Question Tag: Public Financial Reporting

Accountability:
The primary function of governments and other public sector entities is to provide services that enhance or maintain the well-being of citizens and other eligible residents. In most cases, these services are provided due to a non-exchange transaction and in a non-competitive environment. Governments and other public sector entities are accountable to those that provide them with resources and to those that depend on them to use those resources to deliver services during the reporting period and over the longer term. The discharge of accountability obligations requires the provision of information about the entity’s management of the resources entrusted to it for the delivery of services to constituents and others, and its compliance with legislation, regulation, or other authority that governs its service delivery and other operations.

Decision-Making:
Financial information also supports decision-making by the users, who require information as input for making decisions. The information will also be useful for decision-making by users of General Purpose Financial Reports (GPFRs), including decisions that donors and other financial supporters make about providing resources to the entity. Information about the financial position of a government or other public sector entity will enable users to identify the resources of the entity and claims to those resources at the reporting date. This will provide information useful as input to assessments of such matters as:

• The extent to which management has discharged its responsibilities for safekeeping and managing the resources of the entity.
• The extent to which resources are available to support future service delivery activities, and changes during the reporting period in the amount and composition of those resources and claims to those resources.
• The amounts and timing of future cash flows necessary to service and repay existing claims to the entity’s resources.