Currently, each IPSAS includes a statement that it does not apply to commercially-oriented public sector entities. To address constituents’ concerns about the application of IPSASs to public sector entities, the IPSASB now proposes to:

• Revise the Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards to provide the characteristics of public sector entities for which IPSASs are intended;
• delete the definition of Government Business Enterprises (GBEs) in IPSAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements; and
• Amend the scope section of each IPSAS and Recommended Practice Guideline (RPG) by removing the paragraph that states that these pronouncements do not apply to GBEs.

Please click to access the press release and the exposure draft on the IPSASB website. Comments are requested by 30 November 2015.

The IPSASB's proposals partly overlap with questions asked in the Request for Views published by the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation in July 2015. Among other topics, the Trustees are consulting on the relevance of IFRSs which also might include extending the IASB's remit beyond the current focus of the organisation, either in terms of the types of entity covered or the types of reporting.