Accounting Rules for the European Communities: A Theoretical Analysis

AbstractIn the last decade, the European Union (EU) has reformed its accounting system, issuing its own conceptual framework and 18 accounting standards that draw upon the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) issued by the IPSAS Board. The aim of this article is to analyse this renewed EU accounting system that frames and shapes financial accounting and reporting of the European Communities (EC), in order to assess its capacity to “truly and fairly” represent EC economic activity as a non-business entity.The EU accounting rules are analysed from a theoretical perspective that disentangles three different accrual-based accounting representations focusing respectively on wealth (static accounting), cash flow and economic flow (dynamic accounting). Our analysis retains a modified dynamic accounting representation that fits the specific economy of public administration. This modified dynamic accounting representation is then applied to assess the representational quality of the EU accounting system. This legal-economic, normative analysis of consistency with our theoretical model is complemented and somehow corroborated by documental analysis, financial analysis and few semi-structured interviews with EU officials.Generally speaking, our analysis shows that the EU accounting system provides a consistent representation of the EC economic and financial activities, although the reference to the IPSAS has somewhat involved the application of a balance sheet accounting approach that is inconsistent with this representation. In particular, the new EU accounting system has improved on some objectives of financial accounting and reporting, such as: the economic function of redistribution related to the economic solidarity between its constituencies (Member States); the prevention of frauds concerned with transfers and financial operations; the accomplishment of intergenerational and transnational equity, through the recovery of incurred expenditures by constituencies (Member States and, indirectly, taxpayers) located in different places at different times.These findings seem relevant not only to assess the quality of accounting representation provided by the EU accounting system but also in the view of its possible influence on the European Public Sector Accounting Standards – making process launched since 2013. This process is expected to reframe and reshape EU Member States’ accounting systems in the near future.

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Harmonising public sector accounting laws and regulations of the European Union member states: powers and competences

International Review of Administrative Sciences ◽

10.1177/00208523211060007 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002085232110600

Author(s):

Karoline Helldorff ◽

Johan Christiaens

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

The European Union ◽

Member States ◽

European Public ◽

Public Sector Accounting ◽

Will Force ◽

The One ◽

Rules Set ◽

The Eu

This paper analyses the powers and competences of the EU to standardise public sector accounting of the member states and to take other EU action in the field of public sector accounting. We argue that public sector accounting forms part of the administrative organisation of the member states that is not a core EU competence. EU initiatives such as the European Public Sector Accounting Standards project, which aim to increase transparency and comparability, therefore need to follow the rules set out for administrative matters in general. The study reveals on the one hand that EU actions are essentially limited to voluntary cooperation and influences of other policy areas. But on the other hand, it shows that they do not need to be limited to the initiatives currently driven by Eurostat. Points for practitioners The future of the European Public Sector Accounting Standards project is uncertain. However, it is very unlikely that it will take the shape of a top-down set of readymade EU accounting standards that will force public administrations to adjust their inner workings. Public sector accounting is not (yet) a (typical) European policy, but simply a national one that the EU can support. The EU initiative can be considered as an opportunity for collaboration and knowledge sharing on how to increase transparency of public sector accounting.

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A Perspective on the Proposal for European Public Sector Accounting Standards, in the Context of Accruals in UK Government Accounting

Accounting Economics and Law - A Convivium ◽

10.1515/ael-2014-0005 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rowan Jones ◽

Josette Caruana

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Accounting System ◽

Monetary Policies ◽

Government Accounting ◽

European Public ◽

Public Sector Accounting ◽

The Government ◽

The Uk ◽

The Eu

AbstractThis paper offers a UK perspective on the proposal to develop European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS). It offers the fundamentals of the UK government’s system of budgeting and accounting, which is the responsibility of the UK Treasury, being one part of its responsibilities for the UK’s fiscal and monetary policies. In the light of this, the EPSAS proposal remains a puzzle and a peripheral one at that. The paper ponders on the forces underlying the EPSAS proposal and notes that for the government practitioner in an EU member state, rules emanating from the EU would naturally have a macro-level focus. Consequently, any potential advantages of an accrual accounting system at micro-level may not be fully appreciated.

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Harmonisation efforts in the field of accounting of public sector

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis ◽

10.11118/actaun201159040195 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 59 (4) ◽

pp. 195-202

Author(s):

Milena Otavová

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Financial Reporting ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Financial Statements ◽

National Standards ◽

Accounting System ◽

Financial Reporting Standards ◽

Public Sector Accounting ◽

Accounting Rules ◽

The Difference

Increasing requirements for financial reporting of public sector led to a need to create a system that would provide relevant and reliable information for management of accounting entities of public sector and also to increase the quality of accounting and financial statements of public institutions. The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) is therefore creating high-quality financial reporting standards for public sector (IPSAS). Paper points out the ongoing reform of accounting in the field of public finances in the Czech Republic, where there are substantial changes in accounting rules and it also introduces new accounting methods. Regarding the fact that accounting of public sector is nowadays accounting system perhaps with the greatest potential of development, paper highlights the differences in financial reporting in accordance with Czech legislation and IPSAS system. It tries to catch the essential differences that arise from the financial legislation, the accounting basis and also from the content of financial statements. The paper also indicates the difference between Czech Accounting Standards for selected accounting entities that maintain accounts in accordance with Decree No. 410/2009 Coll. and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). There is also recommended approach to the creation of national standards with regard to international harmonization.

