligations will often depend on a range of demographic and social conditions and are difficult to predict. These benefits generally fall within the ‘social protection', ‘education' and ‘health' classifications under the International Monetary Fund's Government Finance Statistics framework and often require an actuarial assessment to determine the amount of any liability arising in respect of them.

For a provision or contingency arising from a social benefit to be excluded from the scope of this Standard, the public sector entity providing the benefit will not receive consideration that is approximately equal to the value of goods and services provided, directly in return from the recipients of the benefit. This exclusion would encompass those circumstances where a charge is levied in respect of the benefit but there is no direct relationship between the charge and the benefit received. The exclusion of these provisions and contingent liabilities from the scope of this Standard reflects the Committee's view that both the determination of what constitutes the ‘obligating event' and the measurement of the liability require further consideration before proposed Standards are exposed. For example, the Committee is aware that there are differing views about whether the obligating event occurs when the individual meets the eligibility criteria for the benefit or at some earlier stage. Similarly, there are differing views about whether the amount of any obligation reflects an estimate of the current period's entitlement or the present value of all expected future benefits determined on an actuarial basis.

Where an entity elects to recognise a provision for such obligations, the entity discloses the basis on which the provisions have been recognised and the measurement basis adopted. The entity also makes other disclosures required by this Standard in respect of those provisions. IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements', provides guidance on dealing with matters not specifically dealt with by another IPSAS. IPSAS 1 also includes requirements relating to the selection and disclosure of accounting policies.

In some cases, social benefits may give rise to a liability for which:

Accordingly, these are not likely to meet the definition of a provision in this Standard. Where such liabilities for social benefits exist, they are recognised where they satisfy the criteria for recognition as liabilities. An example would be a period-end accrual for an amount owing to the existing beneficiaries in respect of aged or disability pensions that have been approved for payment consistent with the provisions of a contract or legislation.

Other exclusions from the scope of the Standard

This Standard does not apply to executory contracts unless they are onerous. Contracts to provide social benefits entered into with the expectation that the entity will not receive consideration that is approximately equal to the value of goods and services provided directly in return from the recipients of those benefits are excluded from the scope of this Standard.

Where another IPSAS deals with a specific type of provision, contingent liability or contingent asset, an entity applies that Standard instead of this Standard. For example, certain types of provisions are also addressed in Standards on:

This Standard does not apply to provisions for income taxes or income tax equivalents (guidance on accounting for income taxes is found in IAS 12, ‘Income Taxes'). Nor does it apply to provisions arising from employee benefits (guidance on accounting for employee benefits is found in IAS 19, ‘Employee Benefits').

Some amounts treated as provisions may relate to the recognition of revenue, for example where an entity gives guarantees in exchange for a fee. This Standard does not address the recognition of revenue. IPSAS 9, ‘Revenue from Exchange Transactions', identifies the circumstances in which revenue from exchange transactions is recognised and provides practical guidance on the application of the recognition criteria. This Standard does not change the requirements of IPSAS 9.

This Standard defines provisions as liabilities of uncertain timing or amount. In some countries the term ‘provision' is also used in the context of items such as depreciation, impairment of assets and doubtful debts: these are adjustments to the carrying amounts of assets and are not addressed in this Standard.

Other IPSAS specify whether expenditures are treated as assets or as expenses. These issues are not addressed in this Standard. Accordingly, this Standard neither prohibits nor requires capitalisation of the costs recognised when a provision is made.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Provisions and other Liabilities
  • Relationship between Provisions and Contingent Liabilities
• Recognition
  • Provisions
  • Present Obligation
  • Past Event
  • Probable Outflow of Resources Embodying Economic Benefits or Service Potential
  • Reliable Estimate of the Obligation
  • Contingent Liabilities
  • Contingent Assets
• Measurement
  • Best Estimate
  • Risk and Uncertainties
  • Present Value
  • Future Events
  • Expected Disposals of Assets
  • Reimbursements
• Changes in Provisions
• Use of Provisions
• Application of the Recognition and Measurement Rules
  • Future Operating Net Deficits
  • Onerous Contracts
  • Restructuring
  • Sale or Transfer of Operations
  • Restructuring Provisions
• Disclosure
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Appendix A – Tables: Provisions, Contingent Liabilities, Contingent Assets and Reimbursements
• Appendix B – Decision Tree
• Appendix C – Examples: Recognition
• Appendix D – Examples: Disclosures
• Appendix E – Example: Present Value of a Provision
• Comparison with IAS 37

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 20 Related Party Disclosures

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to require the disclosure of the existence of related party relationships where control exists and the disclosure of information about transactions between the entity and its related parties in certain circumstances. This information is required for accountability purposes and to facilitate a better understanding of the financial position and performance of the reporting entity. The principal issues in disclosing information about related parties are identifying which parties control or significantly influence the reporting entity and determining what information should be disclosed about transactions with those parties.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting should apply this Standard in disclosing information about related party relationships and certain transactions with related parties.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs. GBEs are required to comply with IAS issued by the IASC. The Public Sector Committee's Guideline No. 1, ‘Financial Reporting by Government Business Enterprises', notes that IAS are relevant to all business enterprises, regardless of whether they are in the private or public sector. Accordingly, Guideline No. 1 recommends that GBEs should present financial statements that conform, in all material respects, to IAS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Close Member of the Family of an Individual
  • Key Management Personnel
  • Related Parties
  • Remuneration of Key Management Personnel
  • Voting Power
• The Related Party Issue
  • Remuneration of Key Management Personnel
• Materiality
• Disclosure
  • Disclosure of Control
  • Disclosure of Related Party Transactions
  • Disclosure – Key Management Personnel
• Effective Date
• Appendix – Examples of Application of the Standard
• Comparison with IAS 24

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 21 Impairment of Non-cash-generating Assets

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the procedures that an entity applies to determine whether a non-cash-generating asset is impaired and to ensure that impairment losses are recognised. The Standard also specifies when an entity would reverse an impairment loss and prescribes disclosures.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting shall apply this Standard in accounting for impairment of non-cash-generating assets, except:

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

Public sector entities that hold cash-generating assets, as defined, shall apply IAS 36, ‘Impairment of Assets', to such assets. Public sector entities that hold non-cash-generating assets shall apply the requirements of this Standard to non-cash-generating assets.

This Standard excludes from its scope the impairment of assets that are dealt with in another IPSAS. GBEs apply IAS 36 and therefore are not subject to the provisions of this Standard. Public sector entities other than GBEs apply IAS 36 to their cash-generating assets and apply this Standard to their non-cash-generating assets. The following paragraphs explain the scope of the Standard in greater detail.

This Standard includes non-cash-generating intangible assets within its scope. Entities apply the requirements of this Standard to recognising and measuring impairment losses, and reversals of impairment losses, related to non-cash-generating intangible assets.

This Standard does not apply to inventories and assets arising from construction contracts because existing IPSAS applicable to these assets contain requirements for recognising and measuring these assets.

This Standard does not apply to financial assets that are included in the scope of IPSAS 15, ‘Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation'. Impairment of these assets will be dealt with in any IPSAS that the IPSASB develops on the basis of IAS 39, ‘Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement' to deal with the recognition and measurement of financial instruments.

This Standard does not require the application of an impairment test to an investment property that is carried at fair value in accordance with IPSAS 16, ‘Investment Property'. This is because under the fair value model in IPSAS 16, an investment property is carried at fair value at the reporting date and any impairment will be taken into account in the valuation.

This Standard does not require the application of an impairment test to non-cash-generating assets that are carried at re-valued amounts under the allowed alternative treatment in IPSAS 17, ‘Property, Plant and Equipment'. This is because under the allowed alternative treatment in IPSAS 17, assets will be re-valued with sufficient regularity to ensure that they are carried at an amount that is not materially different from their fair value at the reporting date and any impairment will be taken into account in the valuation. In addition, the approach adopted in this Standard to measuring an asset's recoverable service amount means that it is unlikely that the recoverable service amount of an asset will be materially less than an asset's re-valued amount and that any such differences would relate to the costs of disposal of the asset.

Consistent with the requirements of preceding text, items of property, plant and equipment that are classified as cash-generating assets including those that are carried at re-valued amounts under the allowed alternative treatment in IPSAS 17, are dealt with under IAS 36.

Investments in:

The ‘Preface to International Financial Reporting Standards' issued by the IASB explains that IFRS are designed to apply to the general purpose financial statements of all profit-oriented entities. GBEs are defined as profit-oriented entities. Accordingly, they are required to comply with IFRS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Government Business Enterprises
  • Cash-Generating Assets
• Depreciation
• Impairment
• Identifying an Asset that may be Impaired
• Measuring Recoverable Service Amount
  • Fair value less Costs to Sell
  • Value in Use
    • Depreciated Replacement Cost Approach
    • Restoration Cost Approach
    • Service Units Approach
    • Application of Approaches
• Recognising and Measuring an Impairment Loss
• Reversing an Impairment Loss
• Redesignation of Assets
• Disclosure
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Appendices
  • A. Indications of Impairment – Examples
  • B. Measurement of Impairment Loss – Examples
  • C. Basis for Conclusions
• Comparison with IAS 36 (2004)

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 22 Disclosure of Financial Information about the General Government Sector

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe disclosure requirements for governments which elect to present information about the general government sector (GGS) in their consolidated financial statements. The disclosure of appropriate information about the GGS of a government can enhance the transparency of financial reports, and provide for a better understanding of the relationship between the market and non-market activities of the government and between financial statements and statistical bases of financial reporting.

Scope

A government that prepares and presents consolidated financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting and elects to disclose financial information about the GGS shall do so in accordance with the requirements of this Standard.

Governments raise funds from taxes, transfers and a range of non-market and market activities to fund their service delivery activities. They operate through a variety of entities to provide goods and services to their constituents. Some entities rely primarily on appropriations or allocations from taxes or other government revenues to fund their service delivery activities, but may also undertake additional revenue generating activities including commercial activities in some cases. Other entities may generate their funds primarily or substantially from commercial activities. These include GBEs as defined in this Standard.

Financial statements for a government prepared in accordance with IPSAS provide an overview of the assets controlled and liabilities incurred by the government, the cost of services provided by the government and the taxation and other revenues generated to fund the provision of those services. Financial statements for a government, which delivers services through controlled entities, whether primarily dependent on the government budget to fund their activities or not, are consolidated financial statements.

