International Conference The Accounting Profession’s Commitment to Improve the Quality of Financial Reporting in the Public Sector

CECCAR’s International Vocation Internal and External Expertise for Higher Quality of Financial Reporting in the Public Sector

The hosting of the International Conference, The Accounting Profession’s Commitment to Improve the Quality of Financial Reporting in the Public Sector, by the Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (C.E.C.C.A.R.), was the occasion of revealing several significant elements of continuity and novelty. We must note the continuous preoccupation of the CECCAR General Director to initiate manifestations of general interest at the country level and international level in the view of aligning the accounting profession to the current requirements. This event has represented a premiere due to the topics approached and, in the same time, has contributed to the analysis of several essential aspects attached to the process if national and international affirmation of the accounting profession.

THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION AND DECISION MANAGEMENT. The international conference hosted by CECCAR took place in the context where – both in our country and in the European Union and worldwide – the responsible, effective management of public finances is paramount. It is a forefront concern due to the current context, that of the balance and the budgetary estimates, as it generally is at the end of the year.

What was of particular interest in the Bucharest event was the fact that such a central topic can be widely connected to global issues of interest and progress, as well as to national developments generally appreciated, and CECCAR has had a role in this process as well. In this sense, CECCAR interim president, Mrs Ecaterina Necsulescu referred to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) that represent the best practice in financial reporting for public sector entities.

The presentation given by Professor Adriana Tiron Tudor CECCAR representative in the IPSAS Board of IFAC, together with her interventions as moderator of the conference, represents a topic of high conceptual and practical concern. In this capacity, Mrs Adriana Tiron Tudor has been involved in materialising the initiative of CECCAR General Director for the organisation of this Conference. Regarding the issues presented by Professor  Tudor Tiron, we must note the fact that financial reporting, that are three-folded, namely financial statements, budgetary execution and statistical reports, currently comprise 13 IPSASs transposed into the national regulations; this fact places Romania among the countries with a relatively high level of harmonization with international standards. Reporting entities, namely 41 counties, 276 cities and 2,727 parishes, are facing numerous challenges, the most severe being those related to the lack of qualified personnel and of specialised software. In the view of mitigating the negative effects of these challenges, several amendments and addendum to the Law 500/2002 on public finances have been adopted.

An essential requirement states that the application to the position of head of the financial and accounting division in public sector entities is subject to the professional certification issued by the European System of Accounts. In the same time, CECCAR program for the accountants’ professional development aims precisely at adapting their competences to the new requirements in the international standards.  In the view of increasing public government accountability there are several initiatives for modernising the informational system that serves financial statements disclosures. More precisely, we can talk about a new system of electronic reporting, standardised and secured, that can also trigger a higher level of reliability of collected data, including by cross-referenced validations.

Among the proposals made by Professor Adriana Tiron Tudor, we should mark professional development measures taken by city halls, by their subordinated institutions and by treasury personnel, the development of unique accounting information software, applicable to all entities, the externalisation of accounting services from specialised associations. Budgetary forecasts are generated at whole-of-process level for the Stability and Growth Pact adopted by the EU in 2011 in the view of consolidating budgetary discipline and of preventing a new downturn.

Concerning the future of public sector financial reporting, we can anticipate that international and European factors – IPSASs and EPSASs – shall have a particular significant weight, together with national factors that focus on the simplification and the integration of the reporting system.

PUBLIC MONEY AND PUBLIC INTEREST. The general idea conveyed throughout the conference was that IPSASs represent, at present time, the sole set of accounting standards for the public sector that are globally recognised, that is a means of paramount importance to develop the reliability placed by professional accountants in the positive effect of these standards over the quality of financial reporting issued by governments and their related agencies. This global appreciation should be completed by the initiatives taken at the level of the European Union for the standard-setting and the harmonization of accounting systems into a sole reporting due process that should ensure the flow of cross-border financial operations. Hence, the development and the consolidation of European Standards, EPSAS.

The alignment of CECCAR’s activity with global and EU initiatives is eloquently illustrated by the translation and the publication of two editions of the Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Standards developed by the independent body that is the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board of IFAC.

The panellists interventions (there was an interaction between the speakers and the audience) showed that this initiative can, actually, follow and translate into practice the highly professional and civil vision designed by the late CECCAR President, Professor Marin Toma PhD, who used to talk about the concept of public interest in the performance of the accounting profession. This idea has been taken over, developed and detailed by CECCAR General Director who, on various public occasions, has declared that nobody can be indifferent – not even as taxpayer – to the way in which public money is managed, and public interest aims at guaranteeing a fair relation between costs and benefits at the community level, in a context where the principles and the rules of democracy are promoted at a global scale, where cultural and moral diversity are harboured.

This spirit of scientific approach through best practices also dominated the Conference we relate to. Thus, in the context of the global crisis and of the efforts made, at all levels, for overcoming it, the accounting standards developed by the IFAC helped and are still helping to correctly outline the evolutions of the actual economy, as well as to substantiate several solutions that proved themselves efficient. We refer to four defining elements: preparing high-quality financial statements, establishing efficient and independent advisory and control tools, verifying the fairness of public space decisions and achieving in practice the requirement to ensure – in any circumstance – a faithful representation of what the economy means in every country, in the European Union, and on a larger scale, in the whole world.

COMPETENCE AND RESPONSIBILITY. The representatives of the international and European professional organizations had the opportunity (and expressed themselves directly and openly in this regard) to know better the manner in which the advocates of the accounting profession in our country, the CECCAR representatives, work in the forefront of the measures focusing on increasing the efficiency of managing public money. This is an experience that aims precisely at the convergence of the measures undertaken to promote a new financial reporting system for the public sector. In particular, the focus is on coordinate and consequent actions aiming for procedure simplification, online submission for all data in the system, the establishment of a single database, and an adequate budget management.

