It’s time to accept that when it comes to local government accounts simplification, we can’t have our cake and eat it, writes Mark Green, vice-chair of the CIPFA Better Reporting Group.
Following the National Audit Office’s release of its final guide in its good practice series on financial management in government, Chris Coyne sets out why reporting is crucial for informed decision...
Each Local Authority Accounting Code consultation in the past few years has surfaced new issues with IFRS 17, but none have so far challenged the prevailing view that the Code should retain its...
Scrutiny of local government finances is being hindered by a lack of understanding among officers and elected members and the absence of standardised reporting requirements, according to a new study.
A lack of auditor capacity and complex accounting requirements worsened the local audit crisis and meant the Financial Reporting Council could only inspect four financial statements in 2022-23.
Qualified opinions on historical council accounts are likely if the government waives some reporting requirements as it strives for a “system reset”, which it currently plans to do, a senior civil...
Public sector standards-setters should look to industry when developing sustainable reporting rules or risk lagging even further behind on climate reporting, CIPFA has warned.
Low capacity in council finance teams and the failure to deal with historic accounting issues mean the current September audit deadline is unlikely to be met, local auditors Grant Thornton have...
A further delay to adopting local authority reporting regulations relating to investments is welcome, but the rules need to come into force at some point to avoid undermining transparency, CIPFA has...
External auditors for South Cambridgeshire District Council have closed the authority’s 2018-19 accounts, after finding significant issues with property valuations.
CIPFA’s Sarah Sheen and ICAEW’s Oliver Simms explain how working in local audit brings substantial benefits, including the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Northern Ireland’s Department of Health is facing questions over its accounting treatment of millions of pounds that might otherwise have been redistributed to other departments.
The Financial Reporting Advisory Board has considered options to report financial positions while maintaining accountability, writes CIPFA’s Don Peebles.
Focusing on residents as the primary users of local authority accounts can bring transparency and clarity and drive better decision-making, says Newham council’s Conrad Hall.
Financial performance among health providers has “improved significantly” but the sector is still too reliant on one-off efficiency savings, according to the latest data.
Difficulty in obtaining data from the Department for Work and Pensions has created “a significant challenge” for the official body responsible for Scotland’s economic forecasts.
Westminster City Council has claimed to have produced the earliest ever set of public sector accounts after getting its books for 2015/16 to external auditors on 9 April, only nine days after the...
CIPFA has today published the first ever balance sheet for the Northern Ireland public sector, revealing the province has £51.8bn of assets and owes £51.3bn in liabilities.
The Scottish government’s newly devolved fiscal powers expose it to a whole ‘new world’ of risk and responsibility, Scotland’s auditor general has warned ministers.
The latest set of Whole of Government Accounts show that the public sector’s net liabilities have increased by £624bn over the past five years, an analysis by CIPFA has revealed.