In some jurisdictions, financial statements and budgets for the government, or sectors thereof, may also be issued in accordance with statistical bases of financial reporting. These bases reflect requirements consistent with, and derived from, the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA 93) prepared by the United Nations and other international organisations. These statistical bases of financial reporting focus on the provision of financial information about the GGS. The GGS comprises those non-profit entities which undertake non-market activities and rely primarily on appropriations or allocations from the government budget to fund their service delivery activities (hereafter referred to as non-market entities or activities). The statistical bases of financial reporting may also provide information about the corporations sector of government which primarily engages in market activities (usually characterised as the public financial corporations (PFC) sector and the public non-financial corporations (PNFC) sector and the public sector as a whole. The major features of the PFC and PNFC sectors are outlined in this Standard.

Financial statements consolidate only controlled entities. Such a limitation is not made in statistical bases of financial reporting. In some jurisdictions a national government controls state/provincial and local government entities, and therefore its financial statements consolidate those levels of government, but in other jurisdictions they do not. In all jurisdictions, under statistical bases of financial reporting, the GGS of all levels of government are combined, so in some jurisdictions the GGS will include units that financial statements do not consolidate. This Standard disaggregates the consolidated financial statements of a government. Therefore, it prohibits the presentation, as part of the GGS, of any entity not consolidated within a government's financial statements.

Segment reporting

IPSAS 18, ‘Segment Reporting', requires the disclosure of certain information about the service delivery activities of the entity and the resources allocated to support those activities for accountability and decision-making purposes. Unlike the sectors reported under statistical bases of financial reporting, segments reported in accordance with IPSAS 18 are not based on a distinction between market and non-market activities.

The disclosure of information about the GGS does not replace the need to make disclosures about segments in accordance with IPSAS 18. This is because information about the GGS alone will not provide sufficient detail to enable users to evaluate the entity's past performance in achieving major service delivery objectives, when those objectives are achieved through non- GGS entities. For example, identifying the GGS as a segment will not provide information about a government's performance in achieving its telecommunication, healthcare or educational objectives where government corporations or quasi-corporations deliver services related to those objectives. Because the GGS is only a subset of the government as a whole, important information would be omitted if a government did not present segment information in respect of its consolidated financial statements.

Statistical bases of financial reporting

The objectives of financial statements prepared in accordance with IPSAS and those prepared in accordance with statistical bases of financial reporting differ in some respects. The objectives of financial statements prepared in accordance with IPSAS are to provide information useful for decision making and to demonstrate the accountability of the entity for the resources entrusted to it and which it controls. The purpose of financial statements prepared in accordance with statistical bases of financial reporting is to provide information suitable for analysing and evaluating fiscal policy, especially the performance of the GGS and the broader public sector of any country. In addition, although statistical bases of financial reporting may be described in accounting terms, they might differ in important ways from the underlying financial accounting system from which most of the statistics about government finances will be derived. However, the IPSAS and the statistical bases of financial reporting also have many similarities in the treatment of transactions and events. For example, they adopt an accrual basis of accounting, deal with similar transactions and events, and in some respects require a similar type of report structure.

In some jurisdictions, the disclosure of appropriate information about the GGS in financial statements can support and enhance the decision making of, and accountability to, users of those statements. For example, disclosure of information about the GGS is consistent with enhanced transparency of financial reporting and will assist users of the financial statements to better understand:

In those jurisdictions where financial statements for the government are prepared in accordance with statistical bases of financial reporting and widely published, the disclosure of information about the GGS in financial statements will form a useful link between the financial statements prepared in accordance with IPSAS and those prepared in accordance with statistical bases of financial reporting. This will assist users in reconciling information presented in financial statements to information presented in statistical reports. IPSAS 24, ‘Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements', requires that financial statements include a comparison of budget and actual amounts on a basis consistent with that adopted for the budget. Where government budgets are prepared for the GGS rather than the government as a whole, financial information about the GGS disclosed in accordance with this Standard will be relevant to the comparisons required by that IPSAS.

Accounting policies

IPSAS 3, ‘Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors', requires the development of accounting policies to ensure that the financial statements provide information that meets a number of qualitative characteristics. The compilation and presentation of GGS data which satisfy the qualitative characteristics of information provided in financial statements and related audit requirements may add significantly to the workload of preparers and auditors in many jurisdictions, and may increase the complexity of the financial statements. This will be particularly so in jurisdictions where financial statements based on, or incorporating, GGS disclosures in accordance with statistical bases of financial reporting are not currently prepared. In addition, in some jurisdictions users may not be dependent on financial statements for information about the GGS. In those jurisdictions, the costs involved in preparing and presenting GGS disclosures as part of the financial statements may be greater than their benefit. Therefore, this Standard allows, but does not require, the disclosure of information about the GGS. Whether or not disclosure of information about the GGS will be made in financial statements will be determined by the government or other appropriate authority in each jurisdiction.

This Standard requires that when disclosures about the GGS are made in financial statements, those disclosures are to be made in accordance with the requirements prescribed in this Standard. This will ensure that an appropriate representation of the GGS is made in the financial statements and that disclosures about the GGS satisfy the qualitative characteristics of financial information, including understandability, relevance, reliability and comparability.

IPSAS generally apply to all public sector entities. However, it is only possible to disclose a meaningful representation of the GGS for a government–not its individual controlled entities. Therefore, this Standard specifies requirements for application only by governments which prepare consolidated financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting as prescribed by IPSAS. These governments may include national, state/provincial and local governments.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Government Business Enterprises
  • General Government Sector
    • Public Financial Corporations Sector
    • Public Non-Financial Corporations Sector
• Accounting Policies
  • Further Disaggregation
• Disclosures
  • Reconciliation to the Consolidated Financial Statements
  • Reconciliation to Statistical Bases of Financial Reporting
• Effective Date
• Appendix: Amendments to Other International Public Sector Accounting Standards Implementation Guidance – Illustrative Financial Statement Structure Basis for Conclusions

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 23 Revenue from Non-Exchange Transactions (Taxes and Transfers)

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe requirements for the financial reporting of revenue arising from non-exchange transactions, other than non-exchange transactions that give rise to an entity combination. The Standard deals with issues that need to be considered in recognising and measuring revenue from non-exchange transactions including the identification of contributions from owners.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting shall apply this Standard in accounting for revenue from non-exchange transactions. This Standard does not apply to an entity combination that is a non-exchange transaction.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

This Standard addresses revenue arising from non-exchange transactions. Revenue arising from exchange transactions is addressed in IPSAS 9, ‘Revenue from Exchange Transactions'. While revenues received by public sector entities arise from both exchange and non-exchange transactions, the majority of revenue of governments and other public sector entities is typically derived from non-exchange transactions such as:

Governments may reorganise the public sector, merging some public sector entities and dividing other entities into two or more separate entities. An entity combination occurs when two or more reporting entities are brought together to form one reporting entity. These restructurings do not ordinarily involve one entity purchasing another entity, but may result in a new or existing entity acquiring all the assets and liabilities of another entity. The IPSASB has not addressed entity combinations and has excluded them from the scope of this Standard. Therefore, this Standard does not specify whether an entity combination, which is a non-exchange transaction, will give rise to revenue or not.

Government Business Enterprises

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that IFRS are designed to apply to the general purpose financial statements of all profit-oriented entities. GBEs are profit-oriented entities and accordingly are required to comply with IFRS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Non-Exchange Transactions
  • Revenue
  • Stipulations
  • Conditions on Transferred Assets
  • Restrictions on Transferred Assets
  • Substance over Form
  • Taxes
• Analysis of the Initial Inflow of Resources from Non-Exchange Transactions
• Recognition of Assets
  • Control of an Asset
  • Past Event
  • Probable Inflow of Resources
  • Contingent Assets
  • Contributions from Owners
  • Exchange and Non-Exchange Components of a Transaction
  • Measurement of Assets on Initial Recognition
• Recognition of Revenue from Non-Exchange Transactions
• Measurement of Revenue from Non-Exchange Transactions
• Present Obligations Recognised as Liabilities
  • Present Obligation
  • Conditions on a Transferred Asset
  • Measurement of Liabilities on Initial Recognition
• Taxes
  • The Taxable Event
  • Advance Receipts of Taxes
  • Measurement of Assets Arising from Taxation Transactions
  • Expenses Paid Through the Tax System and Tax Expenditures
• Transfers
  • Measurement of Transferred Assets
  • Debt Forgiveness and Assumption of Liabilities
  • Fines
  • Bequests
  • Gifts and Donations, including Goods In-kind
  • Services In Kind
  • Pledges
  • Advance Receipts of Transfers
• Disclosures
• Transitional Provisions
• Effective Date
• Appendix – Amendments to Other IPSAS
• Implementation Guidance: Examples
• Basis for Conclusions

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 24 Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements

Objective

This Standard requires a comparison of budget amounts and the actual amounts arising from execution of the budget to be included in the financial statements of entities which are required to, or elect to, make publicly available their approved budget(s) and for which they are, therefore, held publicly accountable. The Standard also requires disclosure of an explanation of the reasons for material differences between the budget and actual amounts. Compliance with the requirements of this Standard will ensure that public sector entities discharge their accountability obligations and enhance the transparency of their financial statements by demonstrating compliance with the approved budget(s) for which they are held publicly accountable and, where the budget(s) and the financial statements are prepared on the same basis, their financial performance in achieving the budgeted results.

Scope

An entity that prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting shall apply this Standard.

This Standard applies to public sector entities, other than GBEs, that are required or elect to make publicly available their approved budget(s).

This Standard does not require approved budgets to be made publicly available, nor does it require that the financial statements disclose information about, or make comparisons with, approved budgets which are not made publicly available.

In some cases, approved budgets will be compiled to encompass all the activities controlled by a public sector entity. In other cases, separate approved budgets may be required to be made publicly available for certain activities, groups of activities or entities included in the financial statements of a government or other public sector entity. This may occur where, for example, a government's financial statements encompass government agencies or programmes that have operational autonomy and prepare their own budgets, or where a budget is prepared only for the general government sector of the whole of government. This Standard applies to all entities which present financial statements when approved budgets for the entity, or components thereof, are made publicly available.

