Audits of State and Local Governments

Chapter 1 THE GOVERNMENTAL ENVIRONMENT AND GAAP

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

• Recognize the unique aspects of the governmental accounting environment.
• Recognize authoritative guidance on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
• Identify funds and why they are used.
• Recognize the financial reporting model used by governments.

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING, DISTINGUISHED

The state and local government arena of accounting is succinctly distinguished from the for-profit accounting many of us are already familiar with. Several elements are very different from the for-profit sector. One core difference is that the purpose of government is not to make a profit, but to provide a service to the citizenry. There are different users of the financial statements than in the for-profit sector. The accounting is different, and there is even a different standards-setting board, GASB, which typically issues two to three new rules each year. Similar, however, to FASB, GASB is subject to the auspices of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF).

This course focuses on the fundamentals of governmental accounting. Governmental accounting is the composite activity of analyzing, recording, summarizing, reporting, and interpreting the financial transactions of governments.

Key Environmental Differences Between Government and Business

The state and local government environment is different in a number of ways from the business ...