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Comparison of the perception of overt and covert options in IPSAS financial statements by intergovernmental organizations

Tékhne ◽

10.2478/tekhne-2019-0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 28-39

Author(s):

Berit Adam

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

European Commission ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Financial Statements ◽

Criminal Court ◽

Intergovernmental Organizations ◽

Accounting System ◽

Accrual Accounting ◽

Public Sector Accounting ◽

Primary Reference

AbstractSince 2012, the European Commission has embarked on the ambitious project to harmonize public sector accounting rules on all levels of government within Europe, mainly to improve the quality as well as the comparability of financial data. Although International Public Sector Accounting Standards were deemed not to be suitable for a simple take-over because of various reasons, they nevertheless shall function as a primary reference point for developing European Public Sector Accounting Standards. A total of 21 out of 28 central governments have already reformed their accounting standards to accrual accounting, and some of them have also relied on IPSAS in this exercise. Apart from governments, various international and supranational governmental organizations have also since the end of the 2000’s been reforming their accounting system to accrual accounting, and have in the same way relied on existing IPSAS. This paper explores accounting practices found in ten intergovernmental organizations (Commonwealth Secretariat, Council of Europe, European Commission, IAEA, INTERPOL, ITER, NAPMA, OECD, International Criminal Court, WFP) whose statements are prepared in compliance with IPSAS. It analyzes how overt and covert options contained in IPSAS with relevance to the activities of intergovernmental organizations are exercised and evaluates in which areas of accounting material differences in accounting practices can be found, which may hinder the comparability of financial statements prepared on the basis of IPSAS.

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Towards the Modernisation of EU Public Sector Accounting Standards

Advances in Electronic Government, Digital Divide, and Regional Development - Handbook of Research on Modernization and Accountability in Public Sector Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3731-1.ch003 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 40-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Vincenzo Sforza ◽

Alessandro Mechelli ◽

Riccardo Cimini

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

State Government ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Governmental Accounting ◽

National Regulation ◽

Eu Member States ◽

Public Sector Accounting ◽

Security Funds ◽

The Difference ◽

The Eu

In the field of comparative international governmental accounting research, this chapter participates to the growing debate around the EPSAS-project that according to the EU Commission has a political priority. In this vein, it demonstrates that considering all the governmental subsectors of public administration (central government, state government, local government, social security funds) of the 28 EU Member States, proximity of national regulation to the IPSAS affects the magnitude of total adjustments. These are a proxy of fiscal fragility and are the difference between the non-harmonized data of governmental accounting and the harmonized ESA-2010 national accounting. Findings show that adjustments are significant in magnitude in countries whose regulation has low proximity to IPSAS; opposite, their magnitude is low in countries with high proximity to the IPSAS. Even if they have not provided the anticipated level of harmonisation, the process of modernising the EU public sector accounting standards cannot ignore that the future EPSAS should not diverge much from the IPSAS.

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Pension Obligations in the European Union: A Case Study for Accounting Policy

Accounting Economics and Law - A Convivium ◽

10.1515/ael-2017-0027 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yuri Biondi ◽

Marion Boisseau-Sierra

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Public Sector ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Building Blocks ◽

Critical Issue ◽

Financial Supervision ◽

The European Union ◽

Comprehensive Overview ◽

Member States ◽

Public Sector Accounting

AbstractPension obligations constitute a critical issue for public finances and budgets. This is especially true for the European Union whose institutional mechanism aims to supervise Member States’ spending through centralised budgetary rules based upon financial covenants. In this context, accounting methods of recognition and measurement of pension obligations become an integral and critical aspect of Europe’s transnational budgetary and financial supervision. Drawing upon a comprehensive overview of pension management and regulation, this article aims to analyse the ongoing debate on accounting for pension obligations with a specific attention to the harmonization of European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS). While the European Commission has been favouring the ‘indisputable reference’ to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), European Member States’ practices and views remain inconsistent with the normative solution imposed by the IPSAS 25, which favours and facilitates Definite Contribution pension schemes. In this context, we do summarise the IPSAS position mimicking the IFRS, review the pension’s accounting in national statistics and EPSAS debate, and provide some building blocks for a comprehensive model of accounting for pension obligations that admits and enables several viable modes of pension management.

