IPSAS Accrual Accounting and Public Financial Reporting Training Course

Course overview

Public-sector finance teams are under pressure to move beyond cash records and produce financial statements that explain the full cost of services, assets under management, obligations to employees and suppliers, and exposure to future commitments. IPSAS adoption or transition requires more than changing account codes: staff must determine recognition points, measure balances consistently, maintain audit evidence, and translate transactions into compliant statements and disclosures. Errors in revenue classification, asset valuation, provisions, or budget comparisons can undermine audit readiness and decision-making.

This five-day course teaches the IPSAS accrual accounting method from transaction analysis through to public financial reporting. Participants apply the IPSAS Conceptual Framework, identify the appropriate recognition and measurement basis, account for property, plant and equipment, employee benefits, revenue, financial instruments, provisions, and non-exchange transactions, and prepare core statement formats. They also learn to build accounting policies, calculate depreciation and impairment, reconcile budget and actual information, and assemble note disclosures that support transparent reporting.

The programme combines instructor-led explanation with worked accounting schedules, journal-entry workshops, public-sector case studies, and group review of reporting decisions. Participants use structured templates to process a simulated entity's year-end close and produce an IPSAS reporting pack containing journal entries, supporting schedules, draft financial statements, selected note disclosures, and an implementation action plan for their own organisation.

It is designed for finance professionals working in ministries, local government, agencies, public funds, state-owned entities, development programmes, and supreme audit institutions. It suits both organisations preparing for IPSAS implementation and teams seeking to improve the quality of an existing accrual reporting process.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply the IPSAS Conceptual Framework to identify reporting entities, users, qualitative characteristics, and elements of financial statements
• Record accrual-based journal entries for receivables, payables, prepayments, accrued expenses, and year-end adjusting events
• Measure property, plant and equipment using cost, depreciation, revaluation, impairment, and derecognition schedules
• Classify and account for exchange and non-exchange revenue under IPSAS 47 using recognition and measurement decision steps
• Prepare accounting schedules for employee benefits, provisions, contingent liabilities, and commitments
• Produce primary financial statements and selected note disclosures in line with IPSAS presentation requirements
• Reconcile approved budgets with actual results and draft an IPSAS 24 budget-comparison disclosure
• Develop an IPSAS transition and reporting-improvement action plan with owners, evidence requirements, and milestones

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Public Sector Accountants — who process transactions and prepare accrual-based financial records
• Finance Managers — who oversee year-end close, accounting policies, and statutory reporting quality
• Financial Reporting Officers — who compile statements, notes, and supporting audit schedules
• Government Internal Auditors — who assess IPSAS compliance and the evidence behind reported balances
• Budget Officers — who must connect approved budgets, actual results, and financial statement disclosures
• Programme Finance Managers — who manage donor-funded or government-funded public-sector resources and reporting obligations

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable with double-entry bookkeeping, trial balances, basic financial statements, and common year-end adjustments such as accruals, prepayments, depreciation, receivables, and payables. Experience in a government entity, public agency, state-owned entity, or not-for-profit finance function is helpful but not essential. Participants should be able to work with spreadsheets; exercises use Microsoft Excel templates. Prior IPSAS knowledge, accounting software configuration experience, actuarial expertise, and previous IFRS training are not required. Complete beginners to accounting should first gain basic bookkeeping and financial statement preparation knowledge before attending.

Training methodology

The instructor leads short technical sessions followed by worked examples drawn from ministries, agencies, and public-service entities. Participants analyse source transactions, select the relevant IPSAS requirement, post journal entries in Microsoft Excel, and build supporting schedules for assets, revenue, provisions, and employee benefits. Small groups review reporting judgements and challenge the evidence required for audit support. Each day closes with a focused case exercise. On the final day, participants consolidate their work into a draft reporting pack and define practical actions for their own close and reporting cycle.

Course outline

Day 1: IPSAS foundations and the accrual reporting cycle

• Purpose of general purpose financial reports in the public sector
• IPSAS Conceptual Framework: reporting entity, users, and accountability
• Definitions of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and net assets
• Recognition criteria and measurement bases under IPSAS
• Cash basis versus accrual basis accounting differences
• Chart-of-accounts mapping for an IPSAS accrual ledger
• Year-end close sequence from trial balance to draft statements

Workshop: Participants convert a cash-based transaction list for a public agency into accrual journal entries and an adjusted trial balance.

Day 2: Assets, liabilities, and year-end measurement

• Property, plant and equipment recognition under IPSAS 17
• Component accounting, useful lives, and straight-line depreciation schedules
• Cost model and revaluation model decisions for public assets
• Impairment indicators and recoverable service amount
• Intangible assets recognition and amortisation under IPSAS 31
• Inventories measurement and issue costing under IPSAS 12
• Provisions, contingent liabilities, and commitments under IPSAS 19

Workshop: Participants prepare a fixed-asset register, depreciation schedule, impairment assessment, and provision calculation for a municipal services case.

Day 3: Revenue, expenses, and financial instruments

• Exchange and non-exchange transaction classification
• Revenue recognition and measurement under IPSAS 47
• Taxes, transfers, grants, and conditions attached to revenue
• Expense recognition and cut-off testing for goods and services
• Employee benefits liabilities under IPSAS 39
• Financial asset classification and expected credit losses under IPSAS 41
• Payables, borrowings, and effective interest measurement

Workshop: Participants analyse grant, tax, service-fee, payroll, and loan transactions and produce a revenue-and-liability journal-entry pack.

Day 4: IPSAS financial statements and disclosures

• Presentation of financial statements under IPSAS 1
• Statement of financial position classification and line items
• Statement of financial performance and expense presentation
• Cash flow statement preparation under IPSAS 2
• Accounting policies, estimates, errors, and subsequent events under IPSAS 3
• Related-party disclosures under IPSAS 20
• Budget information disclosures under IPSAS 24

Workshop: Participants assemble draft primary statements, a cash flow statement, accounting policy notes, and a budget-versus-actual disclosure from an adjusted trial balance.

Day 5: Implementation, audit evidence, and reporting improvement

• IPSAS first-time adoption and transition planning under IPSAS 33
• Opening balance sheet preparation and transition exemptions
• Evidence files for balances, estimates, and disclosure assertions
• Financial statement review checklists and materiality assessment
• Common audit findings in public-sector accrual reporting
• Roles, controls, and timetable for an IPSAS year-end close
• IPSAS implementation roadmap, gap analysis, and milestone tracking

Workshop: Participants complete a capstone IPSAS reporting pack and create a prioritised 90-day action plan for improving their organisation's accrual reporting process.

Tools & standards covered

IPSASB Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements, IPSAS 47 Revenue, IPSAS 24 Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements, Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions