Friday, October 10th, 2014
On 30 September, Eurostat released a significant study conducted by PwC on behalf of the European Commission on the future implementation of European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) by all levels of government within the EU member states.
This study aims to inform the upcoming EPSAS Communication, the related impact assessment and the EPSAS legislative proposal planned by the Commission. The study has been informed through interviews with and survey questionnaires to member states and other key stakeholders. It also takes into account various other sources of information, such as public debates and expert literature.
The study identifies the benefits as well as the main cost drivers for EPSAS implementation and provides a high-level estimate of the total cost of EPSAS implementation at EU level, using a number of working assumptions and with clear limitations. In addition, it analyses the adequacy of IPSAS as a basis for developing EPSAS and provides some proposals for the next steps of the EPSAS implementation process. The study concludes that “the EPSAS project provides a unique opportunity for EU governments to implement harmonised and robust accounting solutions that will result in high-quality, transparent, credible and comparable financial statements, therefore enhancing accountability and decision-making, both at the macro level and at the entity level.”
For a full report, please follow the following link:
https://www.pwc.be/en/publications/2014/eurostat.jhtml
