Heritage Asset Accounting¶
User Guide¶
Financial accounting and valuation management for heritage assets to meet government reporting standards (GRAP 103, FRS 102, GASB 34, PSAS).
Workflow Overview¶
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ Register │ │ Value │ │ Track │ │ Report │
│ Asset │ ──▶│ Asset │ ──▶│ Changes │ ──▶│ Compliance │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ Classification│ │ Cost/Fair │ │ Movements │ │ Disclosure │
│ Recognition │ │ Value │ │ Impairment │ │ Asset Register│
└──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘
What is Heritage Accounting?¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ HERITAGE ASSET ACCOUNTING │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Government and public institutions must account for │
│ heritage assets in their financial statements. │
│ │
│ This includes: │
│ • Recognition (recording on the books) │
│ • Measurement (determining value) │
│ • Disclosure (reporting requirements) │
│ │
│ Different countries have different standards: │
│ │
│ 🇿🇦 South Africa → GRAP 103 │
│ 🇬🇧 United Kingdom → FRS 102 │
│ 🇺🇸 United States → GASB 34 │
│ 🇨🇦 Canada → PSAS 3150 │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
How to Access¶
Option A: From a Record Option B: From Admin
─────────────────────── ─────────────────────
View Object Record Main Menu
│ │
▼ ▼
Click "More" menu Admin
│ │
▼ ▼
"Heritage Accounting" Heritage Accounting
│ │
▼ ▼
Financial Data Form Dashboard & Reports
Part 1: Understanding Your Standard¶
Which Standard Applies?¶
Where is your institution?
│
┌─────────┬───────────┼───────────┬─────────┐
│ │ │ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐
│ South │ │ United │ │ United │ │ Canada │ │ Other │
│ Africa │ │ Kingdom │ │ States │ │ │ │ │
└────┬────┘ └────┬────┘ └────┬────┘ └────┬────┘ └────┬────┘
│ │ │ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐
│ GRAP │ │ FRS │ │ GASB │ │ PSAS │ │ IPSAS │
│ 103 │ │ 102 │ │ 34 │ │ 3150 │ │ 45 │
└─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘
Key Differences Between Standards¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ REQUIREMENT │ GRAP 103 │ FRS 102 │ GASB 34 │ PSAS │
├───────────────────┼──────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┤
│ Must capitalise? │ Yes │ Choose │ Choose │ Choose │
│ Valuation │ Required │ Optional│ Optional│ Optional│
│ Depreciation │ Consider │ Optional│ Not req │ Not req │
│ Disclosure │ Detailed │ Detailed│ Detailed│ Detailed│
│ Financial year │ Apr-Mar │ Varies │ Jul-Jun │ Apr-Mar │
└───────────────────┴──────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘
Part 2: Asset Classification¶
Heritage Asset Classes¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ASSET CLASSES │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 🎨 ART COLLECTIONS │
│ Paintings, sculptures, decorative arts │
│ │
│ 🏺 ARCHAEOLOGICAL │
│ Artefacts, excavation finds, antiquities │
│ │
│ 🏛️ HERITAGE BUILDINGS │
│ Historic structures, monuments │
│ │
│ 📚 ARCHIVES & MANUSCRIPTS │
│ Documents, records, rare books │
│ │
│ 🔬 SCIENTIFIC COLLECTIONS │
│ Natural history, specimens │
│ │
│ 🏆 DECORATIVE ARTS │
│ Furniture, ceramics, textiles │
│ │
│ 📷 PHOTOGRAPHS & FILM │
│ Visual media collections │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Part 3: Recognition¶
Should the Asset be Recognised?¶
Can the asset be reliably measured?
