The publication of the IPSAS 42 Social Benefits (January 2019) marks the culmination of 16 years of work. The time taken to develop the standard highlights the difficulties in agreeing the scope, coverage, measurement and disclosure of a standard that recognises social benefits given to citizens.

Social benefits were defined as:

Any cash transfers made to specific individuals and/or households that meet the eligibility criteria, mitigate effect on social risks and address the needs of society as a whole.

Examples include state retirement benefits, disability benefits, income support and unemployment benefits.

We submitted a response to Exposure Draft 63 which is available at http://www.ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/exposure-drafts/comments/ED63_Socialbenefitsconsultationresponse_31032018_MK.pdf

This is based on an opinion piece originally published in Public Finance International available at https://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/opinion/2018/08/accounting-social-benefit-liabilities-needed-even-if-hard-agree

More details about IPSAS 42 is available at http://www.ifac.org/publications-resources/ipsas-42-social-benefits