Public Heritages: The Government Assets or Liabilities?

Nowadays public heritages such as national parks, art galleries, museums and soon are required by professional accounting standards in various countries to be valuedand included in government financial statements as assets. This paper challenges theappropriateness of such an accounting treatment in relation to the SAC No. 3 definitionof assets and liabilities. It is argued that these facilities are public goods, and thatcommercial accounting principles should not be applied to them. The article explainswhy commercial accounting principles are irrelevant for public heritage facilities andwhy commercial valuations are irrelevant and unreliable if applied to them. Finally, it isstated that these facilities are assets held in trust for the nation by government and hence should not be included in its financial statements.