│
┌────────────┴────────────┐
│ │
YES NO
│ │
▼ ▼
Will future benefits ┌─────────────┐
flow to the entity? │ Cannot be │
│ │ recognised │
┌────────┴────────┐ │ - Disclose │
│ │ │ in notes │
YES NO └─────────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ RECOGNISE│ │Do not │
│ on books │ │recognise │
│ │ │- May still │
│ Record │ │ disclose │
│ value │ └──────────────┘
└──────────┘
Recognition Status¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STATUS │ MEANING │
├───────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 🟢 Recognised │ Asset recorded in financial statements │
│ 🔴 Not Recognised│ Cannot be reliably measured │
│ 🟡 Pending │ Awaiting valuation or decision │
└───────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Part 4: Valuation¶
Measurement Basis¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MEASUREMENT OPTIONS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 📊 COST MODEL │
│ Record at original cost │
│ Less accumulated depreciation │
│ Less impairment losses │
│ │
│ 💰 REVALUATION MODEL │
│ Record at fair value │
│ Revalue periodically │
│ Requires qualified valuer │
│ │
│ 📝 NOMINAL VALUE │
│ Record at R1 / £1 / $1 │
│ When cost unknown and can't value │
│ Common for donated items │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Recording a Valuation¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ RECORD VALUATION │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Object: ABC/001/012 - Oil Painting 1890 │
│ │
│ Valuation Date: [ 15/01/2026 📅] │
│ │
│ Valuation Amount: [ R 250,000.00______] │
│ │
│ Valuation Method: [ Market Approach ▼] │
│ ┌─────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Market Approach │ ← Comparable │
│ │ Cost Approach │ sales │
│ │ Income Approach │ │
│ │ Expert Opinion │ │
│ └─────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Valuer Name: [Smith & Associates Fine Art___] │
│ │
│ Valuer Credentials: [Registered Valuer, SAIA #12345_] │
│ │
│ Next Valuation Due: [ 15/01/2031 📅] (5 years) │
│ │
│ Notes: │
│ [Comparable sales analysis. Similar works by artist ]│
│ [sold at auction for R200k-R300k in past 2 years. ]│
│ │
│ [ Cancel ] [ Save Valuation ] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Valuation History¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ VALUATION HISTORY - Oil Painting 1890 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Date │ Value │ Method │ Valuer │
│ ─────────────┼──────────────┼───────────┼─────────────────│
│ 15 Jan 2026 │ R 250,000 │ Market │ Smith & Assoc │
│ 12 Feb 2021 │ R 180,000 │ Market │ Art Valuations │
│ 03 Jun 2016 │ R 120,000 │ Market │ Fine Art Experts│
│ 01 Jan 2010 │ R 75,000 │ Insurance │ Internal │
│ │
│ Movement: +R 70,000 (+38.9%) since last valuation │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Part 5: Acquisition Methods¶
How Was the Asset Acquired?¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ACQUISITION METHODS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 💵 PURCHASE │
│ Bought with cash/budget │
│ Record at: Purchase price + costs │
│ │
│ 🎁 DONATION │
│ Gift from donor │
│ Record at: Fair value at donation date │
│ │
│ 📜 BEQUEST │
│ Inherited through will │
│ Record at: Fair value at receipt │
│ │
│ 🔄 TRANSFER │
│ From another government entity │
│ Record at: Carrying amount of transferor │
│ │
│ 🔃 EXCHANGE │
│ Swapped for another asset │
│ Record at: Fair value given up │
│ │
│ 🔍 FOUND/DISCOVERED │
│ Archaeological finds, attic discoveries │
│ Record at: Fair value when found │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Part 6: Impairment¶
What is Impairment?¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ IMPAIRMENT = When an asset loses value unexpectedly │
│ │
│ Examples: │
│ • Physical damage (fire, flood, theft) │
│ • Loss of cultural significance │
│ • Restrictions limiting use │
│ • Market value decline │
│ │
│ │
│ Original Value Impaired Value │
│ │ │ │
│ ▼ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ │
│ │ R100,000│ ───────▶ │ R60,000 │ │
│ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ Impairment Loss: R40,000 │
│ (must be recorded) │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Record Impairment¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ RECORD IMPAIRMENT │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Object: ABC/003/007 - Bronze Sculpture │
│ │
│ Current Value: R 150,000 │
│ │
│ Impairment Date: [ 20/01/2026 📅] │
│ │
│ Reason: [ Physical Damage ▼] │
│ ┌─────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Physical Damage ← │ │
│ │ Theft/Loss │ │
│ │ Obsolescence │ │
│ │ Market Decline │ │
│ │ Restriction Added │ │
│ └─────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Recoverable Amount: [ R 90,000.00________] │
│ │
│ Impairment Loss: R 60,000 (auto-calculated) │
│ │
│ Description: │
│ [Sculpture fell during exhibition. Significant damage ]│
