We will, very soon, be publishing the final set of local government accounts based on the requirements of UK GAAP and will then moving to an approach based on International Financial Reporting Standard. IFRS has been encroaching on local government accounting for a number of years with the introduction pension fund accounting, financial instruments and service concessions. However, IFRS is now in the “here and now” with 2010/11 being the first year of accounting to be based on this approach; however, councils are at varying stages in their transition to IFRS, some being almost there and others yet to start.

Considering local government is only nine months away from having to undertake it’s first year of having to report it’s financial performance on an IFRS basis, we are now entering the final window of opportunity in which to ensure all councils have an effective IFRS transition. Resources to assist in IFRS transition will become more and more limited as the requirements of 2009/10 accounts closure pass and thoughts move to IFRS. The knowledge and understanding of the IFRS adoption in England and Wales is still in short supply; however as a company, we are working to make help available when you need it. We are proposing a two stage approach.

From July 2010 onwards, we will be holding half day courses around the country at economical rates of £100-£200 per attendee (dependant on location). These will aim to give indications of the work that you should be aware of and highlight the areas that you will need to address. The topics that will be covered include IFRS1 First time Adoption; IFRS5 Assets held for sale; IAS2 Inventories; IAS16 Property Plant and equipment; IAS17 Leases; IAS 19 Employee benefits and IAS36 Impairment; restatement; the requirements for data capture and the impact of changes on budgeting. The courses will be aimed to be interactive to enable you to gain full benefit from the information.

Secondly we will be providing a more bespoke product that will be tailored to your local authority’s needs. This may include the production of a workable action plan or tackling the numerous areas of IFRS transition either on a singular basis (i.e. a review of leases) or on a more project based approach dealing with the whole IFRS transition.

The benefits of our services are:

• our experienced and skilled consultants minimise your learning curve
• consultants with varying skills and experience are available on a flexible basis, as and when they are needed by you
• the client has total control and flexibility as they determine the level of our involvement and retain full ownership
• the budget can be agreed so that there are no hidden costs
• the client has no long term commitment to employing dedicated staff
• the client has the backup and support of Public Sector Consultants, which includes our multi-disciplinary experience and support models.