PACP Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
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Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
The Government Receives Fourteen Consecutive Years of Clean Audit Opinions
Ottawa, June 5, 2013 -
OTTAWA – The federal government continues to receive “clean” audit opinions on its consolidated financial statements, but the Department of National Defence needs to improve the recording and valuation of its inventory and asset-pooled items, according to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts’ report presented today in the House of Commons by Committee Chair David Christopherson.
Each year, the Auditor General of Canada provides an opinion and observations on the federal government’s consolidated financial statements, which form a part of the Public Accounts of Canada. For the 2011-2012 fiscal year, the Auditor General, Michael Ferguson, issued a “clean,” or unmodified, audit opinion on the consolidated financial statements.
In its report, the Committee recognizes the government’s achievement of fourteen consecutive years of “clean” audit opinions and observes that few other jurisdictions have achieved such opinions on their consolidated financial statements.
The Committee notes the Department of National Defence’s challenges with respect to recording and valuing its inventory properly. The Department’s inventory accounts for $6 billion of the federal government’s total $7 billion in inventories, and its asset-pooled items have a net book value of $3.7 billion. The Committee recommends that the Department provide a plan to the Committee about how it intends to improve the recording and valuation of its inventory and asset-pooled items.
During the 2011-2012 fiscal year, many government entities made the transition to new accounting standards. Some entities moved to International Financial Reporting Standards, while others used Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards. The Committee expects that the various government entities will record financial transactions under different accounting standards in a consistent and comparable manner.
The Committee also acknowledges receipt of a letter on accrual appropriations from the President of the Treasury Board, Tony Clement.
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