This document summarizes the results of a survey of over 1,000 attendees at a finance industry conference on emerging accounting issues in the Canberra market. Planning for a tight fiscal environment was identified as the top issue, with 22% of respondents ranking it as their highest priority. Implementation of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act) was the second highest issue at 16%. The document provides further details on these two top issues, noting the pressure on agencies to do more with less funding, and the ongoing challenges of transitioning to the new PGPA Act requirements.

1. Emerging
Accoun-ng
Issues
Survey
Results
May
2015

2. 2
What
are
the
emerging
accoun-ng
issues
in
the
Canberra
market
today?
Planning
in
Tight
Fiscal
Environment
22%
PGPA
Implementa:on
16%
Budgetary
Repor:ng
13%
Corporate
Services
13%
HR
/
Payroll
Consolida:on
10%
Capability
&
Capacity
Planning
within
Finance
10%
Enterprise
Agreement
Cos:ngs
9%
Machinery
of
Government
Consolida:on
7%
Ranking
of
Emerging
Issues
In
a
recent
Finance
Industry
Conference
sponsored
by
Synergy
Group
Australia,
we
asked
over
1,000
a@endees
to
idenAfy
and
rank
the
emerging
issues
in
the
financial
and
budget
arena
for
the
Canberra
accounAng
market.
The
results
of
this
survey
reveal
the
reality
of
a
Aght
fiscal
environment
and
the
need
to
keep
up
with
changes
in
Federal
Government.
The
survey
produced
over
200
responses
with
the
emerging
issues
illustrated
below
according
to
the
highest
ranked
issue
by
each
respondent:

3. 3
The
results
of
the
survey
idenAfied
“Planning
in
Tight
Fiscal
Environment”
as
the
major
issue
impacAng
the
Canberra
accounAng
market,
followed
by
PGPA
Act
ImplementaAon
and
Budgetary
ReporAng
under
AASB
1055.
These
issues
are
discussed
in
detail
overleaf.
InteresAngly,
Planning
in
Tight
Fiscal
Environment
came
up
as
the
top
priority
for
four
of
the
seven
sectors
represented
in
the
survey.
PGPA
ImplementaAon
reflected
the
second
priority
in
three
of
the
seven
sectors.
The
demographic
of
the
respondents
were
as
follows,
including
almost
two
thirds
of
respondents
who
work
in
Federal
Government:
Federal
Government
64%
Educa:onal
Ins:tu:on
5%
ACT
Government
5%
Not-­‐For-­‐Profit
3%
Science
&
Technology
1%
Recruitment
1%
Other
21%
Responses
by
Sector
Findings

4. 4
49%
of
respondents
nominated
planning
for
a
Aght
fiscal
environment
as
a
key
issue
for
them.
The
need
for
prudent
financial
management
has
become
increasingly
important
as
agencies
are
under
pressure
to
manage
funds
more
effecAvely.
With
the
recruitment
freeze,
budget
cuts,
and
efficiency
dividends,
there
has
never
been
a
greater
need
for
agencies
to
‘do
more
with
less.’
Synergy
has
a
comprehensive
understanding
of
the
federal
budget
process,
including:
! Design
and
implementaAon
of
business
planning
and
budget
development
processes
! Development
of
long
term
financial
forecasAng
models,
including
operaAng
budgets,
capital
budgets
and
sensiAvity
cashflow
analysis
! Development
of
cosAngs
for
new
policy
proposals
! PreparaAon
of
Porolio
Budget
Statements
! Alignment
of
external
and
internal
budgets
! IdenAficaAon
and
cosAng
of
savings
iniAaAves
required
to
meet
budget
savings
! SelecAon
and
configuraAon
of
budgeAng
systems,
including
interfaces
with
CBMS
and
the
agency’s
FMIS
! Development
of
ongoing
budget
monitoring
and
reporAng.
Synergy
can
help
because
we
are
Federal
Government
budget
specialists.
We
have
been
engaged
by
a
number
of
large,
medium
and
small
government
agencies
to
provide
assistance
in
the
development
of
their
internal
and
external
budgets.
Emerging
Issue
#1:
Planning
for
a
-ght
fiscal
environment
Post
Machinery
of
Government
consolidaAon
EA
CosAngs
/
NegoAaAons
Finance
funcAon
capability
and
capacity
planning
Finance
/
HR
/
payroll
system
consolidaAon
Corporate
shared
services
Budgetary
ReporAng
(AASB
1055)
PGPA
ImplementaAon
Planning
for
a
Aght
fiscal
environment
13%
19%
23%
23%
28%
29%
34%
49%