│ [to base and one arm. Conservation estimate R40,000. ]│
│ │
│ Evidence Attached: [📎 Condition Report.pdf] │
│ [📎 Conservation Quote.pdf] │
│ │
│ [ Cancel ] [ Record Loss ] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Part 7: Movement Register¶
Track Asset Movements¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MOVEMENT TYPES │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 📥 ACQUISITION Asset enters collection │
│ 📤 DISPOSAL Asset leaves collection │
│ 🔄 TRANSFER IN From another department │
│ 🔄 TRANSFER OUT To another department │
│ ↗️ REVALUATION UP Value increased │
│ ↘️ REVALUATION DOWN Value decreased │
│ ⬇️ IMPAIRMENT Value written down │
│ ⬆️ REVERSAL Impairment reversed │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Movement Register View¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MOVEMENT REGISTER - Financial Year 2025/26 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Opening Balance (1 Apr 2025): R 45,250,000 │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Date │ Type │ Asset │ Amount │ │
│ │────────────┼───────────────┼────────────┼───────────│ │
│ │ 15 Apr 25 │ Acquisition │ Painting │ + 250,000 │ │
│ │ 22 May 25 │ Revaluation ↑ │ Sculpture │ + 50,000 │ │
│ │ 03 Jul 25 │ Disposal │ Print │ - 15,000 │ │
│ │ 18 Sep 25 │ Impairment │ Textile │ - 30,000 │ │
│ │ 20 Jan 26 │ Impairment │ Bronze │ - 60,000 │ │
│ │ 28 Feb 26 │ Transfer In │ Archive │ + 100,000 │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Net Movement: R 295,000 │
│ │
│ Closing Balance (31 Mar 2026): R 45,545,000 │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Part 8: Reports¶
Available Reports¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FINANCIAL REPORTS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 📋 ASSET REGISTER │
│ Complete list of all heritage assets with values │
│ │
│ 📊 DISCLOSURE NOTE │
│ GRAP 103 / FRS 102 compliant disclosure │
│ Ready for annual financial statements │
│ │
│ 📈 VALUATION SCHEDULE │
│ Assets due for revaluation │
│ Last valued more than 5 years ago │
│ │
│ 🛡️ INSURANCE REPORT │
│ Insurance values and policy expiry dates │
│ │
│ ✅ COMPLIANCE CHECK │
│ Percentage of assets meeting requirements │
│ Missing data identification │
│ │
│ 📉 MOVEMENT SUMMARY │
│ Year-on-year value changes │
│ Reconciliation report │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Generate Disclosure Note¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ GENERATE DISCLOSURE NOTE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Standard: [ GRAP 103 ▼] │
│ │
│ Financial Year: [ 2025/26 (Apr-Mar) ▼] │
│ │
│ Include: │
│ ☑ Asset class breakdown │
│ ☑ Movement reconciliation │
│ ☑ Valuation summary │
│ ☑ Recognition status │
│ ☐ Individual asset listing │
│ │
│ Format: ○ PDF ● Excel ○ Word │
│ │
│ [ Cancel ] [ Generate ] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Sample Disclosure Output¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ HERITAGE ASSETS DISCLOSURE NOTE │
│ For the year ended 31 March 2026 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Accounting Policy: │
│ Heritage assets are recognised at fair value where │
│ reliably measurable, otherwise at nominal value of R1. │
│ Assets are revalued every 5 years by qualified valuers. │
│ │
│ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Asset Class │ 2025/26 │ 2024/25 │ │
│ │──────────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────│ │
│ │ Art Collections │ R 12,500,000 │ R 11,800,000 │ │
│ │ Archaeological │ R 8,200,000 │ R 8,200,000 │ │
│ │ Archives │ R 15,000,000 │ R 14,500,000 │ │
│ │ Decorative Arts │ R 5,845,000 │ R 5,750,000 │ │
│ │ Scientific │ R 4,000,000 │ R 4,000,000 │ │
│ │──────────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────│ │
│ │ TOTAL │ R 45,545,000 │ R 44,250,000 │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Movement Reconciliation: │
│ Opening balance R 44,250,000 │
│ Acquisitions R 350,000 │
│ Revaluations R 50,000 │
│ Disposals R (15,000) │
│ Impairments R (90,000) │
│ Transfers in R 1,000,000 │
│ Closing balance R 45,545,000 │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Quick Reference¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TASK │ HOW TO DO IT │
├────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ Add financial data │ Record → More → Heritage Acct │
│ Record valuation │ Financial tab → New Valuation │
│ Record impairment │ Financial tab → Impairment │
│ View asset register │ Admin → Heritage → Register │
│ Generate disclosure │ Admin → Heritage → Reports │
│ Check compliance │ Admin → Heritage → Compliance │
│ View movements │ Admin → Heritage → Movements │
│ Export data │ Any report → Export button │
└────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────┘
Tips for Best Practice¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ✓ DO │ ✗ DON'T │
