Whole of Government Accounts
Whole of Government Accounts is a consolidated set of financial statements for the UK public sector.
The WGA 2022-2023 Data Collection will be carried out online using the OSCAR ll platform for all Central and Local Government bodies. Entities will be able to submit returns from 1 September 2023.
What you need to do
- submit Whole of Government Accounts 2022 to 2023 on the OSCAR ll platform from 1 September 2023
- ensure Cycle 1 DCT return is submitted no later than 20 October 2023 for Central Government bodies and 24 November 2023 for Local Government bodies
- ensure Cycle 2 DCT return is submitted no later than 17 November 2023 for Central Government bodies and 22 December 2023 for Local Government bodies
Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) consolidates the audited accounts of over 10,000 organisations across the public sector in order to produce a comprehensive, accounts-based picture of the financial position of the UK public sector. WGA is based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the system of accounts used internationally by the private sector.
WGA is a major step forward in transparency and accountability as it supports the government’s agenda to make more public data available. WGA enables the direct comparability of financial data across public sector entities and is producing trend data that will help to inform future analysis and decision making.
The WGA is independently audited giving both Parliament and the outside world greater confidence in the figures, and supports effective scrutiny by Parliament. This scrutiny has been exercised by the Public Accounts Committee who examine the accounts each year.
WGA is successfully providing a more complete view of the public finances, complementing the information contained in the key national accounts’ measures used for managing the public finances. It is also being used to support longer term fiscal analysis, as evidenced by the Office of Budget Responsibility’s use of WGA data to inform its annual Fiscal Sustainability Report.
All Central Government, Local Government bodies and Public Corporations will be able to provide their submissions through the Online System for Central Accounting and Reporting (OSCAR ll) Tool.
How to become an OSCAR ll user:
For any Central Government user requests please find further details on the OneFinance Portal
For any Local Government or Public Corporation user requests:
- you can find the OSCAR ll Local Government and Public Corporation User Form from this list of documents
- please download and complete the “Local Government and Public Corporation User Form”
- send through the completed form to the HM Treasury WGA team at WGAOSCAR@hmtreasury.gov.uk
- Once the WGA team has approved your request, you should receive a noreply activation email from OKTA to set up your OSCAR ll account.
- you can find further details on the OSCAR ll User Guide
Useful information
- to find further information on completing the user form above, please see Local Government and Public Corporation User form guidance (PDF, 126KB)
- please see the OSCAR ll Privacy Notice for All Users (PDF, 117KB). This privacy notice provides information on how OSCAR ll will process any personal data provided.
- please see the OSCAR ll Usage Policy (PDF, 133KB)
- you can also find the Frequently Asked Questions on system access based queries on the Onefinance portal
Contact details
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for all WGA submission process related queries or accounting questions, please contact the WGA team: WGA.Team@hmtreasury.gov.uk (for Central Government) or LG_WGAreturns@hmtreasury.gov.uk (for Local Government and public corporations)
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for technical queries related to OSCAR ll (e.g. log in errors or system issues), please get in contact with our Service Desk Team
Publications
Guidance
You can find guidance from previous years at the National Archives.
Last updated 26 March 2024 + show all updates
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Whole of Government Accounts, 2021-22 added
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Updated with guidance for 2022-23
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Whole of Government Accounts, 2020-21 added
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Whole of Government Accounts, 2019-20 added
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Updated with: Whole of Government Accounts, 2018-2019.
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Update for preparers of Whole of Government Accounts 2019-2020.
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Updated with survey link.
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Updated with 'Whole of Government Accounts, 2017 to 2018' and 'Whole of Government Accounts 2018 to 2019: guidance for preparers'.
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Updated to include 'Whole of Government Accounts, 2016 to 2017'
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Updated with 'Whole of Government Accounts 2017 to 2018: guidance for preparers'
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Updated with Whole of Government Accounts, 2015 to 2016
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Updated with Whole of Government Accounts 2016 to 2017: guidance for preparers
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Updated with: Whole of Government Accounts, 2014 to 2015
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Updated with latest guidance for preparation
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2013-14 WGA added.
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Whole of Government Accounts 2012 to 2013 published
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added Guidance to collection
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First published.