Governmental Financial Accounting and European Harmonisation: Case Study of Finland

The Finnish government accounting has developed from its own premises which used to emphasise the importance of budgetary accounting and prudence. Since the 1990s and the impact of New Public Financial Management, the Finnish government financial accounting has been accruals based. However, the Finnish application of accruals is based on the income statement approach, realisation principle and prudence. The International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) based more on the balance sheet approach and fair value accounting are not suitable for the Finnish government accounting culture and practice. Furthermore, this means from the Finnish perspective that the EPSAS standards should not be based on IPSAS but on a conceptual framework especially developed for the European context.