Question

1. How does the structure of accounting and reporting for a state or local government differ from that of a business?
2. List the types of funds that organize the financial affairs of a government. Look up your state, city, county, or school financial statement and identify two to three funds that fall under each of the categories you listed before. Include a link to the document that you used to answer this question along with stating whether you used a state, city, or school to answer the question.
3. How are the activities of the general fund reported?
4. Does the state, city or county statement you are reviewing this week include general fund balance sheet? If so, what are some of the categories where fund is balanced, like restricted, assigned, committed, etc.?

Answer 1

Answer:-

As they are the not for profit making organization, instead of that they work for social welfare and building and development of the country.

Unlike most private sector organizations, governmental entities must be responsive to a number of different groups and organizations, including elected officials, other units of governments, investors, creditors, and citizens that are focused on monitoring their activities.

Structure and reporting are quite different when compared to a business organization.

as they do not have a profit and loss account instead of that they prepare a statement of Activities ( income and expenditures.)

GASB introduced a new financial reporting model in Statement 34, Basic Financial Statements—and Management's Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments. The new model integrates the traditional focus of governmental fund financial statements relating to fiscal accountability (and the modified accrual basis of accounting) with new forms of reporting (e.g., governmentwide financial statements). The two levels of financial reporting are intended to

• provide more relevant information that will result in greater accountability by state and local governments and
• enhance the understandability and usefulness of the annual financial reports to users of these reports to enable them to make more informed economic, social, and political decisions.

Types of funds :-

statement 34 modified the structure of two categories of funds used by local governmental entities. Specifically, the new reporting model introduces two new types of funds:

• Permanent funds- Corpus funds (in the governmental fund category). Permanent funds are required to be used to report resources that are legally restricted to the extent that only earnings (and not principal) may be used for purposes that support the reporting government programs.
• Private-purpose trust funds- specific funds (in the fiduciary fund category). Private-purpose trust funds should be used to report all other trust arrangements under which principal and income benefit individuals, private organizations, or other governments.

1. How are the activities of the general fund reported?

Reported in the statement of activities which the local or state govt. prepares and balance of this account either comes as surplus or deficit.