ACC 322 Final Project One: Governmental Accounting Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
The first final project for this course is the creation of an accounting workbook and accompanying informational report to taxpayers.
Governments are unique in that most of their revenue comes from taxes and fees imposed upon the citizens. It is the responsibility of the government accountant to provide accountability for these funds through financial reports.
By working through this project, you will understand how revenues and expenditures are accounted for in governments. The information is presented in various funds that provide accountability at a more detailed level through fund-level statements. The information is also presented in big-picture form through government-wide statements.
In the accounting workbook and report, you will use course-provided information to (1) analyze government transactions for various funds in accordance with the standards of the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB); (2) create and use fund financial statements to assist in the creation of government-wide statements; and (3) communicate the results of operations to interested taxpayer groups.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
- Analyze governmental and nonprofit accounting procedures used for the preparation of financial statements to promote accountability in financial reporting and inform decision making
- Prepare journal entries, financial statements, and supporting documentation that impact reporting for nonprofit and governmental entities using appropriate accounting standards
- Evaluate governmental and nonprofit accounting statements in determining the fiscal position of various entities using appropriate tools of the discipline
- Select accounting methods appropriate to the differentiated needs of governmental and nonprofit organizations
- Determine appropriate strategies for effectively communicating the differences between private sector, governmental, and nonprofit reporting to stakeholders
Prompt
You are the accountant for a local government. Your job requires that you analyze transactions, post to ledgers, and prepare financial statements. Using the Final
Project One Case Study document and the Final Project One Student Workbook spreadsheet provided, you will prepare an accounting workbook, which includes supporting journals for governmental funds, proprietary funds, and fiduciary funds. The supporting journals will be used in preparation of the fund's financial statements. You will then perform a reconciliation to prepare the government-wide financial statements for governmental activities and business activities.
Finally, you will prepare a five- to seven-page informational report explaining the different funds to a taxpayer group interested in understanding the purpose of the funds.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Prepare an accounting workbook with supporting journals for governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary funds.
a) Analyze all transactions in the Final Project One Case Study document and Final Project One Student Workbook spreadsheet to determine proper handling.
b) Prepare all supporting journals for the governmental funds.
c) Prepare all supporting journals for the proprietary funds.
d) Prepare all supporting journals for the fiduciary funds.
e) Interpret the supporting journal to prepare fund financial statements.
f) Analyze the financial activity to prepare a reconciliation from the fund financial statements to government-wide financial statements.
II. Prepare an informational report to taxpayers
a) Interpret and discuss the governmental funds section of your workbook.
i. Define governmental funds.
ii. Identify and summarize activities in governmental funds.
iii. Explain how the governmental funds section of your workbook tells the taxpayers about the financial position of the government.
b) Interpret and discuss the proprietary funds section of your workbook.
i. Define proprietary funds.
ii. Identify and summarize activities in proprietary funds.
iii. Explain how the proprietary funds section of your workbook tells the taxpayers about the financial position of the government.
c) Interpret and discuss the fiduciary funds section of your report.
i. Define fiduciary funds.
ii. Identify and summarize activities in fiduciary funds.
iii. Explain how the fiduciary funds section of your workbook tells the taxpayers about the financial position of the government.
If you would like a refresher course on using various features of Excel, sign in to Atomic Learning (see the link in the Assignment Guidelines and Rubrics folder) and type "Excel" in the search box. This will provide you with options to select the specific level of training that you need (i.e., intro, intermediate, or advanced) and the specific version of Excel that you have (i.e., 2011, 2013, etc.).
The trainings are broken down into small, meaningful chunks. Therefore, you should be able to find specific topics at each level that will meet your needs.
Final Project One Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: You will submit your completed Final Project One Student Workbook, and include the required entries, statements, and schedules using the appropriate Excel worksheet. Your informational report to taxpayers must be 5-7 pages in length (plus a cover page and references) and must be written in APA format. Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information, review these instructions.