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The 2014 Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements is available for purchase. It contains the complete set of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board® (IPSASB®)'s pronouncements on International Public Sector Accounting Standards™ (IPSASs™). The 2014 edition also includes Recommended Practice Guidelines (RPGs), with the introduction of RPG 1—Reporting on the Long-Term Sustainability of an Entity’s Finances and RPG 2—Financial Statement Discussion and Analysis, which were both approved in June 2013 and issued in July 2013.

The IPSASB has published Exposure Draft (ED) 55, Improvements to IPSASs 2014, which proposes changes based on amendments from the International Accounting Standards Board's annual improvements and minor scope amendments projects. ED 55 proposes improvements to four standards (IPSAS 1, IPSAS 17, IPSAS 28, and IPSAS 31). The improvements project allows for minor unrelated amendments to be exposed together and approved in a single standard. The deadline for comment is September 30, 2014. 

In a recent issue of Public Finance International, current CIPFA International Chair and former IFAC CEO Ian Ball discusses the consequences of the Greek government’s failure to adopt international accounting standards. “The Greek government’s failure to adopt international accounting standards means the fiscal opacity that existed before the financial crisis remains substantially unchanged. The costs to Greece and Europe are high but avoidable,” he writes. 

At its June 2014 meeting, the IPSASB approved a revised Consultation Paper, The Applicability of IPSASs to Government Business Enterprises and Other Public Sector Entities. It seeks comments on the description of the characteristics of public sector entities for which the IPSASB is developing standards and its approach to government business entities. The CP is scheduled for publication in August. 

Also during its June meeting, the IPSASB approved in principle two new chapters—Measurement and Presentation in General Purpose Financial Reports—for its Conceptual Framework for General Purpose Financial Reporting by Public Sector Entities (the Conceptual Framework). The Conceptual Framework underpins the development of International Public Sector Accounting Standards and Recommended Practice Guidelines. Its first four chapters were published in January 2013. The remaining chapters on Elements—Definition and Recognition, are planned for approval in September, along with the preface to the Conceptual Framework. This will bring the IPSASB’s highest-priority project to completion.

Thomas Müller-Marqués Berger was recently interviewed by The Accountant (subscription required) on the topic of Germany’s public sector accounting landscape and the nation’s reluctance to move to accrual accounting. “The biggest weakness of the German public sector from an accounting perspective is that there is no requirement for the federal government, the state governments or the local governments to use these standards,” he told the magazine. “As a consequence, while the federal government is using cash accounting, some of the states have developed their own accrual accounting rules.”

IPSASB member Guy Piolé was recently appointed Chair of one of the Chambers at the French Court of Auditors, succeeding Gilles-Pierre Lévy. An IPSASB member since 2013, Mr. Piolé is also a member of the CNOCP (Council of Public Sector Accounting Standards).

The next IPSASB meeting will be held in Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 15-18, 2014. Full details are available on the IPSASB Meetings page. Members of the public may register as observers with registration closing one week prior to the first day of the meeting.