IPSAS 24
Active
Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements
Prescribes how to present approved budget information alongside the financial statements, including budget-vs-actual reconciliation, multi-year budgets, comparable-basis disclosures, and note disclosures on basis, period and scope. Effective 1 January 2009.
Active Standard
IPSAS 24 Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements is the current, active standard issued by the IPSASB for presenting approved budget and actual amounts, reconciliations, and comparable-basis disclosures alongside the financial statements. Effective 1 January 2009.
IPSAS 24 complements IPSAS 1 and GFS 1 – it mandates that budget information be presented in the notes or a combined statement, reconciled to the financial statements on a comparable basis.
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Objective, Scope & Definitions (paras. 1–7)
Objective & scope
Requires a comparison of budget amounts and actual amounts (from budget execution) in the financial statements of entities REQUIRED, or ELECTING, to make their approved budget(s) publicly available – plus disclosure of material differences between them, discharging accountability and demonstrating compliance.
Applies to entities preparing accrual-basis financial statements that ARE required, or ELECT, to make approved budgets publicly available
Does NOT require budgets to be made public, and doesn't require comparisons against budgets that AREN'T made public (para. 5). Separate approved budgets for individual agencies/programs within a consolidated entity are common – this Standard applies wherever a budget for the entity, or a component, is publicly available (para. 6).
Key definitions (para. 7)
Approved budget
The expenditure authority derived from laws, appropriation bills, ordinances, and other decisions related to anticipated revenue/receipts for the budget period.
Original budget
The initial approved budget for the budget period.
Final budget
The original budget adjusted for reserves, carry-overs, transfers, allocations, supplemental appropriations, and other authorized changes.
Comparable basis
Actual amounts on the SAME accounting basis, classification basis, entities, and period as the approved budget.
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Approved Budgets – Original & Final (paras. 8–13)
What makes a budget "approved"
Reflects anticipated revenues/receipts and legislatively-approved expenses/expenditures – NOT a forward estimate or projection based on assumptions that may never occur. The critical feature: authority to withdraw funds from the treasury for agreed purposes is provided by a legislative body or other appropriate authority.
If a budget isn't approved before the period begins, the original budget is whatever was FIRST approved for that budget year (para. 10). Some jurisdictions hold the entity accountable to the ORIGINAL budget; others to the FINAL budget (para. 9).
What changes the original into the final
Automatically ROLLED-FORWARD appropriations covering prior-year commitments/obligations/encumbrances (e.g. outstanding purchase orders) SUPPLEMENTAL appropriations – e.g. for war, natural disasters, or a revenue shortfall Internal TRANSFERS between budget heads/line items for changing funding priorities Cutbacks to maintain overall fiscal discipline
"Actual amount" describes the amounts resulting from budget EXECUTION – sometimes called "budget out-turn" or "budget execution" in different jurisdictions (para. 13).
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Presentation of a Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts (paras. 14–20)
Three required elements, per level of legislative oversight (para. 14)
The ORIGINAL and FINAL budget amounts The ACTUAL amounts, on a COMPARABLE basis By way of NOTE, an explanation of MATERIAL differences – unless included in other public documents issued alongside the financial statements, with a cross-reference
Presentation options: a SEPARATE Statement of Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts, OR additional BUDGET COLUMNS in the existing financial statements – but the latter is only permitted when statements and budget are on a comparable basis (para. 22, see §5). Where BOTH original and final budgets must be publicly available, jurisdictional guidance usually determines which one the material-difference explanation is measured against; absent guidance, entities may choose actual-vs-original (performance focus) or actual-vs-final (compliance focus) (para. 17).
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Presentation Format & Level of Aggregation (paras. 21–27)
Which financial statements carry the budget columns?
