The IPSASB has approved the Consultation Paper Reporting Service Performance Information. The IPSASB considers that reporting service performance information is necessary to meet the objectives of financial reporting, which are to provide information that is useful to users of General Purpose Financial Reports (GPFR) for accountability and decision making. This project aims to present a principles-based approach to developing a consistent framework for public sector entities.

IPSASB Chair Andreas Bergmann stressed, “Service performance information is essential for accountability for the efficient and effective use of resources, service provision, and achievement public sector entities’ objectives. Service performance reporting can provide financial and non-financial, as well as quantitative and qualitative, information about the achievement of service delivery objectives in the current reporting period, as well as anticipated future service delivery activities and resource needs.”

Various public sector entities around the world currently report service performance information. In practice, such reporting is diverse. The objective of the IPSASB’s service performance information project has been to improve the consistency and comparability of such information across jurisdictions and between entities.

Overall, the Consultation Paper proposes a framework for reporting service performance information. The framework includes information on the scope of the service performance information reported, the public sector entity’s objectives, the achievement of those objectives, and a narrative discussion of the achievement of all the objectives. The Consultation Paper also proposes a standardized service performance information terminology and working definitions to enhance users’ understanding of service performance information reported as outlined in the proposed framework.

The Consultation Paper is available to download free of charge from the IPSASB website (www.ipsasb.org). The IPSASB encourages IFAC members, associates, and regional accountancy bodies to promote the availability of this consultation paper to their members and employees.  

About the IPSASB
The IPSASB develops accounting standards and guidance for use by public sector entities. The structures and processes that support the operations of the IPSASB are facilitated by IFAC.

About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession, dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. It is comprised of 164 members and associates in 125 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

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The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has published Exposure Draft (ED) 46, Recommended Practice Guideline. This ED builds on a consultation paper issued in late 2009. ED 46 provides good practice guidelines on reporting on the long-term fiscal sustainability of a public sector entity, and particularly emphasizes that entities may be able to draw on projections that are already being made by other bodies, thereby ensuring a cost-effective approach.

The sovereign debt crisis has emphasized the significance of the fiscal condition of governments and other public sector entities to the global economy. There have been heightened concerns about the ability of governments to meet debt servicing obligations and the extent to which they can maintain current policies and meet current and future obligations related to entitlement programs, without raising taxes and contributions or increasing debt to unsustainable levels.

These concerns have emphasized the importance of providing projections of inflows and outflows of resources over the longer term, together with narrative explanations of the main risks facing governments and other public sector entities. This information allows the users of general purpose financial reports to assess the extent to which current policies are sustainable, and complements the financial statements, which remain at the core of public sector financial reporting.

“The continuing volatility in the world’s financial markets has reinforced the IPSASB’s conviction that  financial statements alone cannot provide all the information necessary to enable citizens, investors, and other users to evaluate the long-term fiscal sustainability of governments and public sector entities,” explained Andreas Bergmann, chair of the IPSASB. “ED 46 aims to provide straightforward guidance to entities to ensure that information on their fiscal sustainability is complete, relevant, and understandable. I encourage our constituents to give this ED full consideration, provide feedback, and assess the need to report on the long-term sustainability of their finances.”

This IPSASB project has continued to benefit greatly from the oversight of a Task Force with a wide membership, including standard setters with experience reporting on long-term fiscal sustainability, governments that have many years’ experience reporting on long-term fiscal sustainability, and supranational organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

ED 46 is available to download free of charge from the IFAC website (www.ipsasb.org). The IPSASB encourages IFAC members, associates, and regional accountancy bodies to promote the availability of this Exposure Draft to their members and employees.  

About the IPSASB
The IPSASB develops accounting standards and guidance for use by public sector entities. The structures and processes that support the operations of the IPSASB are facilitated by IFAC.

