Accounting Aspects of Reporting Business Relationships between Public Enterprises and Municipalities in Slovenia, Individual Comparisons with Italy and Austria, and International Guidelines

Abstract

Adequate accounting information is the foundation of an efficient public sector. As of 2010, the accounting aspect of business relationships between public enterprises and municipalities in Slovenia had to be redefined due to the abandonment of ‘assets under management’ reporting. The regulation recommending municipalities to hand over infrastructure to public enterprises in the form of an operating lease has resulted in the need for different accounting information on the part of the municipalities. Regarding the water sector of municipalities in Austria and Italy, the need for more comprehensive accounting information exists as well. Due to the application of New Public Management concepts, many countries have adopted or committed to adopt some variant of accrual accounting also for the public sector. The large-scale adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (the IPSASs) would significantly enhance the international public sector comparability. KEYWORDS: • accrual basis accounting • cash basis accounting • municipality • public enterprise • Slovenia • Italy • Austria