The total accounts of government finances combine the state’s on-budget finances, extra-budgetary funds and state enterprises (Metsähallitus and Senate Properties), and view them as a single financial entity.

The total accounts of government finances contain the total economic outturn account and total balance sheet. The income/expense surplus or deficit of a financial period shows whether the amount of income has been sufficient to cover the expenses. The total balance sheet describes the financial standing on the date of closing of the accounts, i.e. the asset and liability items.

The total accounts of government finances are created by the State Treasury by combining the accounting data of on-budget finances, state enterprises and extra-budgetary funds.

The aim is to view this data as a whole, as if originating from a single financial operator. Therefore, transactions between the government agencies, state funds and state enterprises are excluded from these accounts.

Significant elimination elements include:

• internal rents,
• assets and profit withdrawals of state enterprises,
• cash assets of funds,
• the state’s internal pension contributions, and
• transfers to on-budget finances.

Starting with the accounts of 2020, the internal transactions between the on-budget finances and funds will be eliminated with a new method.

The purpose of the total accounts of government finances is to provide a more comprehensive picture of the central government finances that are under the government’s management. The total accounts of government finances combine data from different financial operators, facilitating easier analysis of central government finances as a whole.

The state’s service provision, assets and liabilities are under decentralised management by various organisations. The current accounts and statements are not considered to be sufficient to form a comprehensive picture of government finances. One suggested solution is to perform consolidated calculations that combine reports from as many of the state’s financial units as possible.

Currently, no consolidated calculations are conducted on government finances, but the State Treasury has launched a project that aims to have these performed in the future.

The project will progress one phase at a time. The progress has been described with the help of a so-called roadmap of consolidated accounting and an implementation plan. In addition to the calculations currently performed separately, the project organisers must decide on the type of information required regarding which organisations are part of the government consolidation and how the various information elements are to be combined.

You can receive more information on the final central government accounts from the State Treasury via email at kkp@valtiokonttori.fi

• A State Treasury order Information required by Central Bookkeeping

• The government’s annual report: https://valtioneuvosto.fi/paatokset/hallituksen-vuosikertomukset (in Finnish)