Glossary
PSAB
PSAB is the Public Sector Accounting Board, the independent Canadian body that sets the accounting rules governments and public sector organizations use to prepare their financial statements. It writes and maintains the Public Sector Accounting Handbook, and it operates under the oversight of Financial Reporting and Assurance Standards Canada (FRAS Canada). At Treewalk, our Indigenous and Government Advisory team helps public bodies and First Nations governments prepare statements that follow the standards PSAB sets, so the numbers hold up when an auditor arrives.
What does PSAB mean?
PSAB stands for the Public Sector Accounting Board. It is one of the independent standard-setting boards housed under FRAS Canada, the umbrella that also oversees the boards responsible for private and public company accounting in Canada. PSAB’s job is narrow and important: decide how Canadian public sector entities should recognize, measure, and report their finances.
The key thing to hold onto is the difference between the board and the rules it writes. PSAB is the Board. The standards it publishes are called Public Sector Accounting Standards (PSAS), and they live in the Public Sector Accounting Handbook. People use “PSAB” loosely to mean both the board and its standards, but they are not the same thing. When a controller says “we report under PSAB,” they mean their statements follow PSAS, the handbook that PSAB produces.
What is PSAB in accounting?
In accounting terms, PSAB is the authority that decides how public money gets reported. Its standards cover the situations that private-sector rules were never built for: tax revenue, government transfers, public infrastructure, and long-term obligations like retirement benefits for public employees.
PSAS applies to a specific group of reporting entities, including:
- Federal, provincial, and territorial governments
- Municipalities and local governments
- Government organizations, agencies, and Crown corporations
- Many First Nations governments that report under the public sector framework
The board does not audit anyone or enforce compliance. It writes the rulebook, then independent auditors check each entity’s statements against it. That split matters for how we work: Treewalk prepares and advises on PSAS-based reporting, and the independent audit stays with a separate firm.
PSAB vs IFRS: what is the difference?
This is the question we hear most from finance leaders who have worked in both worlds. The short answer is that the two frameworks serve different reporters. PSAS, the standards PSAB sets, are built for governments and public sector bodies. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are built for publicly traded companies and other profit-oriented enterprises.
The differences follow from who is reporting. A government exists to deliver services, not to earn a return, so PSAS handles things IFRS mostly ignores, such as accounting for tax revenue and government transfers. A public company answers to investors, so IFRS focuses on measures like fair value and earnings per share that a municipality would never report.
We often meet a First Nation that owns a public company on one side and runs a government on the other. The trap is assuming one set of books can serve both. The government side needs PSAS, the business side may need IFRS or private enterprise standards, and the consolidation has to reconcile them cleanly. Getting that structure right early saves a painful audit later.
Treewalk prepares IFRS financial statements for our public company clients and PSAS-based reporting for our government and Indigenous clients. Knowing which framework applies to which entity is often the first advisory conversation we have.
Who reports under PSAB standards, and who hires us
The entities that report under PSAS are governments and the organizations they control. For our practice, that increasingly means First Nations governments, along with the community-owned entities that sit alongside them. Many First Nations report under the public sector framework, particularly where the First Nations Fiscal Management Act and its institutions shape how a Nation manages and reports its finances.
We are a Vancouver-based firm with 75+ professionals, including 40+ CPAs, and our Indigenous and Government Advisory practice is a focused, growing part of the firm. Diane Janzen leads it as Managing Director, Indigenous and Government Advisory Services. On the technical side, David Dick, CPA, our Director of Indigenous Services, Government and Sustainability, and Joshua Buffalo, CPA, who has hands-on PSAS experience and is the first CPA from his Band, work directly on public sector reporting mandates. We do not provide audit or attest services. Our role is preparation and advisory.
How we approach PSAS work at Treewalk
We treat public sector reporting as a preparation discipline, not an audit exercise. That distinction shapes everything we do. We build the working papers, prepare the statements under the standards PSAB sets, and get the file ready so an independent auditor can move through it quickly.
A typical mandate includes:
- Setting up or cleaning the general ledger so it maps to the PSAS presentation
- Preparing government-wide and entity financial statements under the Public Sector Accounting Handbook
- Handling the consolidation where a government controls other organizations
- Compiling the audit-ready file and acting as the liaison so the auditor’s questions come to us
The public sector accounting standards themselves are detailed and change over time, which is why a dedicated preparer matters. When PSAB issues a new or amended standard, we work through what it means for the specific entity rather than leaving a lean internal team to interpret the handbook alone. For Nations building fiscal capacity, this often runs alongside the reporting expectations tied to the First Nations Financial Management Board.
Frequently asked questions
Is PSAB the same as PSAS?
Not quite. PSAB is the Public Sector Accounting Board, the body that writes the rules. PSAS, or Public Sector Accounting Standards, are the rules themselves, published in the Public Sector Accounting Handbook. People often say “PSAB” when they mean reporting under PSAS, but the board and the standards are two different things.
Do First Nations have to use PSAB standards?
Many do. First Nations governments commonly report under the public sector framework that PSAB sets, especially when they participate in the institutions created by the First Nations Fiscal Management Act. The right framework depends on the entity, which is exactly the kind of question our Indigenous and Government Advisory team helps sort out before a reporting cycle begins.
Does Treewalk audit our PSAS financial statements?
No. Treewalk does not provide audit or attest services. We prepare your statements under the standards PSAB sets, build the supporting working papers, and coordinate with your independent auditor so their review runs smoothly. The audit opinion always comes from a separate firm.
Is PSAB Canadian or international?
PSAB is Canadian. It sets standards for Canadian public sector entities and operates under FRAS Canada. It is not the international public sector board, though the two share broadly similar goals. If your entity reports in Canada, PSAB’s standards are the ones that apply.
Where to next
If your government or First Nation reports under the standards PSAB sets and you want a preparer who knows the handbook, our advisory services team is the right starting point. It often helps to read the related pieces on public sector accounting standards and the First Nations Fiscal Management Act first. To talk through your reporting, email David Dick at dave.dick@treewalk.com or Diane Janzen at diane.janzen@treewalk.com. You can also read more about the board directly from FRAS Canada.
