L'orientamento informativo dei principi IPSAS. Gli heritage assets nell'IPSAS 17

The implementation of IPSASs in European Union countries and the harmonization of the governmental financial reporting have the aims to respond to the needs of the citizens, intended as potential investors (Benito et Al., 2007). Accounting systems of Public Administration are the object of a reform process, in order to adequate them to the new informative demands which emerge from the needs, regardless of the sector they belong to, for the articulation of a homogeneous informative structure in the field of economic activities. This means the incorporation to the accounting systems of all patrimonial elements of public entities, among which there are some with special peculiarities, as in the case of “heritage assets”. Heritage assets are elements of tangible nature characterized by historic, artistic, architectural, aesthetic, scientific, technological, geophysical or environmental features. The paper has the purpose to investigate to what extent the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS 17) respond to the user needs of governmental financial reporting about heritage assets. The relationship between the user of accounting information (accountee) and supplier of accounting information (accountor) can be framed in the theory of accountability. Accounting is probably the first and one of the most important accountability tools that citizen can use for control the management of the resources entrusted to the government, for scrutinize government’s economic policies, for control the efficiency and effectiveness of management of assets and liabilities. This phenomenon is particularly relevant to public administration, because of the influence that public financial results have on politics and consequently on the decision-making processes, with inevitable social repercussions on the citizens’ satisfaction. In local government the private sector accountability flow is replicated by the flow to elected councilors, but those councillors are then accountable to the electorate, who are also the funders in their role as taxpayers. Often governments dispose of such goods such as monuments, collections, museum, historical buildings, etc. In this paper the approach adopted on these types of goods by the IPSAS 17 covering heritage assets is analyzed. .. [edited by Author]