Since the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in 2006 by the United Nations system through High-level Committee on Management (CEB/2006/3), twenty-one organizations across the United Nations system have completed IPSAS implementation successfully and obtained unqualified audit opinions on their first and subsequent IPSAS-compliant financial statements.
Please note: only publishing dates after March 2013 may be considered reliable.
Pages tagged with Accounting and Financial Reporting
Date published
The High-level Committee on Management strategic plan for 2013-2016 identifies harmonization and simplification of business practices as a core activity. In this context, the plan focuses on common and shared services, including improved common procurement practices, and other initiatives to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the United Nations system.
Inter-agency collaboration in the financial and budgetary areas has received renewed attention in the work of CEB through the Finance and Budget Network of the High-Level Committee on Management. The focus has been on:
The High-level Committee on Management reviewed current practices within the system for sharing information contained in internal audit reports through its finance and budget network. In that regard, initial criteria that could serve to guide the exercise were under consideration with a view to establishing a common approach to disclosure of information contained in internal audit reports.
CEB continued its consideration of management issues in a more integrated and concrete fashion over the 2006/07 period with the support of its High-level Committee on Management. The Committee and its networks had recently given considerable time and attention to the subject of management harmonization and reform within the competence of United Nations system executive heads, with the aim of sharing information, avoiding duplication of efforts, identifying successful experiences as benchmarks and setting common directions for future work.
The Board considered issues related to the disclosure of information contained in internal audit reports of United Nations system organizations in the light of the expectation of the international community that the system should be as accountable and as transparent as possible. The Board stressed that it was important for any disclosure policy to incorporate adequate criteria to ensure that the human and legal rights of the staff were respected, especially in connection with information contained in internal audit reports that have to do with investigations.
Recognizing that the introduction of International Public Sector Accounting Standards would place new emphasis on the value of an organization’s assets and thus presented an opportunity to assess potential best practices, particularly with respect to capital budgeting which would facilitate the structuring, financing and monitoring of capital investment activities, and with a view towards addressing greater harmonization in United Nations system budgetary practices, the High-level Committee on Management Finance and Budget Network established a working group during the reporting period to d
Evaluation; Regional coherence; Campaign to end violence against women and girls; Contribution of the United Nations system to the Economic and Social Council; Disaster risk reduction; Science and technology; International Public Sector Accounting Standards; Knowledge-sharing; Human resources; Procurement; Collaboration with the Joint Inspection Unit; Coordination among pillars of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination
In the context of the Plan of Action for Harmonization of Business Practices the Finance and Budget Network’s Working Group on Common Treasury Services had launched its activities. The Working Group set up a web-based knowledge-sharing tool allowing inter-agency discussions on technical treasury-related subjects in its online forum. Preliminary steps have been taken to start the next phase of the group’s activities — a feasibility study to evaluate the potential harmonization opportunities in the treasury area.
During the reporting period, system-wide support towards implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) had brought important activities to fruition. In particular, an 18-course training suite has been completed and made available to United Nations system organizations, some of which have already started to deliver courses based on the materials provided.
System-wide coherence; Enhancing the contribution of the United Nations system to the Economic and Social Council; Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017); Science and technology; Support to staff in emergency situations; Human resources; International Public Sector Accounting Standards; Financial management; Procurement; Information and communications technology; Collaboration with the Joint Inspection Unit.
The adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) was recommended by the High-level Committee on Management to improve the quality, comparability and credibility of financial reporting across the United Nations system. In 2006, the General Assembly, by its resolution 60/283, approved the adoption of IPSAS by the United Nations. IPSAS are independently developed financial reporting standards that are considered best practice for public sector entities.
The Finance and Budget Network has completed the first stage of a project, due to be completed, on common treasury services. The project, which is funded by the High-level Committee on Management Plan of Action and led by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Health Organization (WHO), will provide detailed estimates of savings and specific proposals for harmonization in the area of treasury operations, with a focus on banking services, payments, currency management, investment management, external costs and fees and risk management.
The inter-agency Procurement Network completed the first project funded under the Plan of Action, led by UNDP, which resulted in a Model Policy Framework for Vendor Eligibility for system-wide use. The procedure, which has been reviewed and approved by the inter-agency legal advisers, allows for the introduction of a common decision mechanism for the handling of suspect vendors. The Model Framework, which responds to the need for improved transparency, accountability and effectiveness in procurement, was approved by CEB at its spring 2011 session.
Harmonization of business practices; Security and safety of staff; International Public Sector Accounting Standards.
During 2010/11, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) intensified its efforts to align the strengths and expertise of its member organizations to respond to the mandates of Member States in a coordinated and effective manner. The adoption by the General Assembly of its resolution 64/289 has been an important directive for the United Nations system in further strengthening the coherence of its system-wide efforts, as detailed in the present report.
General Assembly resolution 62/208 called on the United Nations system to strengthen interdepartmental and inter-agency coordination to ensure an integrated, coherent and coordinated approach to assistance at the country level. Towards this end, the United Nations Development Group continued to provide dedicated support to country preparations of United Nations Assistance Development Frameworks during the reporting period.
The United Nations system is increasingly using International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) as an instrument to improve the quality of financial reporting, thereby increasing transparency and accountability. Twenty-four organizations of the United Nations system are now implementing IPSAS (with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS being the latest implementing organization). Thirteen organizations, with adoption dates ranging from 2012 to 2014, are currently in the process of IPSAS implementation.
Harmonization and simplification of business practices; International Public Sector Accounting Standards; Safety and security of staff.
Eight organizations (International Civil Aviation Organization, International Maritime Organization, International Telecommunication Union, Pan American Health Organization, UNESCO, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, and World Meteorological Organization) in addition to WFP, which has been IPSAS-compliant since 2008, were targeting IPSAS implementation as of 2010.
Since the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in 2006 by the United Nations system through High-level Committee on Management (CEB/2006/3), 21 organizations have completed their IPSAS implementation successfully, with 10 of them issuing their first IPSAS-compliant financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2012 and obtaining unqualified audit opinions in 2013.
Since the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in 2006 by the United Nations system through High-level Committee on Management (CEB/2006/3), 21 organizations have completed their IPSAS implementation successfully, with 10 of them issuing their first IPSAS-compliant financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2012 and obtaining unqualified audit opinions in 2013.
The High-level Committee on Management strategic plan for 2013-2016 identifies harmonization and simplification of business practices as a core activity of the Committee. In this context, the plan focuses on common and shared services, improved common procurement practices, and other initiatives to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the United Nations system.
Financial Statistics is a collection of annual data from CEB member organizations on their revenue and expenditures. Using this data, revenues broken down by assessed and voluntary contributions can be shown. Also, expenditures at the country, regional and global levels and broken down by expenditure categories: development assistance, humanitarian assistance, technical cooperation, peacekeeping and normative activities.
The CEB Website provides a unique ability to make available to the UN system, and to the public, total revenue and expense data for the UN system. The Financial Database and Statistics Reporting project was established to improve the transparency of this data while reducing the burden to all UN agencies in the collection of this data. The project has been expanded to include first level reporting by DESA for Operational Activities for Development, including Humanitarian Assistance.
Timeframe: Implemented by December 2012