Public Sector Accounting Reform in the Republic of Tajikistan PEMPAL Minsk, Belarus 2016

Public Sector Accounting Reform in Tajikistan The Republic of Tajikistan is in the process of reforming its public sector accounting system; the reform is implemented pursuant to the Public Sector Accounting Reform Strategy for 2011-2018, and is a part of a broader effort to upgrade public finance management (PFM); Today the reform engages almost all public sector organizations (about 6,800 organizations); The key goal of the reform is to move to IPSAS; 2

Public Sector Accounting Reform in Tajikistan An international consultant with experience in introducing such standards in other countries was hired to develop National Standards; The reform was mainly financed by SECO; A local consulting company and private consultants were hired to provide training and support the introduction of the standards; To support nation-wide capacity building effort, 150 trainers were developed who provided support to accountants in 6,800 public sector organizations regarding the public sector accounting reform; 3

Public Sector Accounting Reform in Tajikistan The reform helped to develop and introduce: Unified Chart of Accounts compliant with IPSAS and GFS 2001; National Standards (TPSAS) compliant with IPSAS ongoing (2013) 10 National Standards (TPSAS) compliant with IPSAS (2013-2014) have been developed, including: TPSAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements TPSAS 2 Cash Flow Statements TPSAS 3 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors TPSAS 4 The Effects in Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates TPSAS 5 Borrowing Costs TPSAS 6 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements TPSAS 12 Inventories TPSAS 17 Property, Plant and Equipment TPSAS 22 Disclosure of Financial Information About General Government Sector TPSAS 24 Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements 4

Public Sector Accounting Reform in Tajikistan Accountants in 6,800 public sector organizations have been trained in using the new UCA and developing NS-compliant financial statements; Automation of accounting and reporting function ongoing; First (test) TPSAS-compliant consolidated financial statements for 2014 have been developed. A review of 2014 financial statements suggests substantial quality improvements; Financial statements for 2015 are developed; On stage 2 the reform plans to design and introduce 3 more National Standards (TPSAS); 5

Challenges and issues Unless accounting process is automated, collection and control of financial statements becomes all but impossible; Consolidation of financial statements is a challenge; Drain of trained personnel; No sustainable tools to stock-take and revaluate all assets and inventories which pushed the introduction of TPSAS 12 and TPSAS 17 to Stage 2 of the reform; Consolidated financial statements lack financial information of state-owned enterprises and corporations. 6

Solutions In 2017 automation of accounting and reporting process is set to be complete under a new PFMS; Based on Lithuania’s experience, a procedure for automated consolidation of financial statements is to be introduced; During Stage 2 of the effort to upgrade the PFM, the focus is on HR policy and retaining staff; Stage 2 is to develop relevant mechanisms to stock-take and revaluate all assets and inventories; Based on Lithuania’s experience, it is planned to use IPSAS 7 to address this. 7

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