Assignment
Below is a list of four municipal governments. Please select two of these (or more if you would like) and review the CAFR report (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) for the most recent fiscal year available.
Denver CO
Seattle WA
Jacksonville FL
Las Vegas NV
These should be (relatively) easy to find, simply search on "Denver CAFR" or "Jacksonville CAFR" etc.
Note that each of these documents is... as our current commander in chief might say... HUGE!!!!.
Do NOT read through the entire document (I don't have time for the hate mail that would generate).
Here are some areas to focus on.
Table of Contents
Strangely enough this is a GREAT way to get the big picture of governmental accounting and the CAFR report.
Look out for:
• The 3 Sections of the CAFR
• The Certificate of achievement (remember... the "Gold Star")(sometimes this is not listed in the ToC and you have to search for it)
• Notice the 5 components of the financial section of the CAFR
• How many "face financial statements" are there in the "Basic Financial Statements" (i.e. BS, IS, CF) and what are their ACTUAL names (anything included IN ADDITION to the BS/IS/CF?)
• Organization and sections of the Notes to the Financial Statements
• What is included in the RSI, what types of information do you find here.
• Find the "budgetary comparison schedule", what does this include and what is NOT part of this schedule.
• Combining and Individual Fund Financial Statements and Schedules - what kind of information and what amount of detail do you find here.
• How about the Statistical section, what tables and charts and data are listed here.
Audit report
Read the full report, pay attention to:
• The description in the introductory paragraph listing what was covered in the audit.
• Other Matters and Other Information paragraphs, what do these paragraphs say about the information in the:
o MDA and RSI (is this information part of GAAP?, is it REQUIRED?, is it subject to the AUDIT?)
o Combining and Individual Fund Financial Statements and Schedules (same as above)
o Introductory Section and the Statistical Sections (same as above, GAAP?, Required?, Subject to and certified by the audit?)
• Who was the auditor (Large commercial firm?, Small local CPA firm?, City or State agency?)
• What date was the audit report issued and how much time was there between the "Balance Sheet Date" and completion of the audit (i.e. how long did it take them to get their acts together and actually "issue" the financial statements)
Basic Financial Statements
Notes to the Financial Statements (yes... I know I'm starting from the end)
Take a look at
• Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Reporting Entity
o How many Major Governmental Funds are reported
o How many Major Enterprise Funds are reported (might be called Proprietary)
o How many Fiduciary Funds are reported
o How many Major Discrete Component Units are reported
o Is there an Internal Service Fund? If Yes, what services does it provide?
Government Wide - Balance Sheet (wait, no, that's NOT what its actually called)
• Balance sheets have Assets, Liabilities and Equity, right?
o Do we have assets and liabilities?
o Do we have equity? (Hint... NO!!!, what takes the place of equity?, what are the THREE components of this "thing" that replaces equity? Hint, it is not APIC, Retained Earnings and Treasury Stock!!)
o Do we have any ADDITIONAL categories/sections on the Balance Sheet (or whatever we call this statement in "GASB land")
o Compare Governmental Activities vs Business Type Activities for total assets, liabilities, and [that thing that shows up in place of] equity
o Same thing for Fixed Assets and Long Term Debt.
• Government Wide - Income Statement (or whatever it is actually called)
o What comes first the chicken or the egg (well... actually... the Expenses or the Revenues?)
o Note that not all revenues are created equal. Some go on the Top and some are pushed to the Bottom
o For Governmental Activities compare the relationship between Expenses and PROGRAM Revenues (what percentage of our costs do we cover with revenue)
o Now do the same for Business Type Activities - how do Expenses compare to PROGRAM Revenues (notice a bit of a difference?)
Fund Financial Statements
• Governmental Funds Balance sheet
o What it the total "Fixed Assets"
o What takes the place of "equity" here (hint... it is NOT equity, AND it is NOT the thing we found on the Government Wide "Balance Sheet"
o Does the grand total "equity" for all of my Governmental Funds agree to the Total "equity" for my Governmental Activities on the government wide "Balance Sheet" (hint... take a look at the next page, it should be a "reconciliation" of these two amounts)
• Proprietary Funds
o Total Fixed Assets? (theirbaaakkkk!!!)
o But... equity is NOT back, what do we have for "equity" here?
o Notice that NOT all Proprietary Funds are equal (Enterprise vs Internal-Service)
o Compare the Grand Total for "Cash" (or "Cash and Cash Equivalents") from this "balance sheet" to the Cash amount in the Business Type Activities column on the Government Wide "Balance Sheet"
o Now... do the SAME THING except rather than the great grand total... look at the total cash for just the Enterprise funds.
• Fiduciary Funds
o Same drill, what do you get if you subtract Liabilities from Assets. If you answered Equity (or Net Position, or Net Assets, or Fund Balance) you would be WRONG.
o Look at the Balance Sheet (SoFNP) how many columns are reported?
o Look at the Income Statement (SoCiFNP) How many columns are reported?
o Any of the Balance Sheet columns missing on the Income Statement?
Also, flip through the introductory section, the MDA and the statistical section. Take time to look at the pretty pictures and charts, not to mention the occasional road map or organizational chart. Get a feel for the overlap and in content with the financial section. Pay attention to the different style in which information is presented in each section.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.