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that GBEs apply IFRS which are issued by the IASB. GBEs are defined in IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements'.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Approved Budgets
  • Original and Final Budget
  • Actual Amounts
• Presentation of a Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts
  • Presentation and Disclosure
  • Level of Aggregation
  • Changes from Original to Final Budget
  • Comparable Basis
  • Multi-year Budgets
• Note Disclosures of Budgetary Basis, Period and Scope
• Reconciliation of Actual Amounts on a Comparable Basis and Actual Amounts in the Financial Statements
• Effective Date
• Implementation Guidance – Illustrative Examples
• Basis for Conclusions

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 25 Employee Benefits

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the accounting and disclosure for employee benefits. The Standard requires an entity to recognise:

Scope

This Standard shall be applied by an employer in accounting for all employee benefits, except share-based transactions (see the relevant international or national accounting standard dealing with share-based transactions).

This Standard does not deal with reporting by employee retirement benefit plans (see the relevant international or national accounting standard dealing with employee retirement benefit plans). This Standard does not deal with benefits provided by composite social security programmes that are not consideration in exchange for service rendered by employees or past employees of public sector entities.

The employee benefits to which this Standard applies include those provided:

Employee benefits include:

Employee benefits include benefits provided to either employees or their dependants and may be settled by payments (or the provision of goods or services) made either directly to the employees, to their spouses, children or other dependants or to others, such as insurance companies.

An employee may provide services to an entity on a full-time, part-time, permanent, casual or temporary basis. For the purpose of this Standard, employees include key management personnel as defined in IPSAS 20, ‘Related Party Disclosures'.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

The ‘Preface to International Financial Reporting Standards' issued by the IASB explains that IFRS are designed to apply to the general purpose financial statements of all profit-oriented entities. GBEs are profit-oriented entities. Accordingly, they are required to comply with IFRS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
• Short-Term Employee Benefits
  • Recognition and Measurement
    • All Short-Term Employee Benefits
    • Short-Term Compensated Absences
    • Bonus Payments and Profit-Sharing Payments
  • Disclosure
• Post-Employment Benefits: Distinction between Defined Contribution Plans and Defined Benefit Plans
  • Multi-Employer Plans
  • Defined Benefit Plans where the Participating Entities are under Common Control
  • State Plans
  • Composite Social Security Programmes
  • Insured Benefits
• Post-Employment Benefits: Defined Contribution Plans
  • Recognition and Measurement
  • Disclosure
• Post-Employment Benefits: Defined Benefit Plans
  • Recognition and Measurement
    • Accounting for the Constructive Obligation
    • Statement of Financial Position
    • Statement of Financial Performance
  • Recognition and Measurement: Present Value of Defined Benefit Obligations and Current Service Cost
    • Actuarial Valuation Method
    • Attributing Benefit to Periods of Service
    • Actuarial Assumptions
    • Actuarial Assumptions: Discount Rate
    • Actuarial Assumptions: Salaries, Benefits and Medical Costs
    • Actuarial Gains and Losses
    • Past Service Cost
  • Recognition and Measurement: Plan Assets
    • Fair Value of Plan Assets
    • Reimbursements
    • Return on Plan Assets
  • Entity Combinations
  • Curtailments and Settlements
  • Presentation
    • Offset
    • Current/Non-Current Distinction
    • Financial Components of Post-Employment Benefit Costs ...
  • Disclosure
• Other Long-Term Employee Benefits
  • Recognition and Measurement
  • Disclosure
• Termination Benefits
  • Recognition
  • Measurement
  • Disclosure
• First-Time Adoption of this Standard
• Effective Date
• Application Guidance
• Implementation Guidance
• A: Illustrative Example: Funded Defined Benefit Plan
• B: Illustrative Disclosures
• C: Illustration of the Application of Paragraph 70
• Basis for Conclusions
• Comparison with IAS 19

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 26 Impairment of Cash-Generating Assets

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the procedures that an entity applies to determine whether a cash-generating asset is impaired and to ensure that impairment losses are recognised. This Standard also specifies when an entity should reverse an impairment loss and prescribes disclosures.

Scope

An entity which prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting shall apply this Standard in accounting for the impairment of cash-generating assets, except for:

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

GBEs apply IAS 36, ‘Impairment of Assets', and therefore are not subject to the provisions of this Standard. Public sector entities, other than GBEs, that hold non-cash- generating assets as defined in paragraph 13 apply IPSAS 21, ‘Impairment of Non-Cash-Generating Assets', to such assets. Public sector entities, other than GBEs, that hold cash-generating assets apply the requirements of this Standard.

This Standard excludes cash-generating intangible assets that are regularly re-valued to fair value from its scope. This Standard includes all other cash-generating intangible assets (for example, those that are carried at cost less any accumulated amortisation) within its scope.

This Standard excludes goodwill from its scope. Entities apply the requirements of the relevant international or national accounting standards dealing with the impairment of goodwill, the allocation of goodwill to cash-generating units and the testing for impairment of cash-generating units with goodwill.

This Standard does not apply to inventories and cash-generating assets arising from construction contracts, because existing Standards applicable to these assets contain requirements for recognising and measuring such assets. This Standard does not apply to deferred tax assets, assets related to employee benefits, or deferred acquisition costs and intangible assets arising from an insurer's contractual rights under insurance contracts. The impairment of such assets is addressed in the relevant international or national accounting standards. In addition, this Standard does not apply to biological assets related to agricultural activity that are measured at fair value less certain point-of-sale costs and non-current assets (or disposal groups) classified as held for sale that are measured at the lower of carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell. The relevant international or national accounting standards dealing with such assets contain measurement requirements.

This Standard does not apply to any financial assets that are included in the scope of IPSAS 15. Impairment of these assets will be dealt with in any IPSAS that the IPSASB develops to deal with the recognition and measurement of financial instruments.

This Standard does not require the application of an impairment test to an investment property that is carried at fair value in accordance with IPSAS 16. Under the fair value model in IPSAS 16, an investment property is carried at fair value at the reporting date and any impairment will be taken into account in the valuation.

This Standard does not require the application of an impairment test to cash-generating assets that are carried at re-valued amounts under the re-valuation model in IPSAS 17. Under the re-valuation model in IPSAS 17, assets will be re-valued with sufficient regularity to ensure that they are carried at an amount that is not materially different from their fair value at the reporting date and any impairment will be taken into account in that valuation.

Investments in:

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that IFRS are designed to apply to the general purpose financial statements of all profit-oriented entities. GBEs are profit-oriented entities and accordingly are required to comply with IFRS.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Cash-Generating Assets
  • Depreciation
  • Impairment
• Identifying an Asset that may be Impaired
• Measuring Recoverable Amount
  • Measuring the Recoverable Amount of an Intangible Asset with an Indefinite Useful Life
  • Fair Value less Costs to Sell
  • Value in Use
  • Basis for Estimates of Future Cash Flows
  • Composition of Estimates of Future Cash Flows
  • Foreign Currency Future Cash Flows
  • Discount Rate
• Recognising and Measuring an Impairment Loss of an Individual Asset
• Cash-Generating Units
  • Identifying the Cash-Generating Unit to Which as Asset Belongs
  • Recoverable Amount and Carrying Amount of a Cash-Generating Unit
  • Impairment Loss for a Cash-Generating Unit
• Reversing an Impairment Loss
  • Reversing an Impairment Loss for an Individual Asset
  • Reversing an Impairment Loss for a Cash-Generating Unit
• Redesignation of Assets
• Disclosure
• Disclosure of Estimates used to Measure Recoverable Amounts of Cash-Generating Units Containing Intangible Assets with Indefinite Useful Lives
• Effective Date
• Appendices
  • A: Using Present Value Techniques to Measure Value in Use
  • B: Individual Assets in Cash-Generating Units
  • C: Amendments to Other International Public Sector Accounting Standards
• Implementation Guidance
• Basis for Conclusions
• Comparison With IAS 36 (2004)

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 27 Agriculture

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the accounting treatment and disclosures for agricultural activity.

Scope

An entity that prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting shall apply this Standard for the following when they relate to agricultural activity:

This Standard does not apply to:

Biological assets are used in many activities undertaken by public sector entities. When biological assets are used for research, education, transportation, entertainment, recreation, customs control or in any other activities that are not agricultural activities as defined in this Standard, those biological assets are not accounted for in accordance with this Standard. Where those biological assets meet the definition of an asset, other IPSASs should be considered in determining the appropriate accounting (e.g., IPSAS 12, ‘Inventories', and IPSAS 17).

This Standard is applied to agricultural produce, which is the harvested product of the entity's biological assets, only at the point of harvest. Thereafter, IPSAS 12, or another applicable Standard, is applied. Accordingly, this Standard does not deal with the processing of agricultural produce after harvest; for example, the processing of grapes into wine by a vintner who has grown the grapes. While such processing may be a logical and natural extension of agricultural activity, and the events taking place may bear some similarity to biological transformation, such processing is not included within the definition of agricultural activity in this Standard.

Table 2.2 provides examples of biological assets, agricultural produce and products that are the result of processing after harvest.

TABLE 2.2 Examples of products that are the result of processing after harvest.

Biological assets	Agricultural produce	Products that are the result of processing after harvest
Sheep	Wool	Yarn, carpet
Trees in a plantation forest	Felled trees	Logs, lumber
Plants	Cotton	Thread, clothing
	Harvested cane	Sugar
Dairy cattle	Milk	Cheese
Pigs	Carcass	Sausages, cured hams
Bushes	Leaf	Tea, cured tobacco
Vines	Grapes	Wine
Fruit trees	Picked fruit	Processed fruit

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that GBEs apply IFRS, which are issued by the IASB.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
  • Agriculture-related Definitions
  • General Definitions
• Recognition and Measurement
  • Gains and Losses
  • Inability to Measure Fair Value Reliably
• Disclosure
  • General
  • Additional Disclosures for Biological Assets Where Fair Value Cannot be Measured Reliably
• Transitional Provisions
  • Initial Adoption of Accrual Accounting
• Effective Date
• Appendix – Amendments to Other IPSAS
• Basis for Conclusions
• Illustrative Examples
• Comparison with IAS 41

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 28 Financial Instruments: Presentation

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to establish principles for presenting financial instruments as liabilities or net assets/equity and for offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities. It applies to the classification of financial instruments, from the perspective of the issuer, into financial assets, financial liabilities and equity instruments; the classification of related interest, dividends or similar distributions, losses and gains; and the circumstances in which financial assets and financial liabilities should be offset.

