World Bank, ODSG, train Ondo finance officers on IPSAS accrual approach

THE World Bank, in collaboration with Ondo State Government (ODSG) and JK Consulting Co. Ltd, has commenced a five week customised training on implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for transparency and accountability in governance.

The training, which started on Monday in Akure, the capital city of the state, was organized mainly for the state’s Accountant-General and Auditor-General staff but included other finance officers from other government ministries, departments and parastatals for the training.

The state Commissioner for Finance, Chief Yele Ogundipe, while declaring the event open, said “this workshop is therefore a step in the right direction as it is expected to impart the necessary knowledge and expertise on the participants for an effective hands-on knowledge of issues at stake.
“Now it is time for us to take on the challenge of a successful implementation of the Accrual-Basis IPSAS in Ondo State. Accrual-Basis of Accounting requires that income and expenses must be recognized in the accounting period to which they relate rather than in the subsequent period in which the income/expenses are received or paid.”

The Commissioner, however, noted that the trainees were not lacking the requisite skills to perform, “the point is that, the world itself is moving and because the world is moving, we must move with the world. Everywhere else in most part of the developed countries, they have changed the pattern of reporting and recording transaction to make it more transparent and accountable.”

He stated that it became imperative to employ financial experts to train the workers on the modern trend and more compliant with international practice and standard, revealing that the state is one of those that first embraced the cash basis of IPSAS when it was introduced about two years ago.
“We want anybody in the world to take our accounting statement and be able to interpret it in modern language, so nothing is lacking; and it is because we don’t want anything to lack in them that we are training them,” he said.

Ogundipe thanked Governor Olusegun Mimiko for the support and encouragement in actualizing the training workshop, which he described as “the train the trainer scheme,” that enables the trainee to impart on other finance officers in their various departments.

The General Manager of JK Consulting Ltd and Financial Expert, Mr Yomi Adetula said the company is passionate about developing and training the capacity of private and public people, in pursuance of the vision of the proprietor, Kayode Naiyeju, who is the former Accountant-General of the Federation, for the betterment of the country.

He noted that the IPSAS initiative was adopted in 2010 by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for implementation by 2014, “which we have adopted and implementing but have decided now that the accrual should be adopted in January 2016.”

According to Adetula: “The difference between cash and accrual is that, cash will not give you the true picture. By the time you adopt the accrual, it will give a true picture, then the assets of government can now be seen. In IPSAS accrual, you will know the asset and you will know the opening and closing balance. People will be more transparent.
“What we are practising now is the IPSAS cash. If you look at government, a lot of money is wasted on aids and grants because they don’t report it. In IPSAS accrual, assets, liability, aids and grants will be reported,” he said.

The financial expert defined accrual as “the totality of everything: cash, account payable, account receivable, asset and liability.”

Kehinde Shogunle, another resource person with JK Consulting and former Commissioner for Finance in Ogun State, mentioned that in line with the FEC direction that all financial statement in all the three tiers of government must be IPSAS compliant, the auditors too will tremendously benefit from the training.

The state Accountant-General, Mr. Ajibokun Fredrick and the state Auditor-General, Mr Sunday Adegoke expressed their satisfaction over the customized IPSAS accrual-based training, which they said would greatly boost the performances of the various finance departments and afford them the platform to compete with their contemporaries anywhere in the world.

The Auditor-General said the training would make the trainees ready for the accrual-based aspect of IPSAS which is January next year, “particularly the auditors because we are auditing the financial statement and need the required skills to carry out the audit effectively.”

His words: “If it is not properly prepared, as an auditor, we are to express opinion on that. We also need to know how these accounts are to be prepared in terms of accrual-based accounting system. We need the requisite knowledge and that is what the training is all about.”