In March 2017, a range of senior global stakeholders came together at a special seminar to discuss how accrual-based information can be used to help strengthen public financial management around the world.
Featured topics included:
• The OECD report on accrual accounting and budgeting in the public sector;
• Use of balance sheet to manage fiscal risks;
• Accrual accounting and government finance statistics;
• Capital markets – increasing use of government financial reports; and
• Taking a whole system approach to PFM reforms
Speakers included:
Ian Carruthers, chair of IPSASB
Ed Olowo-Okere, director, governance, World Bank
Fergus McCormick, chief economist, co-head of sovereign ratings, Global Sovereign Ratings, DBRS Inc.
Juan Pablo Guerrero, network director of the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency
Gabriel Quiros, deputy director of the statistics department, IMF
Fayezul Choudhury, IFAC CEO
Rob Whiteman, chief executive, CIPFA
PF International produced a series of short video interviews with a selection of key participants, which can be viewed below.
Jennifer Thomson, World Bank
Jennifer Thomson, director and chief financial management officer, operations policy and country services, World Bank, explains why IPSAS is important for the bank and gives IPSASB some guidance on where to go next.
Chris Towe, deputy director, Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund
The IMF’s Chris Towe discusses the role of accrual accounting in fiscal reports and managing the public finances, as well as the value of a seminar such as Transparency and Beyond.
Ian Carruthers, chair, IPSASB
IPSASB chair Ian Carruthers discusses the purpose of Transparency and Beyond. With the board celebrating its 20th birthday in 2017, Carruthers also sets out its achievements so far and the challenges ahead.
Ed Owolo-Okere, director of financial accountability and reporting, World Bank's Governance Global Practice
Ed Owolo-Okere of the World Bank's Governance Global Practice, talks about why the bank supports the shift to accrual accounting and what developing countries can do to position themselves for implementation.
Jim Brumby, director of public service and performance at the World Bank's Governance Global Practice
Jim Brumby of the World Bank's Governance Global Practice discusses whether the bank is satisfied with the pace of accruals adoption and what it is doing to help.
Fergus McCormick, chief economist and co-head of sovereign ratings, DBRS
Chief economist and co-head of sovereign ratings at credit ratings agency DBRS Fergus McCormick summarises the rating processes, and how accrual information can help.
Juan Pablo Guerrero, network director, Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency
Juan Pablo Guerrero of the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency stresses that the public do care about access to high quality fiscal information and explains what governments can do to meet that demand well.
Gabriel Quiros, deputy director, Statistics Department, International Monetary Fund
Deputy director of the IMF's Statistics Department Gabriel Quiros explains how and why the IMF is collaborating with IPSASB on accounting standards and the challenges faced in helping countries improve the availability of fiscal information.
Fayez Choudhury, CEO, International Federation of Accountants
Fayez Choudhury talks about why strong public financial management matters and the barriers to achieving it from an accountancy perspective.
