EGPA PSG XII Spring Workshop 2025

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the EGPA PSG XII Spring Workshop 2025 at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra.

Eleven years ago, on exactly the same dates, I co-chaired this event in Lisbon, addressing the topic "New Challenges for Public Sector Accounting: IPSAS, budgetary reporting and national accounts".

A decade has passed and public sector accounting continues to face "new challenges", given the recurring circumstances in which governments and societies actually live. Climate change, periods of inflation, financial and pandemic crises, wars, increasingly scarce natural resources, sustainability goals, public value creation, ... - should all this be reflected in public sector accounting? If so, how can public sector entities and governments as a whole report these impacts in their accounts, either in terms of money spent, resources used or investments made?

The above context, which has prevailed in recent years, has extended the traditional boundaries of public sector accounting, bringing non-financial information into the arena and reporting scenario. The usefulness of such information for public management in general, including for policy makers, seems undeniable, but several questions can be raised about its appropriateness for financial management in particular; likewise, the assurance of such information is crucial if it is to be reliable and trustworthy for potential users.

Subsequently, while recognising the importance of non-financial information, in particular sustainability reporting, it seems that a major challenge facing public sector accounting today is to understand what it is all about. After incursions throughout several areas, moving away from its essence – financial information – perhaps it is time to take a step back, look at the origins of public sector accounting and reflect on the usefulness and use of this information in current times.

With this in mind, in this EGPA workshop in Coimbra, we invite participants to discuss around the theme "BACK TO BASICS: THE USE OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN PUBLIC SECTOR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT".

If public sector accounting and reporting is to continue to provide information for accountability and decision-making by a wide range of stakeholders, its scope should certainly be reviewed. But this does not necessarily mean forgetting its roots and its original purpose.

Is financial information getting lost in a maze? Is it losing its central role? Are governments disregarding deficits and debt in financial terms? Is the financial position of public sector entities (their assets and liabilities) being degraded to a second plan as an indicator of financial capacity?

These are some of the questions that may be raised and debated during the workshop sessions. But, as always, papers outside the broad proposed theme are welcome, as long as they relate to public sector accounting and financial management.

We promise you two days of great discussions and also some social activities, namely a visit to the city and the University, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We look forward to seeing you at FEUC and in Coimbra!

Susana Jorge

(Workshop Chair, on behalf of the Organising Committee)