The Ministry of Finance organised a training course titled “Roundtable Session - Discussion of Updates to the Federal Government's Accounting Standards Manual”, in line with its commitment to developing governmental financial work and enhancing financial performance efficiency within federal ministries and entities. The course saw the participation of financial department managers from federal agencies and institutions.

Mariam Mohamed Al Amiri, Assistant Under-Secretary of the Government Financial Management Sector at the Ministry of Finance, affirmed that accounting standards are of great importance as they determine the extent to which the federal government's goals are met and secure the needs of the financial information users and meet their requirements.

They contribute to developing transparent financial reports. She also emphasised that it is crucial to apply accounting treatments consistently and coherently to all federal entities to enable the comparison of internal and international financial performance over different financial periods and to provide users with guidance and advice regarding accounting treatments and disclosure requirements.

The course witnessed the presentation and discussion of updates to the accounting standards manual that will impact the accounting and financial work in the federal government, specifically regarding the standards of financial instruments, social benefits, leases, non-current assets held for sale, and discontinued operations.

The course also discussed and analysed the challenges, preparations, and enablers that should be designed for federal entities and the presentation of new governmental standards that are being worked on and expected to be issued soon.

The course reviewed the most important updates incorporated into the standards manual in both Arabic and English, aligning the numbers of FGAAS and IPSAS standards, updating the reference indicators within each standard to align with the new numbering of standards, and adding the annual updates issued by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB).

Participants were also introduced to the new standards being added to the manual and issued by the IPSASB.

The training course presented a detailed roadmap for the application of standards with the concerned initiatives, which are currently being worked on by adding the five accounting standards issued in 2023 by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, amending and updating the Federal Government Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual (FGAAP), adding the Conceptual Framework for International Public Sector Accounting Standards to the government standards manual with all updates, and studying the recommendations and guidelines recommended related to sustainability by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board.