I will now explain what whole government accounts are and the advantages and disadvantages associated with

WGA. In a recent report from the national audit office Amyas Morse gave the definition of WGA as a single set of audited accounts consolidating the financial activities of most of the UK public sector. The WGA sets out what the public sector owns (assets), owes (liabilities), spends (expenditure) and receives (revenue). The WGA portrays the public sector as a single corporate entity. There are three main reasons as to why WGA was introduced. The government stated that they required WGA to : Assist in macroeconomic and fiscal planning, To Achieve greater accountability and transparency of public finances and

To improve accounting information systems across the public sector. Now we know what WGAs are and why were they introduced I would like to give a brief outline of the consolidation process. The consolidation process includes bringing together all the assets and liabilities the government controls. Every WGA body completes a C-pack which is an excel spread sheet that is used to collect accounting information for consolidation. Each body also completes an L-pack which is a form where each body gives a detailed record of what they own and what they have bought. Once the c-pack and l-pack are completed they are uploaded to the combined online information system more commonly known as COINS. On COINS, the completed records are audited.

(checking that each exchange of money between departments is accurately recorded by both parties.) -The Treasury will use all of
this data to prepare WGA for the UK.

One of the main reasons for the introduction of WGA was to assist in macroeconomic and fiscal planning. for WGA consolidation purposes large amount of data is collected from each individual body ;This is supposed to improve decision making at both micro and macro levels . Ultimately has WGA achieved the reasons they were first introduced? So far WGA has improved financial reporting processes and provided decision makers with more information to aid decision making. The collection of WGA information has stimulated public sector departments to improve and align their internal accounting systems.

WGA also provides more information than any other available source and the national audit office has certified that the WGAs are a 'true and fair' presentation of the finances of the whole of government.. In some ways WGA have increased transparency and accountability as well as improving the accounting information systems of the public sector.

on the other hand information is not yet complete as a number of government entities are not included in the WGA. For example network rail, RBS and Lloyds group banking group is are the entities not included in the WGA as the government defines the WGA boundary by statistical standards rather than by accounting standards such as IFRS

A few years ago In 2008, Chow et al. indicated problems in the preparation of WGAs, including inconsistencies in accounting for certain public sector assets and liabilities. These problems were also problematic in other countries who more experienced in WGAs, such as Australia and New Zealand. Five years later these problems still exist. Nevertheless the national audit office reported that although more needs to be done to ensure data is more consistent the treasury has made progress in producing consistent data. The report

specifically indicated that they should value the local authority infrastructure assets on the same basis as that applied by central government

WGA is still a work in progress and more time is needed to allow it to develop its full potential. Amyas morse concluded in his report that If the WGA is to achieve its full potential, the Treasury must do more to improve the WGAs. Improvements need to be made to include entities that were excluded and they need to be published on a more timely basis so that information is not out-of date. It took the government 19 months to produce the last set of WGAs.

Although there have been improvements in the WGA and more data is available it cannot improve governmental decision making if the information produced is not used. In the national audit office report they stated that The WGA continues to be used by the Office for Budget Responsibility to help it form their projections of future government spending and receipts, but is not the main source of their projections.