The principles in this Standard complement the principles for recognising and measuring financial assets and financial liabilities in IPSAS 29, ‘Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement', and for disclosing information about them in IPSAS 30, ‘Financial Instruments: Disclosures'.

Scope

An entity that prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting shall apply this Standard to all types of financial instruments except:

This Standard shall be applied to those contracts to buy or sell a non-financial item that can be settled net in cash or another financial instrument, or by exchanging financial instruments, as if the contracts were financial instruments, with the exception of contracts that were entered into and continue to be held for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of a non-financial item in accordance with the entity's expected purchase, sale or usage requirements.

There are various ways in which a contract to buy or sell a non-financial item can be settled net in cash or another financial instrument or by exchanging financial instruments. These include:

A contract to which (b) or (c) above applies is not entered into for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of the non-financial item in accordance with the entity's expected purchase, sale, or usage requirements, and, accordingly, is within the scope of this Standard. Other contracts to which paragraph 4 applies are evaluated to determine whether they were entered into and continue to be held for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of the non-financial item in accordance with the entity's expected purchase, sale, or usage requirement, and accordingly, whether they are within the scope of this Standard.

A written option to buy or sell a non-financial item that can be settled net in cash or another financial instrument, or by exchanging financial instruments, in accordance with paragraph (a) or (d) immediately mentioned previously is within the scope of this Standard. Such a contract cannot be entered into for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of the non-financial item in accordance with the entity's expected purchase, sale, or usage requirements.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that GBEs apply IFRS issued by the IASB. GBEs are defined in IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements'.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears below:

• Definitions
• Presentation
  • Liabilities and Net Assets/Equity
    • Puttable Instruments
    • Instruments, or Components of Instruments, that Impose on the Entity an Obligation to Deliver to Another Party a pro rata Share of the Net Assets of the Entity only on Liquidation
    • Reclassification of Puttable Instruments and Instruments that Impose on the Entity an Obligation to Deliver to Another Party a pro rata Share of the Net Assets of the Entity Only on Liquidation
    • No Contractual Obligation to Deliver Cash or Another Financial Asset
  • Settlement in the Entity's Own Equity Instruments
  • Contingent Settlement Provisions
  • Settlement Options
  • Compound Financial Instruments
• Treasury Shares
• Interest, Dividends or Similar Distributions, Losses, and Gains
• Offsetting a Financial Asset and a Financial Liability
• Transition
• Effective Date
• Withdrawal and Replacement of IPSAS 15 (2001)
• Appendix A – Application Guidance
• Appendix B – Members' Shares in Cooperative Entities and Similar Instruments
• Appendix C – Amendments to Other IPSAS
• Basis for Conclusions
• Illustrative Examples
• Comparison with IAS 32

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 29 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to establish principles for recognising and measuring financial assets, financial liabilities and some contracts to buy or sell non-financial items. Requirements for presenting information about financial instruments are in IPSAS 28, ‘Financial Instruments: Presentation'. Requirements for disclosing information about financial instruments are in IPSAS 30, ‘Financial Instruments: Disclosures'.

Scope

This Standard shall be applied by all entities to all types of financial instruments, except:

The following loan commitments are within the scope of this Standard:

This Standard shall be applied to those contracts to buy or sell a non-financial item that can be settled net in cash or another financial instrument, or by exchanging financial instruments, as if the contracts were financial instruments, with the exception of contracts that were entered into and continue to be held for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of a non-financial item in accordance with the entity's expected purchase, sale, or usage requirements.

There are various ways in which a contract to buy or sell a non-financial item can be settled net in cash or another financial instrument or by exchanging financial instruments. These include:

A contract to which (b) or (c) applies is not entered into for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of the non-financial item in accordance with the entity's expected purchase, sale or usage requirements and, accordingly, is within the scope of this Standard. Other contracts to which paragraph 4 applies are evaluated to determine whether they were entered into and continue to be held for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of the non-financial item in accordance with the entity's expected purchase, sale or usage requirements and, accordingly, whether they are within the scope of this Standard.

A written option to buy or sell a non-financial item that can be settled net in cash or another financial instrument, or by exchanging financial instruments, in accordance with (a) or (d) immediately mentioned previously is within the scope of this Standard. Such a contract cannot be entered into for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of the non-financial item in accordance with the entity's expected purchase, sale or usage requirements.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that GBEs apply IFRS issued by the IASB. GBEs are defined in IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements'.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
• Embedded Derivatives
• Recognition and Derecognition
  • Initial Recognition
  • Derecognition of a Financial Asset
    • Transfers that Qualify for Derecognition
    • Transfers that do not Qualify for Derecognition
    • Continuing Involvement in Transferred Assets
  • All Transfers
  • Regular Way Purchases and Sales of a Financial Asset
  • Derecognition of a Financial Liability
• Measurement
  • Initial Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities
  • Subsequent Measurement of Financial Assets
  • Subsequent Measurement of Financial Liabilities
  • Fair Value Considerations
  • Reclassifications
  • Gains and Losses
  • Impairment and Uncollectibility of Financial Assets
    • Financial Assets Carried at Amortised Cost
    • Financial Assets Carried at Cost
    • Available-For-Sale Financial Assets
• Hedging
  • Hedging Instruments
    • Qualifying Hedging Instruments
    • Designation of Hedging Instruments
  • Hedged Items
    • Qualifying Items
    • Designation of Financial Items as Hedged Items
    • Designation of Non-financial Items as Hedged Items
    • Designation of Groups of Items as Hedged Items
  • Hedge Accounting
    • Fair Value Hedges
    • Cash Flow Hedges
    • Hedges of a Net Investment
• Transition
• Effective Date
• Appendix A – Application Guidance
• Appendix B – Reassessment of Embedded Derivatives
• Appendix C – Hedges of a Net Investment in a Foreign Operation
• Appendix D – Amendments to Other IPSAS
• Basis for Conclusions
• Implementation Guidance
• Illustrative Examples
• Comparison with IAS 39

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 30 Financial Instruments: Disclosures

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to require entities to provide disclosures in their financial statements that enable users to evaluate:

The principles in this Standard complement the principles for recognising, measuring and presenting financial assets and financial liabilities in IPSAS 28, ‘Financial Instruments: Presentation', and IPSAS 29, ‘Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement'.

Scope

This Standard shall be applied by all entities to all types of financial instruments, except:

This Standard applies to recognised and unrecognised financial instruments. Recognised financial instruments include financial assets and financial liabilities that are within the scope of IPSAS 29. Unrecognised financial instruments include some financial instruments that, although outside the scope of IPSAS 29, are within the scope of this Standard (such as some loan commitments).

This Standard applies to contracts to buy or sell a non-financial item that are within the scope of IPSAS 29.

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that GBEs apply IFRS issued by the IASB. GBEs are defined in IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements'.

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
• Classes of Financial Instruments and Level of Disclosure
• Significance of Financial Instruments for Financial Position and Financial Performance
  • Statement of Financial Position
    • Categories of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities
    • Financial Assets or Financial Liabilities at Fair Value through Surplus or Deficit
    • Reclassification
    • Derecognition
    • Collateral
    • Allowance Account for Credit Losses
    • Compound Financial Instruments with Multiple Embedded Derivatives
    • Defaults and Breaches
  • Statement of Financial Performance
    • Items of Revenue, Expense, Gains, or Losses
  • Other Disclosures
    • Accounting Policies
    • Hedge Accounting
    • Fair Value
    • Concessionary Loans
• Nature and Extent of Risks Arising from Financial Instruments
  • Qualitative Disclosures
  • Quantitative Disclosures
  • Credit Risk
    • Financial Assets that are Either Past Due or Impaired
    • Collateral and Other Credit Enhancements Obtained
  • Liquidity Risk
  • Market Risk
    • Sensitivity Analysis
    • Other Market Risk Disclosures
• Effective Date and Transition
• Withdrawal and Replacement of IPSAS 15 (2001)
• Appendix A – Application Guidance
• Appendix B – Amendments to Other IPSAS
• Basis for Conclusions
• Implementation Guidance
• Comparison with IFRS 7

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

IPSAS 31 Intangible Assets

Objective

The objective of this Standard is to prescribe the accounting treatment for intangible assets that are not dealt with specifically in another Standard. This Standard requires an entity to recognise an intangible asset if, and only if, specified criteria are met. The Standard also specifies how to measure the carrying amount of intangible assets, and requires specified disclosures about intangible assets.

Scope

An entity that prepares and presents financial statements under the accrual basis of accounting shall apply this Standard in accounting for intangible assets.

This Standard shall be applied in accounting for intangible assets, except:

This Standard applies to all public sector entities other than GBEs.

The ‘Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards' issued by the IPSASB explains that GBEs apply IFRS issued by the IASB. GBEs are defined in IPSAS 1, ‘Presentation of Financial Statements'.

If another IPSAS prescribes the accounting for a specific type of intangible asset, an entity applies that IPSAS instead of this Standard. For example, this Standard does not apply to:

Some intangible assets may be contained in or on a physical substance such as a compact disc (in the case of computer software), legal documentation (in the case of a licence or patent), or film. In determining whether an asset that incorporates both intangible and tangible elements should be treated under IPSAS 17, ‘Property, Plant and Equipment', or as an intangible asset under this Standard, an entity uses judgement to assess which element is more significant. For example, the navigation software for a fighter aircraft is integral to the aircraft and is treated as property, plant and equipment. The same applies to the operating system of a computer. When the software is not an integral part of the related hardware, computer software is treated as an intangible asset.

This Standard applies to, among other things, expenditure on advertising, training, start-up, research and development activities. Research and development activities are directed to the development of knowledge. Therefore, although these activities may result in an asset with physical substance (e.g. a prototype), the physical element of the asset is secondary to its intangible component, that is, the knowledge embodied in it.

In the case of a finance lease, the underlying asset may be either tangible or intangible. After initial recognition, a lessee accounts for an intangible asset held under a finance lease in accordance with this Standard. Rights under licensing agreements for items such as motion picture films, video recordings, plays, manuscripts, patents and copyrights are excluded from the scope of IPSAS 13 and are within the scope of this Standard.

