Potential uses and usefulness of the Italian local government consolidated financial reporting. The case of town council of Brescia.

Debate on consolidated financial reporting has considerably increased over the years, also due to the various public sector accounting reforms. In this regard, Italy offers an important experience since it was one of the first countries in the European Union to expressly provide for compulsory adoption. The Legislative Decree no. 118/2011 will introduce consolidated financial reporting for local government as from 2017, after an initial “experimentation” period. In view of the recent adoption, the methodological approach implemented in the chapter is based on a case study. After discussion of the boundaries of the consolidation performed by comparison with international experiences – IPSAS 6, new IPSAS 35 and GASB 14 – a critical analysis of the Italian proposal is also provided. The chapter aims to contribute to the debate on consolidated financial reporting both from the theoretical and empirical points of view.