Governmental Accounting Flashcards
Has the authority to establish standards of financial reporting for all units of state and local governments–
Governmental Accounting Standards Board
Issued by GASB and set forth fundamentals on which governmental accounting and reporting will be based, but aren’t standards themsevles
GASB Concept Statments
Reporting with the objective of providing mroe complete information than can be provided bytraditional finncial statemetns and schedules–measures:
1) service effort
2) service accomplishments
3) measures that relatedto service efforts to service accomlishment
4) narrative or explantory information
Service Efforts and Accomplishments Reporting (SEA)–cosndiered necessary for accountability and making informed decisions
Measures how effectively and efficiently the government has been using its resources, and the rsources availble to meet its future obligations
Operational accountability
measures a government’s compliance with laws and regulations affectin its spending activities
Fiscal accountability
This approach to acouting refers to the fact that government financial statemetns show operational AND fiscal accoutnability, and the relationship between the two and requires a reconciliation b/t the government-wide and fund FS
Integrated approach
A legally separate organization for which the elected officials of a primary government are financially accountable–discretely presented or blended
Component unit
A state government, a general purpose local governemnt, or a special-purpose local government that has a separately elected governing body, is legally separte, and is fiscally indepndent of other state or local governments
Primary government
A complete annual report for a state or local government, consisting of an introductory, financial, and statistical section
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)
Provides in plain terms an overview of the government’s financial activities–with the purose of providing a comparison of the current year resutls with the results of the prior year–considered to be RSI
MD&A
Financial statements that are prepared on the economic resources measurement focus and accrual basis of accounting–includes all activities of fthe primary government (except fiduciary activieis aand discretely presented component units)
Includes:
-Statement of Net Position
-Statement of Activities
Government-wide financial statements
Activities htat are financied primarily through taxes and other nonexchange transactiosn
Governmental activities
Activities that are normally financed through user charges
Business-type activities
Part of government-wide FS that reports revenues and expenses on the full accrual basis in a consolidated statemetn (except interfund transactiosn are not eliminited)
Consoidated statement
Transactions that involve the transfer of goods or services for payment of (approx) equal value
Exchange revenues
Transactiosn in which a goivernment gives or receives value without providing equal value in return (ex. property taxes, income taxes, etc.)
Nonexchange revenues
A category on the government-wide Statemnt of Activities that incluudes events within the control of management that are either unsual in nature OR infrequent in occurrence (ex. gain on the sale of land)
Special items
A fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts recording cash and other finaicl resources, together with all related laibities and residual equities and balances and changes hterein, which are segregated for th epurpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with sepcial regulations, restrictions, or limitations
Fund
Accounts for hte current financial resources reaised and expended to carry out general government purposes; includes the general fund, special revenue, debt service, capital projects, and permanent funds
Governmental funds
A governmental fund that accounts for all financial resources except those required to be accounted for in another fund
Gneral fund
Governmental fund that accounts for specific revenues that are restricted or committed to expenditures for specific current purposes other than debt service or capital projects
Special revenue funds
Governmental fund that accounts for financial resources that are restricted, committed, or assigned to expenditures for acquistiion or contstruction of capital assets
Capital projects fund
Governmental fund that accounts for resourcesthat are restricted, committed, or assigned to expenditures for the payment of general long-term debt principal and itnerest
Debt service fund