├────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
│ Use qualified valuers │ Guess at values │
│ Keep valuation evidence │ Backdate valuations │
│ Revalue every 3-5 years │ Let valuations lapse │
│ Record all acquisitions │ Skip donated items │
│ Document impairments │ Ignore damage │
│ Reconcile annually │ Wait until audit │
│ Match your country's standard │ Mix standards │
└────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┘
South African Financial Year¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ SA Government Financial Year: 1 April to 31 March │
│ │
│ Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar │
│ │ │ │
│ └─────────── Financial Year 2025/26 ──────────┘ │
│ │
│ Key Dates: │
│ • 1 April - Year start │
│ • 30 June - Q1 reporting │
│ • 31 October - Mid-year review │
│ • 31 March - Year end │
│ • 31 May - AFS submission deadline │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Part 9: CLI Commands (System Administrators)¶
For system administrators, the plugin provides command-line tools for installation and regional configuration.
Installation Commands¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ INSTALL HERITAGE ACCOUNTING │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Install core schema only: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:install │
│ │
│ Install with a specific region: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:install --region=africa_ipsas │
│ │
│ Install with multiple regions: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:install --region=africa_ipsas,uk_frs│
│ │
│ Install with ALL regions: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:install --all-regions │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Region Management Commands¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MANAGE REGIONS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ List all available regions: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:region │
│ │
│ Install a region: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:region --install=africa_ipsas │
│ │
│ Uninstall a region: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:region --uninstall=uk_frs │
│ │
│ Set active region globally: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:region --set-active=africa_ipsas │
│ │
│ Set active region for a repository: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:region --set-active=africa_ipsas \ │
│ --repository=5 │
│ │
│ Override currency: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:region --set-active=africa_ipsas \ │
│ --currency=USD │
│ │
│ View region details: │
│ $ php symfony heritage:region --info=africa_ipsas │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Available Regions¶
┌───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CODE │ DESCRIPTION │
├───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┤
│ africa_ipsas │ Africa (IPSAS 45) │
│ │ Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana │
│ │ │
│ south_africa_grap │ South Africa (GRAP 103) │
│ │ National Treasury compliance │
│ │ │
│ uk_frs │ United Kingdom (FRS 102) │
│ │ Charity Commission SORP │
│ │ │
│ usa_government │ USA Government (GASB 34) │
│ │ State and local governments │
│ │ │
│ usa_nonprofit │ USA Non-Profit (FASB 958) │
│ │ Museums, galleries │
│ │ │
│ australia_nz │ Australia/NZ (AASB 116) │
│ │ AASB compliance │
│ │ │
│ canada_psas │ Canada (PSAS 3150) │
│ │ Public accounts │
│ │ │
│ international_private│ International Private (IAS 16) │
│ │ Private sector compliance │
└───────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────┘
Region Output Example¶
$ php symfony heritage:region
=== Heritage Accounting Regions ===
Available Regions:
Code Name Status Countries
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
africa_ipsas Africa (IPSAS 45) [INSTALLED] Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria...
south_africa_grap South Africa (GRAP 103) [not installed]
uk_frs United Kingdom (FRS 102) [not installed]
usa_government USA Government (GASB 34) [not installed]
...
To install a region: php symfony heritage:region --install=<region_code>
To see region details: php symfony heritage:region --info=<region_code>
Troubleshooting¶
Problem Solution
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Can't find Heritage Accounting→ Check Admin menu
May need admin permission
Value not saving → Check currency format
Remove currency symbol
Wrong financial year → Check system date setting
Select correct year in report
Report won't generate → Reduce date range
Check assets have values
Compliance % low → Review missing data report
Complete required fields
Need Help?¶
Contact your system administrator if you experience issues.
For accounting standards: - GRAP 103: www.asb.co.za - FRS 102: www.frc.org.uk - GASB: www.gasb.org - PSAS: www.frascanada.ca
Part of the AtoM AHG Framework