Press Release: Public Sector Accounting Reform: aligning private sector rigour with public sector specificities

More and more public administrations are choosing to switch their systems to accrual accounting, a model widely used in the private sector – this is what the recent conference "Modernising accounting in the Public Sector – Exchange of Experience" demonstrated. The challenges are similar: how to deal with public sector specificities, (i.e. recording liabilities such as pensions and taxes) and adopt the proper standards; how to get the sufficient political support; how to manage the related IT projects; and finally how to improve management practices. Examples of success were presented (UK, European Commission), and of those having taken the plunge (France, UN) as well as cases where lesser progress has been achieved (Germany, Italy).