In the August 2016 Newsletter, Sara Giovanna Mauro discusses the introduction of performance-based budgeting (PBB) in the Italian public sector. This context is characterized by a legalistic and bureaucratic culture, and legislative interventions to introduce PBB at the central government may have difficulties in creating the required cultural support.

Susana Jorge gives an introduction on the implementation of IPSAS in Portugal. From January 2017 the public sector in this country will have an IPSAS-based accounting system. However, the Portuguese public sector accounting standard-setter is now considering a simplified system for smaller entities.

The following conferences and calls for papers are announced: the annual IRSPM Accounting and Accountability SIG workshop (Venice, Italy, 28-29 November, 2016); the Conference on Public Services and Charities: Accounting, Accountability and Governance at a Time of Change (Belfast, Northern Ireland, 18-19 January, 2017); the Annual Conference of the Journal of Finance and Management in Public Services (Nottingham, UK, 16 September, 2016.

On page 4 a short summary of the recent keynote speech at APIRA by Ileana Steccolini is presented. In her speech she proclaimed that Public Sector Accounting (PSA) has experienced a golden age in the wake of the New Public Management movement, but may now prove to become its golden cage ­ so some suggestions are offered to get out of this cage.

We have a post concerning our next biennial Conference, to be held in Porto (Portugal) on June, 8-9, 2017, preceded by the PhD seminar on June 7, 2017. The 16th CIGAR Conference will mark the celebration for the 30th anniversary of our Network. Its main theme will be “Future avenues for Public Sector Accounting: engaging research, practice and use”.

Newsletter August 2016