FRAB publishes its 2014-2015 report

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21 Jul, 2015

The UK Government's Financial Reporting Advisory Board (FRAB) has published its report on public sector accounting for the period April 2014 to March 2015.

The FRAB's primary objective is "to promote the highest standards of financial reporting by government".  The report is addressed to the Committee of Public Accounts and the Treasury Select Committee in the Westminster Parliament, to the Northern Ireland Assembly, to Scottish Ministers and to the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly for Wales. 

The FRAB report highlights changes to accounting guidance approved by the FRAB Board during 2014-15 and also details areas of financial reporting, both new and continuing, which may lead to accounting guidance in the future and an indication of how these issues will impact future Board work.

In the period from April 2014 to March 2015, the main issues considered by the FRAB were:

  • Application of IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement in the public sector context.  It was highlighted that IFRS 13 will be adopted for use in the public sector from 2015-16.
  • IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers and IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and considering the implications of these standards for the public sector.  The FRAB report indicates that these standards will continue to be considered by the FRAB Board next year and will be introduced by their effective dates in the public sector.
  • Improvements in financial reporting with the Simplifying and Streamlining Accounts project, launched in July 2014.

Priorities for 2015-16 include:

  • Ensuring that IFRS 15 and IFRS 9 are fully considered in the public sector context so that they are adopted timely and with minimal disruption.
  • Monitoring the International Accounting Standard Board’s (IASB’s) Leasing project and implications on public sector bodies which are expected to be “substantial, particularly on reported liabilities”. 

The full report is available on the HM Treasury website.  The minutes of the FRAB meetings for April, June 2014, November 2015 and March 2015 are available on UK Accounting Plus providing further details of the areas highlighted above.

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