Exclusions from the scope of a Standard may occur if activities or transactions are so specialised that they give rise to accounting issues that may need to be dealt with in a different way. Such issues arise in the accounting for expenditure on the exploration for, or development and extraction of, oil, gas and mineral deposits in extractive industries, and in the case of insurance contracts. Therefore, this Standard does not apply to expenditure on such activities and contracts. However, this Standard applies to other intangible assets used (such as computer software), and other expenditure incurred (such as start-up costs), in extractive industries, or by insurers.

Intangible heritage assets

This Standard does not require an entity to recognise intangible heritage assets that would otherwise meet the definition of, and recognition criteria for, intangible assets. If an entity does recognise intangible heritage assets, it must apply the disclosure requirements of this Standard and may, but is not required to, apply the measurement requirements of this Standard.

Some intangible assets are described as intangible heritage assets because of their cultural, environmental or historical significance. Examples of intangible heritage assets include recordings of significant historical events and rights to use the likeness of a significant public person on, for example, postage stamps or collectible coins. Certain characteristics, including the following, are often displayed by intangible heritage assets (although these characteristics are not exclusive to such assets):

Public sector entities may have large holdings of intangible heritage assets that have been acquired over many years and by various means, including purchase, donation, bequest and sequestration. These assets are rarely held for their ability to generate cash inflows, and there may be legal or social obstacles to using them for such purposes.

Some intangible heritage assets have future economic benefits or service potential other than their heritage value, for example, royalties paid to the entity for use of an historical recording. In these cases, an intangible heritage asset may be recognised and measured on the same basis as other items of cash-generating intangible assets. For other intangible heritage assets, their future economic benefit or service potential is limited to their heritage characteristics. The existence of both future economic benefits and service potential can affect the choice of measurement base.

The disclosure requirements of this Standard require entities to make disclosures about recognised intangible assets. Therefore, entities that recognise intangible heritage assets are required to disclose in respect of those assets such matters as, for example:

Summary

In addition to the objective, scope and related introduction, a summary of this Standard appears next:

• Definitions
  • Intangible Assets
  • Control of an Asset
  • Future Economic Benefits or Service Potential
• Recognition and Measurement
  • Separate Acquisition
  • Subsequent Expenditure on an Acquired In-process
  • Research and Development Project
  • Intangible Assets Acquired through Non-exchange Transactions
  • Exchanges of Assets
  • Internally Generated Goodwill
  • Internally Generated Intangible Assets
  • Research Phase
  • Development Phase
  • Cost of an Internally Generated Intangible Asset
• Recognition of an Expense
  • Past Expenses not to be Recognised as an Asset
• Subsequent Measurement
  • Cost Model
  • Re-valuation Model
• Useful Life
• Intangible Assets with Finite Useful Lives
  • Amortisation Period and Amortisation Method
  • Residual Value
  • Review of Amortisation Period and Amortisation Method
• Intangible Assets with Indefinite Useful Lives
  • Review of Useful Life Assessment
• Recoverability of the Carrying Amount – Impairment Losses
• Retirements and Disposals
• Disclosure
  • General
  • Intangible Assets Measured after Recognition using the Re-valuation Model
  • Research and Development Expenditure
  • Other Information
• Transition
• Effective Date
• Appendix A – Application Guidance
• Appendix B – Amendments to Other IPSAS
• Basis for Conclusions
• Illustrative Examples
• Comparison with IAS 38

More information on the detailed text of the Standard is available at www.ipsas.org/en/ipsas_standards.htm.

Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements

The Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements brings together for continuing reference background information about the IFAC and the currently effective pronouncements for the public sector issued by IFAC. This handbook, published in 2012, and presented in two volumes containing almost 2,000 pages, can be obtained via www.ifac.org/publications-resources.

The contents of this publication are as follows. This text is an extract from Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, published by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in April 2012 and is used with permission of IFAC.

• Volume I
  • International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board – Terms of Reference
  • International Federation of Accountants
  • Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards
  • Introduction to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards
  • IPSAS 1 – Presentation of Financial Statements
  • IPSAS 2 – Cash Flow Statements
  • IPSAS 3 – Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors
  • IPSAS 4 – The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates
  • IPSAS 5 – Borrowing Costs
  • IPSAS 6 – Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements
  • IPSAS 7 – Investments in Associates
  • IPSAS 8 – Interests in Joint Ventures
  • IPSAS 9 – Revenue from Exchange Transactions
  • IPSAS 10 – Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies
  • IPSAS 11 – Construction Contracts
  • IPSAS 12 – Inventories
  • IPSAS 13 – Leases
  • IPSAS 14 – Events after the Reporting Date
  • IPSAS 15 – Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation
  • IPSAS 16 – Investment Property
  • IPSAS 17 – Property, Plant and Equipment
  • IPSAS 18 – Segment Reporting 4
  • IPSAS 19 – Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets
  • IPSAS 20 – Related Party Disclosures
  • IPSAS 21 – Impairment of Non-Cash-Generating Assets
  • IPSAS 22 – Disclosure of Financial Information about the General Government Sector
  • IPSAS 23 – Revenue from Non-Exchange Transactions (Taxes and Transfers)
  • IPSAS 24 – Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements
  • IPSAS 25 – Employee Benefits
• Volume II
  • IPSAS 26 – Impairment of Cash-Generating Assets
  • IPSAS 27 – Agriculture
  • IPSAS 28 – Financial Instruments: Presentation
  • IPSAS 29 – Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement
  • IPSAS 30 – Financial Instruments: Disclosures
  • IPSAS 31 – Intangible Assets
  • Introduction to the International Public Sector Accounting Standard under the Cash Basis of Accounting
  • Cash Basis IPSAS – Financial Reporting Under the Cash Basis of Accounting
  • Glossary of Defined Terms in IPSAS 1 to IPSAS 31
  • Summary of Other Documents

2.2 STATISTICS-BASED STANDARDS

The objective of this section is to show that there are a huge amount of organisations, such as the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA, or SNA), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and many entities in the EU and US, actively involved in collecting data. Nevertheless, usually, the data are very outdated, and are un-coordinated so that they do not tie in to any endeavour seeking to sort data into objects and value. Still, it is a necessary endeavour to remain abreast of relevant statistics, and to do whatever can be done under limitations and time and financial resources.

Attention will be paid to the following, being locations for information that is relevant to the topic of statistics-based standards:

• International Public Sector Accounting Standards and Statistical Bases of Financial Reporting: An Analysis of Differences and Recommendations for Convergence;
• Alignment of IPSAS and Public Sector Statistical Reporting Guidance;
• Inter-secretariat Working Group on National Accounts;
• System of National Accounts.

International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and Statistical Bases of Financial Reporting: An Analysis of Differences and Recommendations for Convergence

In the first instance, consider International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and Statistical Bases of Financial Reporting: An Analysis of Differences and Recommendations for Convergence, a report published in 2005 by the IPSASB,which is accessible at www.ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/international-public-sector.pdf.

The Executive Summary of this report is as follows. Accounting and statistical bases for reporting financial information have different objectives, focus on different reporting entities and treat some transactions and events differently. However, they also have many similarities in treatment, deal with similar transactions and events and in some cases have a similar type of report structure. It has been argued that users of financial reports of public sector entities are confused by differences between statistical and accounting reporting bases and that there is significant benefit in better explaining those differences and in converging treatments of similar transactions and events to the extent possible.

This Report was developed by members of Working Group 1 (WGI) of the international Task Force on Harmonization of Public Sector Accounting (TFHPSA). The purpose of the TFHPSA is to identify differences between accounting and statistical bases of financial reporting and make recommendations to those responsible for the development of accounting and statistical bases of financial reporting on approaches for the removal of unnecessary differences.

The centrepiece of this Report is a Table (the ‘Matrix') which identifies, and groups for analytical purposes, key differences as at June 30, 2004 between accounting and statistical bases of financial reporting. The Matrix also identifies processes by which the differences could be reduced.

Requirements for accounting and statistical bases of financial reporting have already been developed by national and international accounting and statistical standards-setting bodies. In many cases, these requirements are being implemented by governments and their agencies. The potential for any reduction in differences is dependent on these standards setters and related key groups and organisations:

• working together to remove existing unnecessary differences;
• developing cooperative mechanisms to ensure that unintended differences do not arise in the future as existing financial reporting requirements are refined and additional requirements developed to deal with additional economic transactions and/or phenomena.

The standards-setting bodies and related key groups and organisations referred to above include the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB – formerly the Public Sector Committee (PSC)), the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Eurostat and groups involved in the update of the System of National Accounts 1993 (1993 SNA) such as the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA) and its Advisory Expert Group (AEG), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Canberra II Group, and Working Group II (WGII) of TFHPSA. Many of these groups have been involved in the development of this Report and their goodwill and cooperation augur well for future convergence activities.

A number of these groups are currently undertaking work on projects that affect the convergence agenda. In many cases, these projects relate to issues identified in the Matrix. These are identified in Table 1 of this Executive Summary. (Readers should note that Table 1 does not necessarily identify all projects currently being progressed by these groups. It only identifies projects which are anticipated to be of particular significance to the convergence agenda.) Appendix 1 of this Research Report identifies the process for updating the 1993 SNA (Section A) and provides a brief overview of the issues being considered as part of the update (Sections B and C).

This Report makes specific recommendations on convergence activities and convergence projects that could usefully be undertaken by the key groups. These are summarised in Table 2 of this Executive Summary. Table 2 also identifies groups that may also be undertaking related work and are encouraged to work together to develop a common solution. The final column of Table 2 provides a link to the fuller discussion of the recommendation in the Matrix itself.