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KUALITAS LAPORAN KEUANGAN DAN FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHINYA (Sudi Kasus Pada DPKAD Kota Semarang)

Fokus Ekonomi : Jurnal Ilmiah Ekonomi ◽

10.34152/fe.13.2.280-300 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 280-300

Author(s):

Silvia Almar’atus Sholehah ◽

Ardiani Ika Sulistyawati

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Financial Statements ◽

Financial Accounting ◽

Government Reform ◽

Accounting System ◽

Government Accounting ◽

Good Government ◽

Government Governance

The purpose of this study are to analyze the influence of implementation Good Government Governance, Government Accounting Standards, Monitoring, Quality of Local Government Reform, Human Resource Competency, and Financial Accounting System on the Quality of Financial Statements in DPKAD Semarang City. The object in this study is SKPD staff in DPKAD Semarang City. This study uses primary data obtained by spreading the questionnaire. Sampling was done by using purposive sampling method and the sample size was 49 respondents. The data analysis was done by using multiple regression with the help of SPSS V20 software. The independent variables in this study consisted of Good Government Governance, Government Accounting Standards, Monitoring, Quality of Local Government Reform, Human Resource Competency, dan Financial Accounting System which the dependent variable is The Quality of The Financial Statements.The results of this study show that implementation of Monitoring to influence the quality of Financial Statements. But implementation of Good Good Government Governance, Government Accounting Standards, Quality of Local Government Reform, Human Resource Competency, dan Financial Accounting System have not influence the Quality of Financial Statements.

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Kualitas laporan keuangan dan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhinya

Indonesia Accounting Journal ◽

10.32400/iaj.26622 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 45

Author(s):

Silvia Almar’atus Sholohah ◽

Ardiani Ika Sulistyawati ◽

Aprih Santoso

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Financial Statements ◽

Financial Accounting ◽

Government Reform ◽

Accounting System ◽

Government Accounting ◽

Good Government ◽

Government Governance

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of implementation Good Government Governance, Government Accounting Standards, Monitoring, Quality of Local Government Reform, Human Resource Competency, and Financial Accounting System on the Quality of Financial Statements in DPKAD Semarang City. The object in this study is SKPD staff in DPKAD Semarang City. This study uses primary data obtained by spreading the questionnaire. Sampling was done by using purposive sampling method and the sample size was 49 respondents. The data analysis was done by using multiple regression with the help of SPSS V20 software. The independent variables in this study consisted of Good Government Governance, Government Accounting Standards, Monitoring, Quality of Local Government Reform, Human Resource Competency, dan Financial Accounting System which the dependent variable is The Quality of The Financial Statements. The results of this study show that implementation of Monitoring to influence the quality of Financial Statements. But implementation of Good Good Government Governance, Government Accounting Standards, Quality of Local Government Reform, Human Resource Competency, dan Financial Accounting System have not influence the Quality of Financial Statements.

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The Joint FASB/IASB Lease Project: Discussion And Industry Implications

Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER) ◽

10.19030/jber.v9i9.5633 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 29 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

John Kostolansky ◽

Brian Stanko

Keyword(s):

Balance Sheet ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Financial Accounting ◽

International Accounting Standards ◽

Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽

Font Size ◽

Operating Leases ◽

Accounting Rules ◽

The Impact ◽

Lease Accounting

Over several decades, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and International Accounting Standards Board have enacted numerous changes to the controversial lease accounting rules. As currently prescribed, operating leases are treated as rental arrangements whereby the lessee does not record a liability - a situation generally referred to as off-balance sheet financing. In an attempt to increase transparency and comparability, the FASB and IASB will soon require all leases to be capitalized. This paper quantifies the impact of the new leasing standard on the financial statements and ratios of the firms and industries represented in the S&P 100 under a variety of discount rates.

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The role of public-sector accounting in controlling corruption: an assessment of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries

International Review of Administrative Sciences ◽

10.1177/0020852318819756 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 86 (4) ◽

pp. 729-748 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros ◽

Francesca Citro ◽

Marco Bisogno

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Accounting Standards ◽

Comparative Approach ◽

Data Set ◽

Public Sector Accounting ◽

Relevant Role ◽

Accounting Rules ◽

Accrual Basis ◽

Information Advantage ◽

International Comparative

This study adds new insights to the academic debate on the effectiveness of both accrual-basis systems and the adoption of harmonised accounting rules at the international level by considering an additional perspective: their effect on corruption. This study investigates a sample of 33 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for the period 2010–2014, creating a panel data set that allows the taking of an international comparative approach. The results indicate that corruption is reduced as governments advance in public-sector accounting reforms, adopting International Public Sector Accounting Standards, or implementing accrual-basis systems. Points for practitioners Our findings show the relevant role played by public sector accounting reforms in reducing corruption. Concretely, International Public Sector Accounting Standards implementation and accrual-accounting adoption can attenuate the information advantage of politicians towards citizens, reducing the level of corruption. This article contributes to the debate concerning the institutional arrangements that should be implemented to reduce corruption.

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