International efforts to introduce a unified public sector accounting framework

Public sector financial accounting is important in the areas of measuring, evaluating and providing data on the economics of public organizations operating with public money. Decades ago, there was a need to develop global public sector accounting standards, the primary goal of which is to improve the quality of annual reports prepared by public sector agents, making budgeting financial data of individual nations more comparable. At the same time, other motives also appear in the background of unification efforts, such as the need for transparent management, improved accountability, and the construction of an accounting information system which supports more well-founded management and control decisions. The International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) contain the international framework of public sector financial accounting standards used by several governmental and public organizations worldwide. The "European equivalent" of the IPSAS framework is EPSAS (European Public Sector Accounting Standards), which is a system of accounting rules tailored to the budget sector of the member states. The purpose of our research is to outline a comprehensive status report on the current state of international public sector accounting standards. In this paper, the strengths and weaknesses of international budget accounting standards, both the opportunities and dangers inherent within them, are examined. The findings are based on the results of secondary research. It is concluded that a harmonized budget accounting framework is needed, the primary stage of which can be provided by the member states. During harmonization, national sovereignty may be violated, but simultaneously, a comparative, well-consolidated budget database can be obtained, which can even create a more accurate and fair community financing system.

Keywords: IPSAS, EPSAS, Public sector accounting