Table 2 is designed to help each group identify the role it can play in progressing convergence and to assist in monitoring progress on convergence. It provides a useful overview of the issues and recommendations, but is not a substitute for the detailed analysis in the Matrix itself. Many of the recommendations in this Report relate primarily to the work of the IPSASB rather than to other groups. This reflects the assessment that the IPSASB is in a better position than other groups to pursue convergence on certain issues. The Report recognises that the IPSASB has an ongoing work programme that includes progressing public sector specific issues and convergence with standards issued by the IASB, as well as convergence with statistical bases of financial reporting. In recognition of this, the Report identifies for the IPSASB's consideration the following as priority convergence projects:

• the development of an IPSAS that allows or encourages disclosure of information about the GGS (as defined in statistical bases of financial reporting) in whole of government general purpose financial statements (GPFS), specifies rules when a government elects to make such disclosures, and acknowledges that other sectors may also be disclosed in a manner similar to the GGS information (see the issues under category 1 of the Matrix);
• the development of a long-term project on reporting financial performance that splits the comprehensive result into two components that aligns as far as possible with the split between transactions and other economic flows adopted in statistical bases of financial reporting (see the issues under issue 8.4 of the Matrix);
• the development or amendment of IPSAS that will require or allow the adoption of current values in IPSAS (see, for example, the issues under category 5 of the Matrix).

The Report notes that some differences will not, and arguably should not, converge over the long term. These are differences that arise because of the different objectives and focuses of accounting and statistical financial reporting bases. These differences are identified in Table 3 of this Executive Summary. In the long term it will be necessary to develop a reconciliation statement to deal with these differences and to illustrate the relationship between accounting and statistical reporting bases. Depending on the progress made on convergence of the issues identified in Table 2, that reconciliation statement may also need to deal with other differences. The Report argues that it is premature at this time to consider the form of such a reconciliation statement – time should be allowed to work through those issues identified in Table 2.

It is intended that WGI has an ongoing role in supporting the convergence of accounting and statistical financial reporting. As part of that role WGI will monitor the convergence activities of international accounting and statistical bodies responsible for establishing requirements for financial reporting. It is anticipated that Table 2 will be useful for this ongoing role and in determining at what stage, and in respect of what matters, resources of standards setters should be allocated to the development of a reconciliation statement to deal with outstanding differences between accounting and statistical bases of financial reporting.

Summary

In addition to the Executive Summary, this research report, over 100 pages in length, is comprised of the following:

• List of Acronyms
• Introduction
  • The Matrix – Structure
  • Convergence – Key Groups, Recommendations and a Way Forward
• Matrix
  • The scope of the reporting entity and sector reporting
  • Outside ownership relationships
  • Recognition of assets (other than financial instruments)
  • Counterparty/symmetry and recognition
  • Measurement of assets, liabilities and net assets/equity
  • Financial instruments
  • Time series
  • Financial statements for the reporting entity (and/or sectors thereof)
  • Terminology and definitions
  • Items considered and found not to or not expected to be a cause of a difference
• Appendices
  • Updating 1993 SNA: Process and Issues
  • International Public Sector Accounting Standards and Invitations to Comment as at June 30, 2004

Alignment of IPSAS and Public Sector Statistical Reporting Guidance

Information about this project is accessible at www.ifac.org/public-sector/projects/alignment-ipsass-and-public-sector-statistical-reporting-guidance.

The scope, background, issues and task force progress/board discussions to date are presented next.

Scope

This project will involve an analysis of the differences between the revised Government Finance Statistics Manual 2008 (GFSM 2008) and pronouncements in the IPSASB Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements and an evaluation of the extent to which further harmonisation between statistical reporting guidance and IPSAS might be feasible. The project will also involve the development of an illustrative Chart of Accounts that could facilitate compilation of reports based on the statistical reporting guidance and IPSAS and an evaluation of whether amendments should be made to IPSAS 22, Disclosure of Financial Information about the General Government Sector, in the light of changes to System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA 2008) and updated GFSM and European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA 95).

Background

A continuing emphasis on harmonisation with statistical accounting is a component of the IPSASB theme of public sector critical projects. The project will reinforce awareness of the linkage between statistical reporting guidance and IPSAS. Development of an illustrative Chart of Accounts would be an important contribution to the IPSASB's strategic theme of Outreach and Adoption and would strengthen the likelihood of adoption of IPSAS by governments. The IPSASB has a standard related to this project. IPSAS 22 prescribes disclosure requirements for governments which elect to present information about the GGS in their consolidated financial statements. IPSAS 22 was issued in December 2006 and has not been revised for changes to IPSAS and changes to statistical reporting guidance.

Issues

Issues the project needs to take into consideration include (but are not necessarily limited to):

• development of the broad description of relationships between accounting standards and statistical reporting guidance in time for inclusion as an Appendix in the revised GFSM and as a note for countries applying ESA;
• to ascertain the nature and extent of differences between IPSAS and statistical accounting guidance by updating the matrix that formed the core of the 2005 Research Report, IPSAS and Statistical Bases of Financial Reporting: An Analysis of Differences and Recommendations for Convergence;
• analysing the extent to which the remaining areas of difference can be addressed, including whether there is further scope for harmonisation between statistical reporting guidance and IPSAS;
• to consider whether IPSAS 22 is still robust in the light of the revisions to the GFSM; and
• to ascertain whether development of a Chart of Accounts that can be applied to both IPSAS and GFSM/ESA is feasible.

Task Force progress/board discussions to date

• to develop a broad description of relationships between accounting standards and statistical reporting standards for inclusion in the updated GFSM;
• to provide a review of the implications of revised statistical standards on IPSAS;
• to develop an illustrative chart of accounts that could facilitate the compilation of reports compliant with IPSAS and statistical reporting standards and act as a bridge between the two forms of reporting;
• to update IPSAS 22 for changes to IPSAS and statistical reporting.

Inter-secretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA)

The Inter-secretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA) is one of the oldest interagency bodies set up by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) to enhance cooperation among international organisations working in the same field. See Unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/iswgna.asp).

The ISWGNA (comprising Eurostat, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, United Nations and the World Bank) received its mandate from the UNSC to:

• provide strategic vision, direction and coordination for the methodological development and implementation of the SNA in national, regional and international statistical systems;
• revise and update the SNA and develop supporting normative international statistical standards and other methodological documents on national accounts and supporting statistics;
• promote the development of databases at international, regional and national level on national accounts statistics;
• promote the implementation of the SNA and supporting statistics;
• promote the use of national accounts and supporting statistics in policy formulation.

As mentioned in relation to the preceding text, the SNA is a particular point of focus for many entities involved with statistics-based standards. Information about SNA can be obtained via unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/sna.asp (see Figure 2.3).

The System of National Accounts

The United Nations System of National Accounts (often abbreviated as SNA or UNSNA) is an international standard system of national accounts, the first international standard being published in 1953. Handbooks have been released for the 1968 revision, the 1993 revision and the 2008 revision, referred to below. A feature of the 2008 revision of the SNA is recognition of the increasing use of IFRS corporations and in the public sector. Therefore, chapters in the SNA make reference to the IASB.

The aim of UNSNA is to provide an integrated, complete system of accounts enabling international comparisons of all significant economic activity. The suggestion is that individual countries use UNSNA as a guide in constructing their own national accounting systems, to promote international comparability. However, adherence to an international standard is not, and cannot, be rigidly enforced, and the systems used by some countries differ significantly from the standard. In itself this is not a major problem, provided that each system provides sufficient data which can be reworked to compile national accounts according to the United Nations standard. Even so, the overall process is one of unbelievable detail that is collected in an untimely manner. As such, by and large, this borders on questionable usefulness.

UNSNA includes the following main accounts:

• the production account (components of gross output);
• the primary distribution of income account (incomes generated by production);
• the transfers (redistribution) account (including social spending);
• the household expenditure account;
• the capital account;
• the (domestic) financial transactions account;
• the changes in asset values account;
• the assets and liabilities account (balance sheet);
• the external transactions account.

As detailed in the next section, these accounts include various annexes and sub-accounts, and standards are also provided for input-output tables showing the transactions between economic sectors. Almost all member countries of the United Nations provide income and product accounts, but not necessarily a full set of standard accounts, or a full set of data, for the standard accounting information supplied.

SNA 2008

It is worthwhile highlighting the aforementioned System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA), which is the latest version of the international statistical standard for the national accounts, adopted by the UNSC.

The 2008 SNA is an update of the System of National Accounts, 1993 (1993 SNA). The update was in 2003 entrusted to ISWGNA to address issues brought about by changes in the economic environment, advances in methodological research and the needs of users.

The first 17 chapters of the 2008 SNA comprising the accounting rules, the accounts and tables, and their integration were adopted by the UNSC in 2008; chapters 18 to 29, comprising the interpretations and extensions of the accounts and tables of the System, were adopted by the UNSC in 2009.

The 2008 SNA is the result of a process that was notable for its transparency and the wide involvement of the international statistical community, both of which were made possible by the innovative use of the project's website Towards 2008 SNA as a communication tool. In its adoption of the 2008 SNA the UNSC encouraged Member States, regional and sub-regional organisations to implement its recommendations and use it for the national and international reporting of national accounts statistics.

Being a conceptual framework, the 2008 SNA does not attempt to provide comprehensive compilation guidance on how to make estimates nor is it descriptive in setting priorities about which accounts and tables should be implemented nor expresses norms on the frequency and format of their presentation. For practical compilation guidance, international agencies have developed separate handbooks like the handbooks of national accounting prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division.

A number of research issues have emerged during the update of the 1993 SNA, especialy where more extensive consideration was needed than was possible in the course of the update process. These issues are listed in Annex 4 of the 2008 SNA. More information on these and emerging research issues and recommendations on the outcome of the research can be found under the Research agenda, as at unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/research.asp.

Specifically, the SNA is designed to give a realistic and compact view of the economy that is suitable for policy and analytical use. As the economy changes and policy and analytical needs evolve, the SNA must be reviewed to see if it is still relevant for these purposes. This page is dedicated to such research issues and is updated with new items that emerge and recommendations on existing items as agreed. In assessing the priority to be given to a research topic, three questions need to be addressed.

• How urgent and important is the topic to ensure that the SNA continues to be relevant to the users?
• How widespread are the consequences of change and how complicated will implementation be?
• Is the topic completely new or has much of the preparation for considering the item been completed?

The process of selecting items for investigation is one that will involve widespread consultation and involvement of both compilers and users in the review process.

Work on the research agenda of the 2008 SNA is coordinated under the auspices of the ISWGNA to ensure worldwide representation in the deliberation of these issues and the proper implementation of the results in international standards or handbooks. Proposals for task forces or expert groups to do research on specific topics should be submitted to the ISWGNA, which will assess the results in accordance with the update procedures for the SNA established by the UNSC.

