These FAN workshops focussed on the accounting and financial reporting implications of the proposals for the 2016/17 Code of Practice for the Highways Network Asset (HNA) and the decisions made by CIPFA/LASAAC at its November 2015 meeting. Because of the specific complexities and interconnected nature of the highways network asset, the accounting proposals resulted in a number of differences in accounting practice compared to those used for other local authority assets.
The workshops explored these proposals and the decisions affecting the 2016/17 Code, examining how the accounting is expected to be applied in practice, with particular focus on the disclosures of asset movements in the year and the information likely to be required for the financial statements. The series also explored the toolkits that will be used to provide the HNA figures for the accounts and discussed where assurance is likely to be required.
FAN hopes that early coverage of the consultation outcomes and assurance areas will assist busy practitioners with their understanding of the requirements and help them focus on how the changes will impact and what work needs to be progressed before the 2016/17 accounts production commences.
The delegate slides for the series can be downloaded from the link below. As with other FAN series we plan to compile answers to FAQs from the series which will be added below once agreed.
Please note that CIPFA have published its first briefing focusing on the decisions made by CIPFA/LASAAC Local Authority Accounting Board following their consultation on the 2016/17 Accounting Code of Practice.
The update to the 2015/16 Accounting Code has been finalised and is being added to the website in late January.