Tine Van Thielen

Does IPSAS Meet Heritage Assets' User Needs?

ABSTRACT Public organizations need to custody and protect heritage assets. This article questions the appropriateness and quality of the unique International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) in delivering financial reports that meet the user needs in regard to heritage assets. By refining the earlier findings in Italian local governments with data from a completely different region being Flanders, the results highlight that the IPSASs are lacking an important area of expectations from a relevant user need perspective, being the local ruling politicians. Finally, current article improves previous publication by examining the different kinds of responses in the light of certain municipal characteristics. List of abbreviations IFRS: International Financial Reporting Standards IPSASs: International Public Sector Accounting Standards IPSASB: International Public Sector Accounting Standards Boards UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization