IFRS vs IPSAS: an overview of grant accounting 17 February 2021: ICAEW’s public sector team examines the differences between International Financial Reporting Standards and International Public Sector Accounting Standards and the suitability of each in public sector financial reporting.
The IFRS standard on accounting for grant income, IAS 20 – Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance, is based on the matching principle where grant income is recognised over the relevant periods to match it with expenditure or costs that the grant income should compensate. To achieve this, grant income is typically deferred, creating a liability on the balance sheet, which is then released to match with the period of the grant or the life of any associated assets the grant has helped finance.