engleski

On the Management and Financial Reporting for State Assets - a comparative analysis between Croatia and New Zealand

The demand for public sector asset management reform in any given country derives from a unique set of circumstances. However, there have been a few common drivers of the reform effort, easily recognizable across various locations. These, among others include: a lack of a central policy framework ; fragmented management of public sector assets ; economic inefficiencies associated with public sector assets ; a lack of information (both financial and non-financial) needed for managing asset portfolios ; and accounting/financial reporting reforms (Kaganova, O., McKellar J., 2006 ; Ngwira, M., Manese, D.). Precisely, the reform of accounting practices in developed countries’ government sector has strongly influenced management of public sector assets. A move to accrual accounting and IPSAS has spread across much of the developed world. Accrual accounting and accounting standards bring greater clarity to how asset related costs and asset values are recognized and measured over time, but their adoption requires more than a simple change in reporting procedures (Vašiček D., Roje, G., 2017). This paper analyses management and financial reporting for state assets , in two countries: Croatia, an EU member country, where the application of modified accrual accounting has been regulated as obligatory by extensive set of laws, decrees and rules, no national public sector accounting standard exist, IPSASs are not applied directly, but some provisions are applied indirectly through national legislation, and where, as this paper’s findings indicate, public sector managerial tools and wider reform concepts have a limited effect, as processes are perceived more in a political context, compared to New Zealand, a country that applies IPSAS based standards, where public sector asset reform was been placed in the wider context of the development of new public management as a governance reform some 30 years ago. In other words, this study compares a system of a ‘mature’ public sector management and reporting environment with a ‘novice country’ when it comes to public sector assets’ management and reporting. The aim is to compare the path of development in those two countries, and identify key influences on the existing national solutions to state property reporting and their management. We apply a qualitative method of investigation, through the review of relevant institutional and non- institutional documents issued by different players in the public sector assets and/or accounting field that have played a role of asset custodians (public managers and policy- makers). Our analysis points out that the specific regulation of the different Croatian public sector entities must be analysed to identify some isolated attempts in providing reporting requirements and practises for a particular category of items. This is due to the fact that accounting for state assets, including heritage assets is not the subject of organic but rather scattered, not consistent and diverse regulation in Croatia. For the purpose of gathering asset records in the State Treasury General Ledger and compiling the consolidated state balance sheet, it was deemed necessary to set and create the register of government assets recognized, valuated and recorded in accordance with the international criteria. On the other hand the state assets management in New Zealand has been one of the consistent treatment of those assets as property, plant and equipment from the NZ GAAP and sector neutral approach to accounting to those assets through application of IFRS accounting standards to more recently application of NZPBE standards that use IPSAS as the accounting and reporting platform.

Public sector asset management, Croatia, New Zealand, financial reporting,

Rad je po prezentiranju na skupu Comparative International Governmental Accounting Research (CIGAR) 2018 Workshop: “Accounting for Budgeting and Fiscal Responsibility”, u lipnju 2018. u Zagrebu, upućen u proces recenzije za objavu u međunarodno priznatom časopisu. Isti je po završenom uspješnom postupku recenzije, prihvaćen za objavu u Public Money & Management časopisu, Mini theme: Public sector accounting and fiscal responsibility: learning lessons, current challenges and future opportunities. Issue 2: Theme: Public sector accounting and fiscal responsibility: learning lessons, current challenges and future opportunities Guest editors: Nives Botica Redmayne and Vesna Vašiček