How will you benefit?

The purpose of the conference is to promote ownership, institutional and capacity development of the central government authorities as cornerstones of a successful reform and to provide sharing of experience in reform implementation. The conference will provide a venue for discussion on the following aspects of accounting reform: 

• Motivation and reasons for accounting reforms
• Planning and sequencing of accounting reforms, linkages to reforms of other PFM functions
• Reform success factors – case study of two successful countries mid-way through transition
• Creating conditions for transition to accrual accounting – political leadership and accounting policy
• Importance of training and professional qualifications
• Potential challenges with implementation of selected IPSAS standards in the national environment for Serbia and Montenegro.

The objectives of the conference are:

• Present issues in the reform of accounting and reporting systems
• Present examples of good practice in transition to accruals
• Inform decision making based on improved understanding  of the regional challenges in practical implementation of the selected IPSAS

What will you learn?

Capacity building through training and certification has proven to positively affect the speed and overall success of the reform. PACT programs in Serbia and Montenegro support accounting reforms by providing training and internationally recognized certification. Through PACT, accountants have learned about key accounting concepts in an accrual environment in preparation for reforms.

Through presentations, panel discussions and expert guided discussions in working groups, participants will be able to learn:

• How to deal with challenges in the planning and implementation of accrual accounting, with emphasis on issues that can be solved through policy making, training and capacity building
• How comparable countries successfully carried out partial or full transition from cash to accrual accounting
• What are common and country specific challenges in introducing specific IPSAS equivalents covered in the PACT Financial Accounting module curriculum from the practitioners’ perspective
• What interventions are needed to support the transition to accrual accounting in Serbia and Montenegro.

Participants will be encouraged to share their experiences and country practices during discussions in the working groups.

Who should attend? 

Countries who have decided to move to accrual accounting share broadly similar challenges. For that reason, treasury officials, SAI representatives and individual accountants in the region can update on developments and learn from each other on reform challenges and ways to overcome them. Regional conference is designed for:

• Graduates and current successful students of PACT training in Serbia and Montenegro
• Management at the Treasury Departments at Serbian and Montenegrin Ministries of Finance, responsible for budgetary accounting
• Representatives of localization host institutions
• Representatives of Supreme Audit institutions in Serbia and Montenegro
• Representatives of donors and partners
• Representatives of Ministries of Finance in the region

Participation is by invitation only.

News item about the conference.

Partners

This learning initiative was supported by: