Effective date

Annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2008.

Objective

To set out the manner in which general-purpose financial statements shall be prepared under the accrual basis of accounting, including guidance for their structure and the minimum requirements for content.

Summary

• Fundamental principles underlying the preparation of financial statements, including going-concern assumption, consistency of presentation and classification, accrual basis of accounting, and aggregation and materiality.
• A complete set of financial statements comprises:
  • Statement of financial position
  • Statement of financial performance
  • Statement of changes in net assets/equity
  • Cash flow statement
  • When the entity makes it approved budget publicly available, a comparison of budget and accrual amounts
  • Notes, comprising a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes
• An entity whose financial statements comply with IPSAS shall make an explicit and unreserved statement of such compliance in the notes. Financial statements shall not be described as complying with IPSAS unless they comply with all the requirements of IPSAS.
• Assets and liabilities, and revenue and expenses, may not be offset unless offsetting is permitted or required by another IPSAS.
• Comparative prior-period information shall be presented for all amounts shown in the financial statements and notes. Comparative information shall be included when it is relevant to an understanding of the current period’s financial statements. In the case presentation or classification is amended, comparative amounts shall be reclassified, and the nature, amount of, and reason for any reclassification shall be disclosed.
• The statement of changes in net assets/equity shows all changes in net assets/equity.
• Financial statements generally to be prepared annually. If the date of the year-end changes, and financial statements are presented for a period other than one year, disclosure thereof is required.
• Current/non-current distinction for assets and liabilities is normally required. In general, subsequent events are not considered in classifying items as current or non-current. An entity shall disclose for each asset and liability item that combines amounts expected to be recovered or settled both before and after 12 months from the reporting date, the amount to be recovered or settled after more than 12 months.
• IPSAS 1 specifies minimum line items to be presented on the face of the statement of financial position, statement of financial performance, and statement of changes in net assets/equity, and includes guidance for identifying additional line items, headings, and subtotals.
• Analysis of expenses in the statement of financial performance may be given by nature or by function. If presented by function, classification of expenses by nature shall be provided additionally.
• IPSAS 1 specifies minimum disclosure requirements for the notes. These shall include information about:
  • Accounting policies followed
  • The judgements that management has made in the process of applying the entity’s accounting policies that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements
  • The key assumptions concerning the future, and other key sources of estimation uncertainty, that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year
  • The domicile and legal form of the entity
  • A description of the nature of the entity’s operations
  • A reference to the relevant legislation
  • The name of the controlling entity and the ultimate controlling entity of the economic entity
• An appendix to IPSAS 1 provides illustrative statements of financial position, statements of financial performance, and statements of changes in net assets/equity.