Public Sector Accounting Modernisation: Moving from Cash to Accrual Systems Training Course (Online / Remote)
1Summary
Governments that still run their books on a pure cash basis often can't answer a simple question: what do our assets actually cost, and what are they really worth? This Arab British Fellowship Training Academy training course is built around that gap, walking participants through the move from monetary (cash) accounting to computer-supported entitlement (accrual) systems in the public sector.
Rather than treating the shift as a one-off technical switch, the course frames it as a full change in how governmental institutions record transactions, value fixed assets, and read the theories behind their own costs — with hands-on computer exercises built around a "learning by doing" approach throughout.
Participants come away understanding not just how accrual accounting works, but why it changes the financial decisions that public institutions are able to make.
2Objectives and target group
Who Should Attend
- Managers of governmental institutions and anyone working with prices and costs.
- Supervisory agencies and central banks.
- Financial institutions, commercial and investment banks, and housing/savings associations.
- Investment funds, brokerage firms, stock exchanges, and insurance companies.
- Accounting, consulting, and legal firms, plus rating and multilateral financial institutions.
Course Objectives
- Give trainees the rules and procedures needed for modern internal examination.
- Build the knowledge required to reach the goals of advanced accounting systems.
- Support the shift from modified cash bases to full entitlement (accrual) bases.
- Explain the advantages of accounting under entitlement systems.
- Cover the price-change standard and how it applies when valuing fixed assets.
3Course Content
Module 1: Cash vs Accrual — Choosing the Right Basis
- Definition, advantages, and risks of monetary (cash) bases.
- Definition, advantages, and risks of modified monetary bases.
- Definition, advantages, and risks of entitlement (accrual) bases.
- Immediate vs. gradual application of entitlement bases, and a proposed model for applying them across Gulf states.
Module 2: Valuing Fixed Assets Under an Accrual System
- Applying entitlement bases within governmental institutions and evaluating their fixed assets.
- Monetary, natural, and intangible assets.
- The price-change standard and its application when valuing fixed assets.
- Historical cost vs. current market cost methods.
Module 3: Financial Statements and Costs in Government Institutions
- Income statement and statement of financial position.
- Costs within governmental institutions and cost-sharing between them.
- The cost of transferring services between institutions.
- Theories used for analysing costs.
Module 4: Internal Audit and Accounting Measurement Foundations
- Key terms of internal audit, and analytical vs. traditional examination types.
- Accounting theory and the principles of auditing and accounting.
- Designing accounting data systems and applying quantitative methods in decision-making.
- Financial budgets, accountability, and practical computer-based applications, including consulting and assurance services.
Training Methods
- Theoretical lessons.
- Oral lessons and role play.
- Varied practical applications.