Budget covers the FULL set of financial statements (accrual basis) → additional budget columns can be added to ALL of them Budget presented only as CERTAIN statements (e.g. a budget statement of financial performance, or a cash-flow-only budget) → additional columns go only in THOSE statements the budget itself adopts (para. 24)
Level of aggregation – matching legislative oversight
Budget documents often provide granular detail, aggregated into broad classes under common "budget heads" for legislative approval. Disclosure at that SAME broad-class level ensures comparisons match the level of oversight actually exercised by the legislature or authority – aggregation to avoid information overload involves professional JUDGMENT (paras. 25, 27).
5
Comparable Basis (paras. 31–36)
The non-negotiable rule
ALL budget-vs-actual comparisons SHALL be presented on a basis COMPARABLE to the budget – same accounting basis, classification, entities, and period
Government adopts ACCRUAL for financial statements, CASH for its budget → real basis differences are common; recompiling separate agency budgets for consolidated presentation does NOT involve revising the approved budget itself (para. 33) Statistical-reporting-model budgets may cover only the GENERAL GOVERNMENT SECTOR – narrower than the full consolidated entity (para. 35, cross-ref IPSAS 22) Different levels of government may or may not be CONSOLIDATED, depending on control relationships – this Standard's requirements only bite where an approved budget for the CONTROLLED entities/activities is publicly available (para. 36)
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Multi-Year Budgets (paras. 37–38)
A series of annual targets, not one lump figure
Some governments approve MULTI-YEAR budgets rather than separate annual ones. Conventionally, these comprise a series of annual budgets or targets – the approved budget for each component annual period reflects that period's application of the multi-year budgetary policy.
A biennial budget with two clearly separated annual approved amounts → original/final identifiable for EACH year normally Unused first-year appropriations legally rolled into year two → year two's ORIGINAL budget increases for the carry-over A multi-period budget with NO annual separation → judgment required to attribute amounts to each annual period (e.g. capital acquisitions occurring in year one, plus that year's share of recurring items)
Entities with multi-period budgets are ENCOURAGED to provide additional note disclosure about the relationship between budget and actual amounts across the whole budget period.
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Note Disclosures of Budgetary Basis, Period & Scope (paras. 39–46)
Three mandatory explanatory notes
The BUDGETARY BASIS and CLASSIFICATION BASIS adopted in the approved budget (para. 39) The PERIOD of the approved budget, where it differs from the financial statements' reporting period (para. 43) The ENTITIES included in the approved budget (para. 45)
Why these matter – classification schemes can diverge widely
Budgets classified by ECONOMIC NATURE (compensation, goods/services) or by FUNCTION (health, education) – potentially matching or differing from the financial statements' own classification Budgets classified by SPECIFIC PROGRAM (e.g. poverty reduction) or performance outcomes (e.g. graduation rates) – often entirely different from financial-statement classification Separate RECURRENT (operating) vs CAPITAL budgets are common (para. 41)
Disclosing the entities encompassed by the budget lets users see how far the entity's activities are actually SUBJECT to an approved budget, and how the "budget entity" differs from the full reporting entity in the financial statements (para. 46).
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Reconciliation of Actual Amounts to the Financial Statements (paras. 47–53)
Required WHEN budget and statements aren't on a comparable basis
Accrual-basis budget → reconcile to total revenues, total expenses, and net cash flows (operating/investing/financing)
Non-accrual-basis budget → reconcile to net cash flows only (operating/investing/financing)
Presented on the face of the Statement of Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts, or in the notes – identifying BASIS, TIMING, and ENTITY differences separately.
Three types of difference (para. 48)
Difference typeCause
BasisBudget on a different accounting basis than the financial statements (e.g. cash budget, accrual statements)
TimingBudget period differs from the financial statements' reporting period
EntityBudget omits programs/entities that ARE part of the reporting entity
When budget and financial statements share the same basis, entities, period, AND presentation format, NO reconciliation is required – only identifying the differences (para. 50). Comparative (prior-period) information is NOT required for the budget-actual comparison itself (para. 52).
9
Effective Date & Amendment Timeline (paras. 54–55)
Amendment history at a glance
Base Standard: periods beginning on/after 1 January 2009.
