Fundamentals of Governmental Accounting and Reporting

Governmental accounting fundamentals decoded

Knowing governmental accounting basics will help you understand how governmental accounting differs from for-profit sector accounting. You'll learn about various topics, such as:

• Governmental accounting’s purpose
• Relevant standards applicable to governmental accounting
• Analyzing, recording, summarizing, reporting, and interpreting the financial transactions of governments

Accountability for government spending

Understanding how governments use budgets to show that resources were spent only for purposes approved by elected officials is essential to governmental accounting. Topics you'll examine include:

• Governmental fund types, categories, and their respective purposes
• How governments use fund financial reports to report assets they hold that belong to others

Governmental accounting specificities

Intricate knowledge of governmental financial reports will help you parse out the specificities needed to recognize the reporting structure, format and requirements used by governments.

You'll cover detailed information about:

• The construction and content of financial reports for governments of various sizes and levels of services provided
• How proprietary funds are used to account for a government’s business-type activities.
• The relationship between the government environment and GAAP; budgeting; and measurement focus and basis of accounting.

Real-world scenarios

Realistic scenarios allow you to practice what you learn and apply the tenets of governmental accounting using a comprehensive annual financial report, financial statements, and updates of recent Governmental Accounting Standards Board standards.

Who Will Benefit

• Accounting and finance professionals working in the state and local government environment
• Auditors with state and local government clients seeking a refresher in fundamental governmental accounting and reporting concepts

Key Topics

• The governmental environment and GAAP
• Fund accounting and the financial reporting model
• Measurement focus and basis of accounting (MFBOA)
• Governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary funds
• Government-wide financial statements
• Comprehensive annual financial report
• Special purpose governments
• Deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources

Learning Outcomes

• Recognize unique aspects of the governmental accounting environment.
• Identify the governmental fund types, categories, and purposes.
• Identify the appropriate MFBOA to fund accounting and reporting.
• Recognize how to classify, measure, and report governmental revenues and expenditures.
• Recognize the financial reporting structure used by governments.
• Identify the format and reporting requirements for government-wide financial statements.
• Recognize special purpose governments.
• Identify the impact of capital assets and long-term liabilities at the fund reporting level as well as government-wide financial statement level.