ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL REPORTING ISSUES OF PENSION FUNDS IN GEORGIA
Authors:   Kutaisi University, Uglava Diana 
Published: August 2023

In Georgia, A pension fund includes pension contributions made by employers, employees, the government, as well as any investment returns, gains or losses accrued on pension assets. The amount of accumulated funds depends on the amount of individual contributions, the profit of the fund and the number of participants. The pension system is a source of long-term financial resources, which contributes to the development of the capital market, the latter having a positive effect on the country's economy. Implementation a private pension system in our country is the most optimal decision, which will improve the long-term pension provision of pensioners. Countries in a situation similar to Georgia do not have to invent any radical innovations in the mentioned field, because European countries have a rich and diverse experience in the development of the social sphere. Sharing their experience is enough to develop your own model and successfully implement it in practice. Due to the great importance of pension funds, their accounting and reporting were included in the international accounting standards from the beginning. The first standard to regulate pension accounting with international practice - Statement of Standard Accounting Practice (SSAP) 24 - was created in Great Britain, which was launched in 1988 and remained for 12 years. The present value of the expected future payments under the pension program can be calculated and presented based on the current salary level, or on the basis of the projected salary level of the plan participants covering their entire period of service until retirement. In many countries, actuarial valuations are carried out at least every three years. If the actuarial valuations are not ready by the reporting date, the actuarial valuations of the nearest period are used as the base of the calculations and the valuation date is indicated. The management of pension funds are responsible for preparing and submitting financial statements of these funds. The government of the pension agency in Georgia are: the director, the supervisory board, the investment board and the senior investment officer. The director's responsibility is to ensure the continued operation and management of the agency. Pension Agency of Georgia presented the interim financial statements of the accumulative pension scheme as of June 30, 2022 and 2021, which include: financial statement; Statement of changes in net assets and explanatory notes to financial statements. The presented financial statements are prepared in full compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"): IAS 26 - Accounting and Reporting for Pension Programs. The approved budget of the pension fund for 2022 amounts to 8,115 million GEL, which is financed by the annual service fee of pension assets, within the scope of the powers granted by the law. 65% of the budget is intended for agency management and administrative activities, and 35% for investment activities. This indicates that the management and administrative costs of the agency are presented in a large volume. It is necessary to increase investment assets at the expense of reducing them, which will contribute to the increase in profitability. Thus, it is essential that pension fund accounting reflects the long-term nature of pension liabilities and assets. They need to be reflected in order to assess the pension provision of the participants. Pension liabilities evolve over time, accounting standards use a mixed model approach, and therefore it is necessary to choose a model in which pension assets and pension liabilities are accounted for consistently. For accounting recognition, the plan value of the assets must be reduced to reflect the long-term pension liability. If pension assets are accounted for on the basis of discounted cash flows, this implies that the long-term nature of the investment planned to meet the pension obligation is accounted for in the same systematic manner as pension liabilities.