About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession, dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. It is comprised of 164 members and associates in 125 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

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This report highlights the progress made to date and key findings from the first phase (Pre-Implementation Monitoring) of a two-phase initiative to evaluate whether the IAASB needs to make further changes to the 36 clarified International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and clarified International Standard on Quality Control (ISQC) 1, which became effective January 15, 2009. 

Phase 1 began in June 2009 with the an information-gathering exercise to learn about the experiences of practitioners in preparing to implement the clarified ISAs.

Below you will find an update of recent and upcoming IFAC Translations & Permissions news. One of IFAC's primary objectives is to contribute to the development of international standards and guidance that enable accountants worldwide to provide high-quality services in the public interest. To achieve this objective, IFAC strives to make its publications widely available by enabling individuals to freely download them from its website and permitting interested parties to reproduce and translate them.

In this Issue

1. Highlights of 2011 Translations Achievements to Date
2. IFAC and the World Bank Partnership
3. Update on the Russian Translations Meeting
4. CReCER Highlights Need for Spanish and Portuguese Translations
5. What to Watch for in Q3 and Q4
6. New IFAC Website Coming Soon
7. Request for Translation Proposals
8. Important Notes Regarding IFAC Translations; Q&As and Other Resource

1.    Highlights of 2011 Translations Achievements to Date

IFAC continues to encourage a single, high-quality translation per language, and is pleased to highlight the following recent completed translations:

• The Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements - 2010 Edition was published in:
• Arabic - by the Arab Society of Certified Accountants (Jordan)
• Chinese - by the China Financial and Economic Publishing House, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China
• Russian - by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan 
• The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)'s clarified standards have been published in several additional languages, including Bulgarian, Danish, Georgian, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Russian, and Ukrainian. 
• A synoptic version (English/German) of the 2010 edition of the Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance, and Related Services Pronouncements-Part 1 was published by Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (Germany), in cooperation with Institut Österreichischer Wirtschaftsprüfer (Austria), and Treuhand-Kammer (Switzerland)
• Translations of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants - 2010 Edition were published in Czech, Finnish, German, Polish, and Turkish
• Arabic translations of IFAC's Professional Accountants in Business Committee's Good Practice Guidance documents, Evaluating and Improving Governance in Organizations and Evaluating and Improving Costing in Organizations, were published by the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants
• Translations of the following policy statements/positions in the five official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) are now available on the IFAC website:
• Policy for Reproducing, or Translating and Reproducing, Publications Issued by the International Federation of Accountants (December 2008)
• Policy for Translating and Reproducing Standards Issued by the International Federation of Accountants (December 2008)
• Modifications to International Standards of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board - A Guide for National Standard Setters that Adopt the IAASB's International Standards but Find It Necessary to Make Limited Modifications (Policy Position, July 2006)

If you know of other translations not currently listed in the translations database, or if you would like to translate one or more of our publications, please contact us at permissions@ifac.org.

2. IFAC and the World Bank Partnership 

IFAC and the World Bank have signed an agreement to be joint translating bodies for the Spanish translation of the 2011 Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Standards. A Call for Nominations for Principal Translator and several Review Committee members was issued, and 24 high-quality nominations representing 14 countries were received. Based on the recently signed agreement between IFAC and the IFRS Foundation, this project will use the Spanish translation of IFRS as the basis for the translated IPSAS in order to achieve a high level of quality and consistency. Please see the upcoming issue of IFAC News for more details, including the names of the selected Principal Translator and Review Committee members.

3. Update on the Russian Translations Meeting

We previously reported on a meeting held at the 2010 World Congress of Accountants with representatives from numerous Russian-speaking organizations (mainly IFAC member bodies and associates) to discuss the possibility of collaborating on future Russian language translations of IFAC publications, including the IAASB's clarified standards. A project framework has now been established--led by the Russian Collegium of Auditors--to work toward a single, widely acceptable Russian language translation of the Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance, and Related Services Pronouncements - Part 1. The project framework establishes a Review Committee consisting of two parts: experts and key stakeholders in Russia, and experts nominated from other Russian-speaking countries with an interest in using the translated standards. This translation will be performed using Trados translation memory software, which will help ensure a high-quality translation while also reducing processing time and the future need to perform multiple or new translations.

