Issue (AD_AASB1049_GAAP-GFS_Harmonisation_GGS_Entities_5-13)

In response to the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) direction to the AASB to “…pursue as an urgent priority the harmonisation of Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) reporting...”  (see FRC Bulletin 2002/5 18 December 2002, as modified by FRC Bulletin 2003/1 11 April 2003), the AASB considered, in the second phase of implementing that direction^[1], whether to specify GAAP/GFS harmonisation requirements for entities within the General Government Sector (GGS) of the Australian Government and the State and Territory governments, including government departments and statutory bodies.

The Board’s due processes for this issue included issuing two Exposure Drafts, ED 174 Amendments to Australian Accounting Standards to facilitate GAAP/GFS Harmonisation for Entities within the GGS [AASBs 101, 107 and 1052] in January 2009, and ED 212 Not-for-Profit Entities within the General Government Sector in July 2011.