Therefore, the IPSASs do not represent – for Romanian accountants – “exotic plants”, but work approaches achieved organically and adjusted to the needs of our national economy. Indeed, the chair of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Andreas Bergmann, said that standards were developed to ensure the coverage of all relevant areas, especially those regarding accrual accounting, which is important both in Romania and in other European countries: “We do not oppose the development of national standards, but these should be as rigorous as the international standards. We need an accrual based accounting system. Very few Western European countries apply the cash basis of accounting. We have all the standards ready to be implemented. We can implement these standards directly or indirectly, through national standards; it is true that it takes long and there are important costs, but the return is higher, mentioned Bergmann.

The statement of the FEE representative, Thomas Müller-Marqués Berger, continued in the same spirit, focusing on the European Public Sector Accounting Standards. He underlined the EU Directive according to which member states have the obligation to establish “national accounting systems coherently and comprehensively covering all subsectors of public management and containing the necessary information for generating data based on accrual accounting”. This is a high quality moment, to which Romanian accountants have responded and continue to respond successfully. This assessment was also made by the representatives of IFAC and FEE. Thus is consolidated the international prestige gained in the 90s’ decade of the last century, when, through the efforts of President Marin Toma, CECCAR was a pioneer both in regards to Romania’s European integration process and the globalization process.

It is very important to highlight that the key principles proposed by the Eurostat for the EU set of accounting pronouncements and, implicitly, that of each member country, were long before drawn by professor Marin Toma, thus being promoted by CECCAR from de very rebirth of this civic and professional structure of Romanian accountants. These principles were reflected especially in the European Statistics Code of Practice. Even if we limit ourselves to their simple enunciation, still it will be obvious that we are faced with higher exigencies, not from outside the Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants in Romania, but from within our professional community. The key principles are the following: ■ Responsibility ■ Professional independence from political interests and interferences ■ Impartiality ■ Legitimacy and transparency ■ Credibility ■ Competence ■ Efficiency ■ Relevance ■ Coherence and compatibility ■ Accessibility and clarity.

Each of these principles was developed and detailed in the documents issued by CECCAR, in the public interventions of the high level representatives of the Romanian accounting profession, which represent essential theoretical contributions for defining the commandments of the profession at national, regional, European, and international level. They also establish a reference framework for the development of the accounting profession, as noted by the representatives of IFAC and FEE, both at the recent meeting in Bucharest and on other occasions, within or outside the country.

“Guarding” the public interest. The majority of the views expressed during the Conference often came back – through a inter and multidisciplinary analysis of the subject – to the essential, critical, role of the professional accountant in ensuring the set of conditions necessary for using public money exclusively in the public interest. The accountant’s “guarding” role towards the suite of public finance operations is exercised in multiple forms not just to ensure the total compliance with the truth, with the ongoing reality, but also to ensure high-quality consultations for the adoption of decisions that are themselves subordinated to the public good. Public accounting has certain strategic qualities, and the acknowledgement of this fact offers irreplaceable tools to decision-makers in regard to their public functions.

One of the major conclusions of the debates may be thus expressed: accounting has registered an important qualitative leap, worthy of the 21st century, thanks to the sustained efforts undertaken over the years by national, regional and international accounting institutions. The International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) may constitute a reference framework for the future development of the set of European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSASs).

The presence of specialists from the Ministry of Finances, Court of Accounts, and other structures of the public sector at the Conference offered an opportunity for a successful dialogue, which allows very useful conclusions to be expressed. Of course, we do not have the possibility to be more detailed in these notes, especially in regard to technical professional details. One should note, however, that a very significant issue is the forefront mission given to those holding a decision-making position, that of turning to the professional accountant, to his/her expertise, on a permanent and actual basis (not only at a declarative level). Whoever ignores such a challenge is meant to fail.

In the same time, it is high time to have radical measures for enforcing order at all levels of public government. This is our opinion as tax payers. It is unacceptable, for instance, not to have precise figures for public sector entities; speakers ventured numbers ranging from 13,000 to 15,000 entities. We do not wish to put a label on such an “approximation” not at all flattering for the ones concerned, but the acknowledgement of the accountant’s vital mission is essential for the purpose of public sector order as well.

The favourable premises are guaranteed by the process of professional development and that of promoting a real accounting deontology, this measures being taken by CECCAR at all levels, with the determination generated by its involvement into actually and literally serving public interest. In this context, we should note that Mrs. Domnica Băghină, CECCAR’s elected president for the 2014-2018 term stated, as a conclusion, that the role of accounting education results precisely from the IFAC mission and Constitution: that of serving public interest, by means of developing, adopting and implementing high level international standards and guidance. We can thus ensure the development of solid accounting professional organisations and strong accounting firms, while promoting high-level practices for professional accountants.

President Marin Toma has promoted the vector idea that decision-makers at all levels as well as public policies should, on every occasion when referring to accountancy and accounting professional bodies, take into consideration the concept of public interest.

This guardianship spirit that has defined the whole Conference represents – as reconfirmed on several occasions – the guarantee of a contribution that has been increasingly improving, has been more effective in achieving the role of the public sector – that of truly serving public welfare. CECCAR activity represents a significant added-value for all that is economic and social progress.

(Teodor Brateș)

For the full text of the presentations given within the International Conference held by CECCAR in cooperation with CSIPPC on November 8, 2013, please follow these links:

Panel 1: International, European and National Standard-Setting Trends

Panel 2: Role of Key Players in Serving the Public Interest

Panel 3: Challenges of the New Accounting System – Between Compliance and Performance

Panel 4: Role of the Accounting Education in Improving Public Sector Reporting

 

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