5. 5
34%
of
respondents
nominated
PGPA
ImplementaAon
as
a
key
issue
for
them.
This
is
no
surprise
–
the
core
elements
of
the
PGPA
Act
commenced
on
1
July
2014,
but
it
has
a
‘long
tail’
of
reforms
that
are
being
progressively
implemented
over
several
years.
Although
many
agencies
have
now
come
to
grips
with
the
Stage
1
resource
management
reforms
(e.g.
by
transiAoning
from
CEIs
to
AAIs,
removing
‘FMA
Reg
9’
language
from
purchasing
processes
and
a
greater
focus
on
risk
management),
some
are
finding
themselves
unprepared
for
the
Stage
2
changes
to
planning,
performance
monitoring
and
evaluaAon.
In
our
experience,
the
key
challenges
include:
! Designing
performance
indicators
that
are
both
measurable,
and
meaningfully
related
to
the
achievement
of
agency
outcomes
! Re-­‐casAng
the
Corporate
Plan,
which
for
many
agencies
has
previously
been
for
internal
consumpAon
only,
as
a
public
accountability
document
! Ensuring
that
the
informaAon
that
will
be
used
to
measure
performance
is
robust
and
well-­‐
documented,
given
that
it
may
now
be
subject
to
audit.
Synergy
has
extensive
experience
in
all
stages
and
aspects
of
PGPA
Act
implementa-on
–
we
have
assisted
many
agencies
(both
former
FMA
Act
agencies
and
former
CAC
Act
bodies)
to
understand
their
obliga-ons,
plan
the
required
changes
and
implement
the
transi-on.
Emerging
Issue
#2:
PGPA
Implementa-on
Post
Machinery
of
Government
consolidaAon
EA
CosAngs
/
NegoAaAons
Finance
funcAon
capability
and
capacity
planning
Finance
/
HR
/
payroll
system
consolidaAon
Corporate
shared
services
Budgetary
ReporAng
(AASB
1055)
PGPA
ImplementaAon
Planning
for
a
Aght
fiscal
environment
13%
19%
23%
23%
28%
29%
34%
49%

6. 6
29%
of
respondents
nominated
budgetary
reporAng
(AASB
1055)
as
a
key
issue
for
them.
The
recent
release
of
Australian
AccounAng
Standard
AASB
1055
Budgetary
ReporAng
was
designed
to
increase
accountability
and
transparency.
The
new
standard
seeks
to
improve
transparency
and
accountability
in
financial
reporAng
and
agencies
will
be
subject
to
addiAonal
audit
requirements
by
the
ANAO.
The
changes
from
AASB
1055
are
likely
to
have
significant
impacts
on
agencies.
The
new
standard
now
requires
reporAng
of
budgetary
informaAon
by
not-­‐for-­‐profit
enAAes
within
the
GGS,
in
parAcular:
! original
budgeted
financial
statements
presented
to
Parliament;
! variance
of
actual
amounts
presented
in
the
financial
statements
and
the
corresponding
original
budgeted
amounts;
and
! explanaAons
of
the
major
variances.
These
new
requirements
apply
to
annual
reporAng
periods
beginning
on
or
aler
1
July
2014.
Currently
in
many
departments
and
agencies
there
is
a
disconnect
between
the
Porolio
Budget
Statements,
the
Internal
Budget
and
the
reporAng
of
actual
results
in
the
financial
statements.
To
address
this
issue,
Synergy
has
developed
a
Budge-ng
and
Repor-ng
Model
that
can
be
used
to
inform
the
development
of
the
PBS,
link
to
the
Internal
Budget
and
actuals,
and
understand
the
assump-ons
and
varia-ons
between
items
in
the
PBS,
internal
budget
and
financial
statements.
Emerging
Issue
#3:
Budgetary
Repor-ng
Post
Machinery
of
Government
consolidaAon
EA
CosAngs
/
NegoAaAons
Finance
funcAon
capability
and
capacity
planning
Finance
/
HR
/
payroll
system
consolidaAon
Corporate
shared
services
Budgetary
ReporAng
(AASB
1055)
PGPA
ImplementaAon
Planning
for
a
Aght
fiscal
environment
13%
19%
23%
23%
28%
29%
34%
49%

7. 7
With
the
recent
release
of
the
Federal
Budget,
what
do
you
think
are
our
most
pressing
emerging
issues
today?
Who
are
we
Synergy
is
one
of
Canberra’s
largest
and
fastest
growing
accoun-ng
and
consul-ng
firms
specialising
in
the
provision
of
services
to
government
departments
and
agencies.
Synergy
has
been
opera-ng
since
1999
and
provides
a
compe--ve
alterna-ve
to
many
of
the
interna-onal
accoun-ng
and
consul-ng
firms.