EffectiveChange
1 Jan 2017Para. 55 (IPSAS 33); para. 26 (Improvements to IPSAS 2015)
1 Jan 2018Para. 4 deleted; paras. 3, 46 amended – The Applicability of IPSAS (Apr 2016)
1 Jan 2019Paras. 21, 22, 24 – Improvements to IPSAS, 2018
–Para. 48 – IPSAS 42, Social Benefits (applied alongside)
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Relationship to GFS & Related Statistical Frameworks – No IAS/IFRS Equivalent
A budget-accountability Standard with no private-sector counterpart
Like IPSAS 22 and IPSAS 23, IPSAS 24 has no IFRS equivalent – the budgetary accountability cycle it addresses is a distinctly public sector concept. Its "Basis for Conclusions" notes the IPSASB considered the IASB's Convergence Program, but budget-actual comparisons for LEGISLATIVELY APPROVED spending authority simply don't have a private-sector parallel.
Government Finance Statistics (GFS) frameworks (IMF GFSM, and the 2008 SNA underlying IPSAS 22) often use DIFFERENT classification bases than IPSAS financial statements – e.g. GFS's broader treatment of social benefits vs. IPSAS 42's narrower cash-transfer-only definition (§8) Where a jurisdiction's budget follows a GFS-consistent classification, the reconciliation required by §8 becomes the practical bridge between GFS-basis budget reporting and IPSAS-basis financial statements
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Statement / Process Mapping
Budget disclosure decision map
- Is the entity REQUIRED, or does it ELECT, to make an approved budget publicly available? If no → this Standard doesn't apply (§1)
- Are the financial statements and the budget on a COMPARABLE basis (same accounting basis, classification, entities, period)? (§5)
- YES → present original/final budget and actual amounts as ADDITIONAL COLUMNS in the existing IPSAS statements (§3)
- NO → present a SEPARATE Statement of Comparison of Budget and Actual Amounts, and RECONCILE actual amounts to the financial statements, identifying basis/timing/entity differences (§8)
- Disclose the budgetary basis, period, and scope of entities covered by the budget (§7)
- Explain MATERIAL differences between budget and actual amounts, in the notes or by cross-reference to other public documents (§3)
Concept-to-statement mapping table
IPSAS 24 conceptStatement(s)Notes
Original & final budget amountsBudgetAdditional columns, or a separate statement
Actual amounts, comparable basisBudgetSame basis/classification/entities/period as the budget
Material budget-vs-actual differencesNotesOr cross-referenced to other public documents
Reconciliation to the financial statementsBudget NotesRequired only where basis differs
Budgetary basis, period, scopeNotesMandatory explanatory disclosures
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Related Standards – Cross-Reference Map
How IPSAS 24 connects across the IPSAS body of literature
StandardNature of the connection
IPSAS 1The budget comparison is a component of a complete set of financial statements where the budget is publicly available (§1)
IPSAS 2Cash flow classification structure underpins the reconciliation for non-accrual-basis budgets (§8)
IPSAS 3Qualitative characteristics basis for accounting policy development referenced when determining aggregation levels (§4)
IPSAS 22Where a budget is prepared for the GENERAL GOVERNMENT SECTOR specifically, GGS disclosures under IPSAS 22 directly support this Standard's comparisons (§5, §10)
IPSAS 42Social benefits classification differences between GFS-basis budgets and IPSAS financial statements – a common reconciling item (§8)
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Quick-Reference Glossary
Appropriation
Authorization granted by a legislative body to allocate funds for purposes specified by the legislature or similar authority.
Budgetary basis
The accrual, cash, or other accounting basis adopted in the legislatively approved budget.
Annual budget
An approved budget for one year – excludes forward estimates or projections beyond the budget period.
Multi-year budget
An approved budget for more than one year, again excluding forward estimates or projections.
Original budget
The initial approved budget for the budget period.
Final budget
The original budget adjusted for all authorized reserves, transfers, and legislative changes applicable to the period.
Financial statement key
Budget Statement of comparison of budget and actual amounts
Notes Notes to the financial statements