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Some participants in the IPSAS forum. INSET: Dr. Williams Abayaawien Atuilik, Vice President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, makes a presentation at the ceremony. Image: INNOCENT K. OWUSU
The Comptroller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) has requested all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to prepare for full implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) by 2022.
According to Comptroller and Accountant General Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, the IPSAS standards were supposed to improve transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.
IPSAS is a set of standards set by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to regulate and guide the preparation, presentation and disclosure of financial statements to improve financial management in the public sector.
The overall objective of IPSAS is to ensure that MDAs prepare complete and concise financial statements to ensure the efficient use of public resources.
Delays
Although Ghana announced the adoption of IPSAS in 2014 and set 2019 as the deadline for implementation, the country was unable to meet the timetable.
Speaking at the opening session of an awareness forum for senior MDA directors in Accra, Mr Kwaning-Bosompem announced that the new deadline for the implementation of IPSAS standards was now 2022.
He stated that the Outreach Forum for Directors General was the first of a series of workshops aimed at building the capacity of senior officials and technical staff of MDAs and metropolitan, municipal and district bademblies ( MMDA) on the new financial management regime.
New regime
Mr. Kwaning-Bosompem explained that, even though the current financial reporting system was not comprehensive enough, the IPSAS regime was developing through a more complete and transparent regulatory reporting system.
For example, he said at the end of the year, the government had unpaid invoices, but these were not included in the current financial statements, adding that the accrual accounting system would clearly establish unpaid invoices so that the budget was reported, unpaid invoices would be taken into account.
"The country will benefit from a comprehensive reporting system because the information is money.When you have good information, you attract investors because there is a system of transparency, "he added.
Kwaning-Bosompem said the CAGD is committed to leveraging technology to improve the country's financial management system.
He urged all MDAs to strictly adhere to a directive to use the GIFMIS (Integrated Financial Management Information System) platform of Ghana for all government enterprises.
Advantages
Vice President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana (ICAG), Williams Abayaawien Atuilik, for his part, said the established financial reporting system would address the failures of public financial management.
"The Attorney General's department still refers to inadequate information in financial statements prepared by MDAs and public sector institutions.
The fact is that we do partial accounting that does not give a complete picture of our debts, badets and commitments and that people should be asked to extract information from other sources.
If we want to produce perfect financial reports, the accrual accounting system is the way to go, "he said.
Dr. Atuilik said the new financial reporting regime would facilitate the monitoring of public badets and funds.
The head of the civil service, Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena, who also spoke, said the exercise accounting system would help improve the service delivery and performance of public institutions.
In his view, if the country wished to improve its financial management system, the way forward was to adopt the new reporting regime.
Nana Dwamena emphasized the need for capacity building programs for MDA and MMDA technical staff to facilitate the launch of the new reporting system.
Context
Ghana announced the adoption of the IPSAS regularization system in 2014 and is expected to implement it between 2015 and 2019.
The impossibility for the country to respect the deadline has been postponed to 2022.
The implementation of IPSAS should strengthen GFP's Public Financial Management (PFM) Reform Strategy and Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (GIFMIS).
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