Annex 4 of the 2008 SNA lists research issues that have emerged during the update of the 1993 SNA, but where more extensive consideration is needed than what was possible in the course of the update process.

For the very informative SNA 2008 Contents, see the Appendix C of this book. Also, more information on the detailed text of SNA 2008 is available at unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/sna.asp.

Furthermore, for additional information, refer to Closing the Gap - Report on Addressing Information Gaps between Business and Macro Economic Accounts to Better Explain Macro Economic Performance, prepared by Dr. Roland Burgman, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, July2008, as is available at unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/workshops/2008/newyork/IG02-Report.PDF.

2.3 INTERNATIONAL VALUATION STANDARDS COUNCIL (IVSC)

The International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) is the global standard setter for the valuation profession. The mission of this particular body is to set and maintain effective, high-quality global standards for the performance of valuations by the valuation profession, and to contribute to the development of the worldwide valuation profession, thereby serving the public interest. As stands to reason, valuations are fundamental to financial reporting, upon which decision making is based. Clearly, assorted stakeholders, within corporations, as well as government entities, rely upon the integrity of valuations made. Sound investments, otherwise, cannot be made.

It also supports the need to develop a framework of guidance on best practice for valuations of the various classes of assets and liabilities and for the consistent delivery of the standards by properly trained professionals around the globe. The home page of this entity is www.ivsc.org.

History

The IVSC produced its first standards in the 1980s. A major landmark was obtaining agreement to the definition and conceptual framework for market value in the early 1990s. In 2000 the first set of comprehensive standards covering assets ranging from real property, businesses, intangibles and machinery and equipment was produced and these were regularly updated and extended. Over the last decade, the International Valuation Standards (IVS) have been adopted or recognised by many valuation institutes, user groups or financial regulators around the world.

In 2006, the IVSC realised that, because the IVS had been developed gradually over a long period, there was a need for a thorough review to improve their focus, relevance and consistency. It appointed an independent Critical Review Group to consider how the existing standards could be improved. The group produced a report with its recommendations in 2007 upon which public comments were invited.

The market turmoil of 2007 and 2008 also served to emphasise the need for the standards to be more accessible and relevant to a much wider sector of the market than previously. A major new concern emerged with regard to the valuation of financial instruments. A lack of understanding not only of the risk profile of new or complex instruments but also of the valuation processes used for providing information to management, investors and prudential regulators was identified as a significant contributor to the problems that beset the financial markets.

Additional information pertaining to the history of the IVSC can be found at www.ivsc.org/standards/index.html.

Governance

The IVSC has three boards:

• the Board of Trustees;
• the IVSC Professional Board;
• the IVSC Standards Board.

Each is considered in turn.

The Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is an independent global board responsible for the governance and oversight, including the funding, of the IVSC. Trustees promote the work of the two boards – the IVSC Professional Board and the IVSC Standards Board – but are not involved in technical matters relating to the IVS. In addition they:

• appoint the members of the Professional Board and the Standards Board;
• review annually the strategy of the IVSC and its effectiveness;
• review all applications for membership of the IVSC and put forward recommendations to the Annual General Meeting (AGM);
• approve amendments to the IVSC Bylaws.

Trustees are appointed for a renewable term of three years. Each Trustee is expected to have a global perspective and an understanding of how the IVSC can best operate in the world economy, business and financial reporting environments. The Board of Trustees shall not be comprised of less than six, or more than eleven, persons. Also, Trustees are drawn from geographically diverse areas.

IVSC Professional Board

The IVSC Professional Board is appointed by the Trustees to promote professional and educational standards for valuation; to assist in the development of high-quality practices by the world's valuers and development of the profession in developing countries.

The role of the Professional Board is to promote the development of the valuation profession globally. Its activities include, but are not limited to:

• promoting common professional, education and ethical practices for professional valuers;
• producing guidance on best practice to support the application of the IVS;
• promoting education and training in relation to the IVS.

The nine members of the Professional Board are appointed and overseen by the Board of Trustees. The Professional Board's projects are subject to the IVSC Due Process. For Due Process, see www.ivsc.org/boards/professional/index.html. Also, for the IVSC Work Plan, see www.ivsc.org/plan/index.html.

The IVSC Standards Board

The IVSC Standards Board is appointed by the Trustees, but has autonomy over its agenda and the creation and revision of standards. The Standards Board is an independent standard-setting board that creates and maintains the IVS. The IVS are designed to:

• promote consistency and aid understanding of valuation by identifying and developing globally accepted principles and definitions;
• identify and promulgate common principles for the undertaking and reporting of valuations;
• identify specific matters that require consideration and methods commonly used when valuing different types of assets or liabilities;
• identify the appropriate valuation processes and reporting disclosures for the major purposes for which valuations are required;
• reduce diversity of practice by enabling the convergence of different valuation standards used in specific sectors and countries.

The Standards Board may also develop technical guidance to support the IVS. The nine members of the Standards Board are appointed and overseen by the Board of Trustees.

The Standards Board follows a due process in determining its future work programme and in developing projects in the programme to a conclusion. For Due Process, see www.ivsc.org/boards/standards/index.html. Also, for the IVSC Work Plan, see www.ivsc.org/plan/index.html.

Issues

Interestingly, challenges in international valuations can, rightly, be considered as the largest handicap to move any new accounting concepts forward. The IVSC cites some of these, such as: problems relating to the concept and application of fair value; debates surrounding how to value multiple financial assets once markets collapse; problems with respect to granting mortgage loans; conflicts concerning the valuation of companies that are initially admitted to trading, subject to takeovers or de-listing.

The IVSC has signed agreements or memorandums of understanding with organisations, such as IFAC, has converged pre-existing valuation standards, and is translating its standards into other languages. No related XBRL taxonomies are created. It is also noteworthy that the IVSC is grossly underfunded, with two thirds of its funds received from only four donors.

International Valuation Standards

The current, and ninth, edition of the IVS are the result of a three-year improvement project designed and managed by the IVSC to promote consistency and transparency during the valuation process. The standards, effective as at 2012, include explanations of common valuation methods and principles, as well as the recommended procedures that valuation professionals should follow during their assignments.

The IVS is comprised of four main parts:

• IVS Framework;
• IVS General Standards;
• IVS Asset Standards;
• IVS Valuation Applications.

IVS Framework

The IVS Framework contains generally accepted valuation concepts and principles upon which the IVS are based and that are to be considered and applied when following the standards.

IVS General Standards

The IVS General Standards have general application for all asset types and valuation purposes, subject only to variations or additional requirements specified in the Asset Standards or the Valuation Applications.

IVS Asset Standards

The IVS Asset Standards contain requirements that either modify or augment the General Standards as they apply to specific types of asset. Each standard also contains a commentary to assist in application of the standards by providing background information on the characteristics of each asset that influence its value and information on the common valuation approaches and methods used.

IVS Valuation Applications

The IVS Valuation Applications consist of a standard and guidance. The standard includes any additions to or modifications of the requirements in the General Standards that apply when undertaking valuations for that purpose, together with illustrations of how the principles in the General Standards are applied. The guidance section provides additional information on applying valuation principles to meet the specific requirements of the application.

The contents of the standards publication, entitled International Valuation Standards 2011, are as follows:

• Introduction
• Principal Changes
• IVS Definitions
• IVS Framework
• General Standards
  • IVS 101 Scope of Work
  • IVS 102 Implementation
  • IVS 103 Reporting
• Asset Standards
  • IVS 200 Businesses and Business Interests
  • IVS 210 Intangible Assets
  • IVS 220 Plant and Equipment
  • IVS 230 Real Property Interests
    • Annexe – Historic Property
  • IVS 233 Investment Property Under Construction
  • IVS 250 Financial Instruments
• Valuation Applications
  • IVS 300 Valuations for Financial Reporting
    • Annexe – Property, Plant and Equipment in the Public Sector
  • IVS 310 Valuations of Real Property Interests for Secured Lending
• Index

As a pertinent addendum, it is notable that the IVSC, in February 2012, launched a project aimed at bringing greater consistency and understanding of the techniques used for valuing financial derivatives. The valuations placed on the portfolios of derivative instruments held by financial institutions were the subject of extensive scrutiny by financial regulators following the 2008 financial crisis. The IVSC's objective, therefore, is to provide greater transparency around the valuation process in order to assist management, investors and other stakeholders in understanding the valuations. (See www.ivsc.org/news/nr/2012/nr120227.html.)

Individual standards are segments, in much the same way as IFRS, as reflected in Figure 2.4.

The framework, individual standards and applications summarised above can be downloaded free of charge, after registration, and a full, hardcopy of the collection can be ordered, for a fee, at www.ivsc.org/pubs/index.html.

IVSC summary and word count comparison

The overall size of the related publication of the IVS is well over 100 pages, with the actual standards amounting to most of that, as summarised in Table 2.3. This not only helps to identify the size of standard, in terms of text, but also indicates the comparative importance, as well as the associated complexity.

TABLE 2.3 Summary of the IVS publication.

IVS	Designation	Pages *
IVS 101	Scope of Work	5
IVS 102	Implementation	3
IVS 103	Reporting	4
IVS 200	Businesses and Business Interests	8
IVS 210	Intangible Assets	9
IVS 220	Plant and Equipment	7
IVS 230	Real Property Interests	13
IVS 233	Investment Property Under Construction	7
IVS 250	Financial Instruments	12
IVS 300	Valuations for Financial Reporting	22
IVS 310	Valuations of Real Property Interests for Secured Lending	8
Total		98
* A word count was not available at the time of publication.

For information related to IVS and the IVSC, also see www.iasplus.com/ivsc/ivsc.htm.

2.4 VALUATION RESOURCE GROUP

A more powerful and focused group regarding financial valuation issues is the Valuation Resource Group (VRG) of the FASB. The VRG was established to provide the FASB staff with information about implementation issues regarding fair value measurements used in financial reporting and the alternative viewpoints associated with those implementation issues. See www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/Page/SectionPage&cid=1176154493444#.

The VRG is composed of a cross section of industry representatives, including financial statement preparers, auditors, users and valuation experts. VRG meetings are coordinated by the FASB staff and observed by the SEC, the AICPA and the PCAOB. The views expressed at the VRG meetings are not authoritative decisions. Authoritative decisions are subject to normal, open due process of the FASB, including open deliberation by the board.

