New development: Preparing consolidated financial statements—the view from Cyprus

Abstract

IMPACT Preparing Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) in the public sector is challenging. The complexity of the process makes governments reluctant to even examine the possibility of preparing these sets of financial statements. However, the benefits of having WGA available for decision-making and accountability purposes exceeds the cost. Countries around the world have managed to formulate a path to prepare WGA, while others are still in the process of doing so. The author discusses the benefits and the challenges of preparing consolidated financial statements for central governments. Areas of concern about the international standard on consolidated financial statements (IPSAS 35) are also discussed in light of the experience in Cyprus.