For a government at any level, local, regional or national, the balance sheet offers greater fiscal transparency, being more comprehensive than the conventional metrics of debt and deficits.
[2] Following a financial crisis, the New Zealand government passed its Public Finance Act (PFA) in 1989, introducing accrual budgeting, appropriations and accounting, publishing the world's first public sector balance sheet based on audited accounting records rather than statistical estimates.
[3] The IMF shifted its Government Finance Statistics Manual from a cash to an accrual basis in 2001.
[4] It is more recently emphasising the importance of government balance sheets on a global basis, albeit using statistical rather than accounting data.
[5] IFAC and CIPFA predict that in 2025, almost half the world's governments will adopt accrual-based accounting.