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On July 23, 2007, a meeting was held between representatives of PSAB and the Deputy Ministers of Finance to explore some concerns of the fiscal planning and financial reporting community with various aspects of PSAB’s current technical agenda. At that meeting, it was agreed that PSAB and the Deputy Ministers of Finance would establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) tasked with developing a report that would focus its efforts on the issues identified as priority at the meeting: the conceptual framework and the perceived challenges between accounting standards and fiscal planning, government transfers, PSAB governance, and establishing an effective long term liaison between PSAB and the fiscal planning community. The approved Terms of Reference of the JWG address these issues. Papers for consideration and discussion by the JWG are prepared by a Support Group that includes Comptrollers General and finance officials from a number of senior governments. Members of the JWG and the Support Group are listed here. In between the JWG meetings, the Support Group conducts the research and analysis needed to develop the JWG meeting materials. JWG members and Support Group representatives attend meetings in person or through video or teleconference. The JWG held its first meeting on November 28, 2007 at Queen’s Park in Toronto. At the November meeting, the JWG asked the Support Group to prepare outlines for several papers that would be reviewed at the January 2008 meeting. The topics to be considered in the outlines were: the conceptual framework, surplus/deficit reporting and volatility, and PSAB governance and outreach. The JWG held its second meeting on January 25, 2008, also at Queen’s Park. It reviewed the outlines for the papers and clarified the expected content and structure of the papers to assist the Support Group in fleshing out and finalizing draft papers for consideration at the May 30, 2008 meeting to be held in Toronto at the CICA. Within the context of the JWG Terms of Reference, the papers are expected to identify where changes to existing Public Sector Accounting (PSA) Handbook standards might be required (including additions, deletions and modifications of existing materials to better reflect aspects of government reporting). The papers will focus on key issues and include proposed recommendations, the rationale for recommendations and expected implications of the proposals. The remaining topic in the JWG Terms of Reference, government transfers, will be considered as an illustrative example in the volatility paper and as a test of proposals in the conceptual framework paper. Other technical items such as financial instruments may also be used as illustrations in the commissioned papers. The JWG expects to complete its work and issue a jointly-approved final report(s) in October 2008. If there are areas where consensus cannot be reached, the report will include discussion of the alternative views. The recommendations of the JWG will be considered by PSAB and any proposed changes to existing PSA Handbook material or input regarding PSAB’s current technical agenda would then be considered by the whole of PSAB’s constituency. A copy of the report will be provided to PSAB’s oversight body, the Accounting Standards Oversight Council (AcSOC). |
