ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights financial accounting and company financial reporting where public sector financial reporting is similar to company financial reporting and where it is significantly different. It includes descriptions of the financial reporting practices of organizations in the major components of the UK's public sector and the consolidation of all those reports into whole of government accounts. Public sector organizations, in general, exist to provide benefit to the public rather than earn a return for shareholders. The objectives of public service organizations and their sources of funding will shape the format and content of their financial statements. National Health Service Foundation Trusts (NHSFTs) produce a statement of comprehensive income, a statement of financial position, a statement of changes in taxpayers' equity, and a cash flow statement. Public dividend capital is form of long-term government finance provided by the government to NHSFTs and other quasi-commercial government organizations to enable them to make capital expenditures.
