The management and employees of the Court of Accounts of the Republic of Moldova (CoARM), involved in the performance of financial audits, participated, on May 15, in a workshop on good European practices for the implementation of international accounting standards in the public sector IPSAS (International Public Sector Accounting Standards).
Ferdinand Pot, country manager of SIGMA, which is a joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, reported on SIGMA's conclusions and recommendations in this field, set out in the opinion document "SIGMA Paper 65". This document represents an analysis of the experience and good practices of a number of countries within the EU, as well as of some countries in the EU Neighborhood (Western Balkans).
Thus, the participants had the opportunity to discuss the costs and benefits of moving to accrual accounting in accordance with IPSAS standards, as well as the steps to be taken to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs.
"The Court of Accounts supports the country's strategic priorities in the development of public finance management (PFM) and contributes daily through its activity to the improvement of public finance management and to the promotion of the necessary reforms, in the context of the European path of the Republic of Moldova", noted Tatiana Șevciuc, President of the CoARM, in the workshop.
To note that the discussions and the exchange of opinions were of particular importance for the CoARM auditors, because one of the priorities of the Development Strategy of Public Finance Management of the Republic of Moldova for the years 2023-2030 is the development of accounting standards in the public sector based on IPSAS international standards.
SIGMA is one of the development partners of the Supreme Audit Institution in the country, which supports the consolidation of the Court of Accounts through expertise and consultation. SIGMA experts also led the team of evaluators who carried out the first "peer review" assession of the Court of Accounts, the findings and recommendations of the Report presented in October 2022 being the basic benchmarks in the institution's future strategic visions.