A key consideration in relation to valuation is the need for clear separation of objects and value, being an area that is totally underdeveloped. Ultimately, one would expect to see relevant standards arise from this area of necessary effort. Be that as it may, there are considerable benefits available to business reporting professionals, and users, when valuation and objects have greater clarity. It must be noted, however, that there is no common taxonomy in relation to identifying and labelling objects. In relation to the topic of objects, see Part IV: Tracking Objects – A Paradigm Shift in Business Reporting.

2.5 IEEE

Increasingly, and unavoidable, technology is fundamental to daily life, almost universally, whether in a private or a business context. It is worth ­considering, therefore, the basis for electrical standards, as relate directly to purchase, investment and operational issues in business, as well as financial reporting.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the world's largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its membership base of more than 400,000 inspire a global community through IEEE's highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities.

IEEE provides a wide range of quality publications and standards that make the exchange of technical knowledge and information possible among technology professionals. Of particular interest is information about the development of standards, available at standards.ieee.org, which represents the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA).

The IEEE-SA is a leading consensus-building organisation that nurtures, develops and advances global technologies. With collaborative thought leaders in more than 160 countries, this entity promotes innovation, enables the creation and expansion of international markets and helps protect health and public safety. Details as to the development of IEEE standards is available at standards.ieee.org/develop/overview.html.

Standards are published documents that establish specifications and procedures designed to ensure the reliability of the materials, products, methods and/or services people use every day. Standards address a range of issues, including but not limited to various protocols to help ensure product functionality and compatibility, facilitate interoperability and support consumer safety and public health.

Standards form the fundamental building blocks for product development by establishing consistent protocols that can be universally understood and adopted. This helps fuel compatibility and interoperability and simplifies product development, and speeds time-to-market. Standards also make it easier to understand and compare competing products. As standards are globally adopted and applied in many markets, they also fuel international trade.

It is only through the use of standards that the requirements of interconnectivity and interoperability can be assured. It is only through the application of standards that the credibility of new products and new markets can be verified. In summary, standards fuel the development and implementation of technologies that influence and transform the way we live, work and communicate.

It is in the preceding paragraph that the benefits of electrical standards become apparent, especially when considering the need for interconnectivity and interoperability, as are all but critical in modern society.

An online search of more than 2,000 IEEE standards can be conducted at standards.ieee.org.

2.6 ISO

Following on from the benefits of electrical standards, it is worthwhile considering the standards that are applied more generally, as within the auspices of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards. This involves more object data, which is apparent when we consider all the standards and specifications for the products that we use on a day-to-day basis, as well as many others that are employed in commerce and industry. For more information, see www.iso.org. Note that images and text in this section are reproduced with permission of ISO, All rights reserved.

Essentially, ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 163 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO is a non-governmental organisation that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations. Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society.

In relation to the latter point, consider a particularly pertinent ISO publication, entitled GHG schemes addressing climate change – How ISO standards help.The whole document is available at www.iso.org/iso/ghg_climate-change.pdf.

Overall, ISO has developed over 18,500 International Standards on a variety of subjects and some 1,100 new ISO standards are published every year. The full range of technical fields can be seen from the listing of International Standards available at www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue.htm. Users can browse that listing to find bibliographic information on each standard and, in many cases, a brief abstract. The online ISO Standards listing integrates both the ISO Catalogue of published standards and the ISO Technical programme of standards under development.

Why standards matter

It is worth mentioning here why standards matter, which is presented succinctly by the ISO at www.iso.org/iso/about/discover-iso_why-standards-matter.htm. Specifically, standards make an enormous and positive contribution to most aspects of our lives. Standards ensure desirable characteristics of products and services such as quality, environmental friendliness, safety, reliability, efficiency and interchangeability – and at an economical cost.

When products and services meet our expectations, we tend to take this for granted and be unaware of the role of standards. However, when standards are absent, we soon notice. We soon care when products turn out to be of poor quality, do not fit, are incompatible with equipment that we already have, are unreliable or dangerous.

When products, systems, machinery and devices work well and safely, it is often because they meet standards. And the organisation responsible for many thousands of the standards which benefit the world is the ISO.

Facts and figures

This remarkable organisation is made up of 163 national standards bodies, comprising 107 member bodies, 45 correspondent members and 11 subscriber members. The technical committee structure is made up of 3,274 technical bodies, comprising 214 technical committees, 510 subcommittees, 2,478 working groups and 72 ad hoc study groups. See www.iso.org/iso/home/about/annual_reports.htm for details from the annual report 2010.

In addition, it is worth noting that the ISO has a vast range of publications. Particularly, the ISO Catalogue includes more than 18,500 published International Standards classified according to the International Classification for Standards (ICS) and by the Technical Committee (TC). Also, ISO publications and e-products cover a wide range of subjects and are available in several formats such as handbooks, packages, magazines and downloadable documents. These can be accessed via www.iso.org/iso/store.htm.

It is pertinent to note that Kevin McKinley, Deputy Secretary-General of the ISO, contributed to a landmark e-book that focuses on integrated reporting, a topic that is addressed later. The Landscape of Integrated Reporting Reflections and Next Steps, edited by Robert G. Eccles, Beiting Cheng and Daniela Saltzman, and published in November, 2010, by the Harvard Business School, is available at hbswk.hbs.edu/pdf/The_Landscape_of_Integrated_Reporting.pdf. We will look at this publication in more detail in Part IV of this book.

Furthermore, in Part II of that publication, the ISO Deputy Secretary-General contributed a paper entitled ‘ISO Standards for Business and Their Linkage to Integrated Reporting', a short but thoughtful piece in which he speaks of how important standards are for aspiring businesses. Pointedly he draws attention to several ISO Standards that address some of the most pressing issues facing business today.

Predominantly he brings into sharp relief ISO Standards that relate, directly, to businesses, including:

• rsk-based decision making regarding an organisation's governance, planning, management, reporting, policies, values and culture (ISO 31000);
• customer satisfaction and how products should meet customer and regulatory requirements via quality management (ISO 9001);
• measurement of customer satisfaction (ISO 10004);
• customer complaints handling (ISO 10002);
• dispute resolution (ISO 10003);
• sound environmental performance (ISO 14001);
• product life-cycle assessments (ISO 14040);
• environmental labelling (ISO 14020 series);
• greenhouse gas/carbon footprint measurements, verification and validation (ISO 14064 and 14065 series);
• requirements for energy supply, uses and consumption, as well as measurement, reporting, design and procurement practices for energy-using equipment, systems and processes (ISO 50001);
• brand valuation objectives, bases for valuations, approaches, methods and the sourcing of data and assumptions (ISO 10668);
• company information asset security issues (ISO/IEC 27001);
• traceability and security in the supply chain (ISO 28000);
• effective food safety management (ISO 22000);
• guidance on social responsibility (ISO 26000).

In relation to the last point above, being a recent addition to the evolving ISO suite of Standards, it is worth reviewing a two-page article by Maria Lazarte in ISO Focus+ of March 2011, entitled ‘Building bridges – Aligning SR efforts for greater leverage', which is available at www.iso.org/iso/iso-focusplus_2011-03.htm (see Figure 2.5).

In that piece, among other interesting things, Ms Lazarte indicates that one of the principal achievements of the working group that developed ISO 26000 is that it brought such a broad range of stakeholders to the decision-making table in order to achieve the first truly global consensus on the broad subject of social responsibility (SR).

Certainly SR is an emerging necessity, and an unavoidable aspect of business, as it is of society at large. This significant topic is featured in the issue of ISO Focus+ (see Figure 2.6) and available at www.iso.org/iso/iso-focusplus_2011-03.htm.

It is worth referring to this issue, as it contains, among other things, the following articles relating to ISO 2600:

• Comment
  • Jorge Cajazeira and Staffan Söderberg, Chair and Vice-Chair, ISO Working Group on SR: Social responsibility – Dawn of a new era
• World Scene
  • International events and international standardisation
  • Guest Interview
  • Sergei A. Ordzhonikidze – Director-General of United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)
  • Special Report
  • ISO responds to a worldwide challenge – We are responsible for our actions
  • ISO 26000 on social responsibility – The essentials
  • Building bridges – Aligning SR efforts for greater leverage
  • Consumers care – Access to information for more sustainable markets
  • Developing countries – Contributing to the ISO 26000 process
  • Responsible growth – Chile's Sodimac commits to sustainability
  • Acting responsibly – Danper's commitment pays off
  • Size doesn't matter – Australian dentists get their teeth into ISO 26000
  • Promoting ISO 26000 – AFNOR's (Association Française de Normalisation) original boost for a very special standard
  • Sustainable events – Getting ready for the 2012 Olympic Games
  • Attention SMOs – ISO 26000 makes good business sense in South Africa
  • Sowing a responsible future – The African challenge
• Centrefold
  • Seven principles of social responsibility

Furthermore, it is worthwhile noting the KPMG International Corporate Responsibility Reporting Survey 2011, which represents the largest and most comprehensive survey of Corporate Responsibility (CR) reporting trends ever published. Included in the related research were 3,400 companies representing the national leaders from 34 countries around the world, including the 250 largest global companies.

Labelled as the definitive snapshot of CR reporting, this report can be found at www.kpmg.com/global/en/issuesandinsights/articlespublications/corporate-responsibility/pages/2011-survey.aspx.

The contents of this 36-page report are reproduced by permission of KPMG, as follows:

• Executive Summary
• KPMG Corporate Reporting Quadrants
• The State of Global Corporate Responsibility Reporting – Corporate Responsibility Reporting Comes of Age in 2011
• Measuring the Markets – Corporate Responsibility Reporting at the Country Level
• Ranking Sectors – Corporate Responsibility Reporting at the Industry Level
• Does Ownership Matter? – Corporate Responsibility Reporting by Ownership Structure
• Corporate Responsibility Reporting Metrics – A Snapshot
• The Business Imperative Behind CR Reporting – Reputation Leads the List
• Global Standards and Evolving Platforms – The Drive for Consistency and Accessibility
• The Road to Integrated Reporting – A Benchmark on Integrated Reporting
• Driving for High-Quality Data – Quantifying Quality
• The State of CR Assurance – Making the Most of Assurance
• About KPMG's Climate Change and Sustainability Services
• Methodology