Ten years after the initial official governmental study first advocated WGA, this report offers a thorough and timely insight into such a ‘grand design’ project.
by
Danny Chow
Birkbeck College, University of London
Christopher Humphrey
Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
Jodie Moll
Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
The UK government made a committment to produce a consolidated set of public sector accruals-based accounts, known as Whole of Government Accounts (WGA), as a component of its accounting reforms, eg Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB). This requirement was mandated by the Government Resources and Accounts Act (2000).
The findings are of both national and international relevance. Certainly it would be prudent for countries considering the implementation of similar consolidated public sector accounting systems to ensure that they have absorbed the lessons from the experiences of ‘pioneer’ countries, and given careful consideration to the relative costs, benefits and practical achievements of such reforms.
To read the report in full please see the download section.