GUERNSEY’S government accounting practices are out of date, the States’ chief accountant has conceded.

Bethan Haines (pictured) said steps were already being made to address the issue. Her admission followed Treasury and Resources minister Charles Parkinson highlighting this as a priority because until normal accounting standards were adopted, ‘financial policy decisions would be taken in the light of unreliable information’.

Mrs Haines said the accounts were not prepared under ‘normal’ standards for largely historical reasons. ‘Governments in general did not used to prepare accounts under generally accepted accounting principles, which were not seen as relevant. However, this trend has changed with, for example, the UK working towards their Whole of Government Accounts prepared on an accruals basis.

‘In addition, Jersey has made significant progress in making their accounts GAAP-compliant. This is something that we were already planning to look at next year.’