Fiscal & Accounting

Tax & Indirect Tax Planning and Compliance

Many public organisations are exempt from taxes on income in relation to core activities. However, the increasing financial complexity of operations gives rise to additional tax compliance and planning requirements. Our clients need the best advice in order to:

Ensure the highest standards of organisational tax compliance
Resolve uncertainties and/or conflicting approaches to tax treatments
Avoid inappropriate erosion of cash flow through inadvertent exposure to complex taxes (e.g crossover to tax-able activities, treatment of VAT, withholding taxes, PAYE and employee taxes, stamp duty, customs tariffs and duties)
Assist partners and collaborators to understand tax implications of dealing with the Public Sector
Obtain assurance of third-party compliance and tax structures
Due diligence and structuring of public-private partnerships and other project financing models
Financial modelling for appraisal, evaluation and valuation purposes

At BDO, our team has advised on wide range of highly complex Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and other Public-Private structures including University funding, Schools bundles, Hospitals and Primary Care Facilities.

Accounting & Budgeting

The funding of the public sector is changing rapidly. Budgeting and fiscal planning must be much more dynamic and fluid than ever before.

Many client departments and authorities are moving towards more sustainable models of operation with the help of BDO to:

Find innovative ways of making budgets go further through fiscal challenge and redesign, technology, private sector collaboration, pooling of shared resources and costs.
Use accounting principles to report in an objective way on social and economic impact of programmes and spend
Adopt the accounting policies that fairly reflect the underlying economics of assets and transactions. We add value through the external audit through technical consultations on financial and accounting issues. FRS102 requirement to report changes in fair value on Investment Properties or the appropriate disclosures of deferred tax implications thereof – or indeed, implementing the key controls and management procedures to support year end accounting requirements.
Evolve the accounting function. We have implemented accounting performance measurement tools. We have carried out benchmarking and ero-based budgeting exercises to migrate costs and operations to best-in-class dynamic operating models.
Obtain the best tax advice to ensure compliance and to avoid loss of fiscal revenue to other arms of government through inadvertent application of complex tax rules (e.g. VAT, CGT, tax exempt activities and holdings)
Model, appraise, structure and tax-plan complex PPP and other Public-Private structures including University funding, Schools bundles, Hospitals and Primary Care Facilities.

Public Sector Start-up

Increasingly, our Public Sector clients often need to establish special purpose subsidiaries, joint ventures and other business structures and combinations.

Start-up in the public sector poses unique challenges and risks. New structures attract new and challenging oversight. BDO has deep experience in areas such as:

Evaluating existing and proposed fiscal and policy initiatives and capital spend to assess Cost Benefit Analysis, Valuations and Financial Modelling, and compliance with the Public Spending Code, Procurement and State Aid regulations.
Due to our work with the European Commission we have built a strong working relationship with the Commission.
Sourcing funding for Economic Development projects.

Our team also has unique experience in the start-up and development of public sector entities including:

New, state-owned asset management companies ,
New regulatory bodies,
Economic development entities

From the outset, BDO has been a key member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) which sets International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

In Ireland, BDO have singularly promoted awareness of the key accounting developments for the public sector. Brian McEnery, BDO Partner, is the chair of the Public Sector Forum within ACCA. In 2017, Brian’s focus for his global presidency of ACCA was to promote the consistent development and implementation of IPSAS internationally.

Brian and his team have held discussions with ACCA regarding the findings of the international study that measures the global infrastructure gap and demonstrates how bringing the accountant to the forefront of infrastructure decision-making will improve the selection, financing and deliver better outcomes across the project lifecycle.