Editorial

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-04-2020-345
• Date: 19 April 2020
• Pages: 113-115
• Published date: 19 April 2020
• Author: Mohammad Nurunnabi
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management

Editorial

International public sector accounting standards (IPSAS): current status,

practices and future agenda

One of the New Public Management reforms of public sectors worldwide concerns the

introduction of accrual accounting (Oulasvirta, 2014). The progressive reduction of public

resources, further exacerbated by the financial crisis, has led international organisations to

discuss the need for policies and guidelines to support a better financial management. The

International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) are an important example of such

practices (Christiaens et al., 2010;Adhikari et al., 2013;Bracci et al., 2015;Lassou and Hopper,

2016). These standards aim to protect and manage public money, discharge accountability

and combat corruption (Chan, 2003;Oulasvirta, 2014;IFAC, 2016;Bakre et al., 2017).

However, IPSAS are heavily influenced by private sector practices. This special issue aims to

investigate the adoption, use and effects of IPSAS in the public sector in various countries and

government organisations.

IPSAS were developed by the IPSAS International Independent Board (Lassou and

Hopper, 2016). The board’s operations are facilitated by the International Federation of

Accountants (IFAC). Since 1997, the board has developed and issued 38 accrual standards,

and a cash basis standard for countries that are moving towards full accrual accounting.

According to IFAC (2016),“Governments that report on a cash-basis do not account for

significant liabilities, such as pensions and infrastructure development; as a result, the

IPSASB [board, MN] encourages public sector entities to adopt the accrual basis of

accounting—which will improve financial management and increase transparency resulting

in a more comprehensive and accurate view of a government’s financial position”. IPSAS and

accrual accounting practices are therefore often combined, or recommended to be combined.

The adoption of IPSAS variesbetween countries. So far, not much research has been done

to explain these differences in levels of adoption of IPSAS (Christiaens et al.,2015). Some

findings are noteworthythough. For example, there still remains reluctance to adoptIPSAS in

countries, such as Finland, where accrual accounting has been implemented already

(Christiaenset al., 2015)(Oulasvirta,2014). In developing countries,international organisations

have been working since the 1990s to reform public sector accounting practices. However,

results are often lagging; forexample, in Nepal and Sri Lanka, IPSAS have not gone beyond

the stage of being proposed (Adhikari et al., 2013).Authors argue that the implementation of

IPSAS also differsin both developed and developing countries (Ellwoodand Newberry, 2007).

Adhikari and G



arseth-Nesbakk (2016) describe the political and technical uncertainties in

implementing public sector accruals in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD) member states. It is argued that the historical development of politics

and regulation of a country which may impact the decisions of adopting IPSAS should be

taken into consideration when adopting and implementing IPSAS, especially by Western

international organisations that aim to reform the financial management practices of

developingcountries (Harun et al., 2015). More evidence-basedresearch is needed (Ryan, 1999).

The purpose of this special issue is to address an important gap in the public sector

accounting standards literature. It studies the adoption and implementation of IPSAS in the

public sector in various countries, both developed and developing countries. It asks questions

such as why do countries, or do not, adopt and implement IPSAS, what are implementation

issues and what are the effects of IPSAS’adoption? By answering these questions, the

contributions in the special issue contribute to our knowledge on public sector reform, in this

case of financial management, and raises new questions for future research.

113

International Journal of Public

Sector Management

Vol. 33 No. 2/3, 2020

pp. 113-115

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0951-3558

DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-04-2020-345