Finance, Accounting and Audit
Financial Reporting
International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)
Reporting a government entity on an accrual basis, where the hard part is measuring assets nobody has ever valued.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Contact hours
- 30
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
IPSAS adoption is usually described as a conversion exercise and is really a measurement problem. A ministry holds assets nobody has valued, infrastructure with no cost records, revenue that arrives without an exchange, and obligations under benefit schemes never treated as liabilities. The standards are clear enough. The difficulty is the opening balance sheet and the judgements inside it, which is where most adoptions stall. This week works through recognition, measurement and the transition itself, on the delegate's own entity where that is possible.
Who should attend
Accountants and finance officers in ministries, municipalities, state entities and regulators, auditors of public sector bodies, and project staff running an IPSAS transition.
What you will be able to do
- Distinguish cash basis from accrual IPSAS and say what a transition actually requires.
- Recognise and measure property, plant and infrastructure where no cost records exist.
- Account for non exchange revenue, including taxes, transfers and conditional grants.
- Treat employee benefits and social benefit obligations as the standards require.
- Build an opening balance sheet and document the judgements behind it.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
What accrual reporting changes
- Cash basis, accrual, and the modified versions in between
- Who the reporting entity is, and what it controls
- Budget reporting beside financial reporting
- Why adoption stalls at the opening balance sheet
Day 2
Assets
- Property, plant and equipment with no cost records
- Infrastructure, and the useful life nobody agrees on
- Heritage assets, and whether to recognise them at all
- Impairment of an asset that generates no cash
Day 3
Revenue and liabilities
- Non exchange revenue: taxes, fines and transfers
- Conditions and restrictions, and the liability they create
- Employee benefits and pension obligations
- Provisions, contingencies and guarantees given
Day 4
Consolidation and disclosure
- Controlled entities, and the boundary of the group
- Related parties in a public sector context
- Segment reporting against programme reporting
- Disclosure a legislature can actually use
Day 5
Running the transition
- Sequencing, and what has to be done first
- First time adoption reliefs and the transitional periods
- Working with the auditor general before the audit
- Keeping the system current after the project ends
What you leave with
- A gap analysis of the delegate's entity against the standards that apply to it.
- A measurement approach for one asset class that has no historic cost.
- A transition plan with the sequence, the owners and the known gaps named.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 November 2026 | Kampala, Uganda | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 30 November 2026 to 4 December 2026 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Durban, South Africa | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 14 to 18 December 2026 | Nicosia, Cyprus | Classroom | US$1,500 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.