4. CReCER Highlights Need for Spanish and Portuguese Translations

Plenary and roundtable sessions held during the recent CReCER event in Buenos Aires, Argentina reinforced the need for high-quality and sustainable Spanish and Portuguese translations of standards and other materials published by IFAC in order to further adoption and implementation efforts in the region. We are seeing unprecedented cooperation to achieve a single and widely acceptable Spanish language translation of the IAASB's clarified standards, the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, and relevant implementation guidance documents from IFAC's Small and Medium Practices Committee. The Latin American Review Committee, consisting of representatives from IFAC member bodies in eight Spanish-speaking countries, is also making significant contributions to these translation efforts. The IFAC and World Bank partnership for the Spanish translation of the 2011 Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Standards mentioned above is also a notable example of efforts to address some of the translation needs discussed during the CReCER event. Portuguese translations of the IAASB's clarified standards, as well as SME/SMP guidance documents, have also been performed and a Portuguese translation of the Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Standards is in progress.

5. What to Watch for in Q3 and Q4

• 2011 Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Standards in Arabic
• 2010 Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance, and Related Services Pronouncements in Chinese
• 2009 Handbook of International Standards on Auditing and Quality Control in Spanish
• Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (revised 2009) in Chinese, Russian, and Spanish

IFAC's Small and Medium Practices Committee's Guide to Using International Standards on Auditing in the Audits of Small- and Medium-Sized Entities, Second Edition, Guide to Quality Control for Small- and Medium-Sized Practices, Second Edition, and Guide to Practice Management for Small- and Medium-Sized Practices in Chinese and Spanish.

6.  New IFAC Website Coming Soon

We are currently in the process of redesigning the IFAC website to better suit your needs. The new site will feature a clean and modern design, a more intuitive architecture/navigation, expanded content, and topical and timely issues and insights. Since our information will be organized around issues and outputs--and include cross-referencing and tagging--it will be easier to find the information you're looking for, as well as related resources.

We're looking forward to launching the site later in 2011, and to hearing your feedback.

7.  Request for Translation Proposals

IFAC would especially welcome translation proposals for the following standards:

• Arabic, Chinese, or French translations of the Handbook of International Education Pronouncements - 2010 Edition
• French translation of the Guide to Using International Standards on Auditing in the Audits of Small- and Medium-Sized Entities, Second Edition

8.  Important Notes Regarding IFAC Translations; Q&As and Other Resources

• IFAC's publications are copyrighted material. Please refer to our relevant policy statements at www.ifac.org/Translations and always ask permission before reproducing or translating any IFAC publications. You can ask for permission by contacting permissions@ifac.org.
• IFAC member bodies and other stakeholders are among our best resources for keeping the Translations Database up to date. Always feel free to alert us to any errors or issues.
• Use your fellow IFAC members and stakeholders as a resource in your reproduction and translation efforts. Cooperating with other IFAC bodies helps to reduce duplication of efforts and leads to more efficient use of existing resources. You will also find a Questions and Answers document at: www.ifac.org/Translations.

About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession, dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. It is comprised of 164 members and associates in 125 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce. 

This article, prepared by SMP Committee staff, summarizes key elements of the International Standard on Quality Control (ISQC) 1 and features five tips to help SMPs apply the standard in a cost-effective manner.

A Questions and Answers (Q&A) publication intended to assist professional accountancy organizations and others as they adopt and implement the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants issued in July 2009.

This document, from October 2008, provides a progress update on the Clarity project to help those with responsibilities relating to audits of financial statements set in motion plans to ensure that audits are effectively carried out under the clarified ISAs when the standards come into effect.

All clarified ISAs will be effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2009.