Assignment
Select a government entity of your choice. It can be a state, county, city, town, school district, or any other government entity. Preferably select one in which you have a vested interest, such as where you live, work or send your kids to school.
Obtain the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the entity you selected. You should be able to find the CAFR on the web site for the government entity. If not, contract the entity for a copy. Note: This CAFR will be used for many activities throughout the course.
Scenario: You are working as an accountant for the government entity you selected above. You have newly elected board members who are business people from the community. These are highly successful and intelligent business people who know and appreciate private sector financial accounting. However, they know very little about government accounting.
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation for the new Board members. The presentation should be between 12 to 15 slides and include the following:
- Description of the purpose of government accounting and financial reporting.
- Comparison of private sector financial accounting with accounting for government and not-for-profit organizations
- An overview and contrasting of government funds, propriety funds, and fiduciary funds. Include a list of the different funds within those categories and a brief explanation as to when and how these funds are used.
- Detailed description of government funds and the four types of government funds.
- Description of the purpose and elements of financial reporting, budgeting and encumbrance accounting for government organizations.