Question

In: Accounting

Select one local government in your state or area and review the financial statements and audit...

Select one local government in your state or area and review the financial statements and audit report for the county or municipality. The financial statements of the government you selected should have at least three funds. Refer to the Continuing Problem homework for Weeks 1 through 3 for this assignment.

Write a three- to five-page paper in which you do the following:

  1. Compare and contrast the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) of the selected local government entity with the government entity identified in the Week 1 homework. In your comparison, include the following:
    1. The publication method of the CAFR;
    2. Audit and budget information in the CAFR;
    3. The type of audit report issued; and
    4. The existence or nonexistence of an internal audit function within the government entity.
  2. Prepare the analysis for the selected local government entity, including information on the introduction, financial section, and statistical section prepared in the Continuing Problem CAFR from Chapter 2.
  3. Analyze the methods used by the selected local government entity in comparing the budget-to-actual reports. Your analysis should include an evaluation of the basis of accounting used for the budget and financial statements.
  4. Analyze the sources of revenue for the selected local government. Your analysis should include information on both governmental and business-type activities of the government. In your report, be sure to examine the following:
    1. Property taxes and how they are accounted for;
    2. Other sources identified as primary revenue for the entity;
    3. Deferred revenue;
    4. Year-to-year variations in the tax levels of income;
    5. Various management discussion and analysis items of note; and
    6. Information about the general fund.

Solutions

Expert Solution

Answers:

Comparison and Contrast of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)

Student’s name

Institution

Comparison and Contrast the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)

The complete yearly reports of any given state are drawn nearer on the review ability to uncover all the conceivable experiences or cover some subtle elements in the report exhibited. This article complexities and thinks about the yearly reports exhibited by the condition of South Carolina and the monetary review report for the City of Austin Minnesota (Turpen 2012). The production technique for these two CAFR is to the general population through to shifted bodies to look at. The City of Austin free report was distributed in the paper tended to the workplace of the Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council. The South Carolina report, then again, tended to the Governor of the State of South Carolina and the Members of Legislative Assembly of the condition of South Carolina (Naughton, Petacchi, & Weber, 2015).

The two reports correspondingly were exhibited in consistence with the benchmarks of reviewing by the Government Auditing Standards and acknowledgment of the set government inspecting regulations and laws. The two productions were in consistence to uncover all the money related points of interest of the two organizations practically identical to uncover reality whether the monetary proclamations are free of any material misquote and give inward control over budgetary consistence.

Review and the financial backing data of the two organizations were represented as displayed on the estimation of cash spent in the significant fields or regions on the above two foundations. The monetary allowance breakdown was given showing the utilization of the fluctuated cash at different divisions and on the degree to which cash was spent. The South Carolina's review uncovered a crevice to which the administration burned through cash in different territories (Popovich & Handy, 2015).

In differentiating the kind of reviews in the two governments, the South Carolina was available to the larger amount office. The degree took a gander at the false and the money related errors in the review reports. The City of Minnesota introduced the budgetary worth review on the money related report to the metropolitan to help the uncover of the use at the neighborhood level.

The South Carolina have the inside examining group that does the inner control of the budgetary answering to take a gander at the administration of the assets at the interior nearby level. In the City of Austin, the interior existing review is uncovered to deal with the full obligation and solid data on the exhaustive work that depended on their complete report overview. The interior review to a degree does not uncover the full review report needed because of irregularities and collaboration of the structures being examined ( Naughton, Petacchi, and Weber, 2015).. Inward review ought to surpass the inner advantage. Consequently, the reports are controlled to fit no misquote of the budgetary reports.

Set up the investigation for the chose nearby government substance, including data on the presentation, money related segment, and factual segment arranged in the city of Austin's CAFR from the part (Popovich & Handy, 2015).

An asset monetary and bookkeeping element with self-assessed proclamations, records and the budgetary records on the bookkeeping books contracted down to the basic leap forward for the assets investigation. The neighborhood economy in the Austin City report to the nearby establishments, the neighborhood cash trade foundations, and the complete investigation of all the money related organizations (Turpen 2012). The South Carolina displays the complete breakdown to the neighborhood level establishments to guarantee the complete aggregation of the data. The data sourced from the administration and the neighborhood organizations to give out all the cases of monetary consumption. The assets were separated into classifications that are administrative, exclusive, and guardian.

The benefits were dissected on the profits and the net position on the foundation status. The present resources, capital, and different resources were investigated and a full provide details regarding the complete discoveries arranged in both the review covers the net positions (Turpen 2012). The money related positions were given the arrival income report. Likewise, the territories in which the resistance provided details regarding the organization's execution. The costs in the territories worked, the speculations, income, deals and money related sources are demonstrated on the execution of the review work. The example worksheet of the financial backing acquired (Turpen 2012).

The chose governments depended on different wellsprings of the income in the subsidizing of different offices. From the City of Minnesota the budgetary sources are as expenses acquired from the library, amusement programs accounts; stores got in the consistence with police PERA and the flame union assets, little business credits, commemoration blessings, Minnesota Foundation among others. While, in the South Carolina, the assets are acquired from the taxpayer driven organization charges, the commitments, and capital awards, pay charges, property charges, ventures income, tobacco settlements, among different sources that help with the capital sources to the two governments ( Naughton, Petacchi, & Weber, 2015).

The duty sources are demonstrated the wellsprings of all the trade contributed out the two organizations and consequently in the review the outer money related sources are distinguished and the pay from the bodies that consent to the expense reduction. The sources are as the annuity and advantages stores, characterized advantages, varied pay arrangement, exchange resources, and capital award commitments. The administration reserve sources from the net interests in the capital resource, limited net positions, unhindered net positions, and different arrangements that required on the gifts and the general income (Popovich & Handy, 2015).

The incomes are the sums exacted from the wage administrations by either the private installments or people in general foundations reductions. The administration of the above establishments transmits the installments of duties onto the budgetary Treasury and the methodologies saw in the arrival on the assessments. The conceded income gathered from the foundations are exhibited and very much distinguished in the examining report.

Year to year variety in the expense levels are enrolled on the foundation's financial plans the advantage esteem shifts from the opening up of the interests in the general public. Subsequently, the real duty levels ascend in the advantages returns and the annuity values. Case in point, in South Carolina the estimations of speculations fluctuate in the level of the consequent years report and in addition the City of Minnesota.

The administration handles the planning of reasonable budgetary articulation and all the strides taken understanding to the money related proclamation on the Audit norms and keeping up the inside control applicable to the reasonable implantation and presentation (Turpen 2012). The administration breaks down the things at the foundation transfer to the administration capacity and presents the data expected to the evaluators for the report.

The general assets for the establishment of Minnesota and South Carolina were accounted for on the consistence to the assets need. The essential money related proclamation was accounted for and the compromises of budgetary explanations done amid evaluating. The procurements on the regions to be examined for the differentiated organizations were led and reported. The records were given on the last monetary budgetary reviews on the two examined reports (Naughton, Petacchi, & Weber, 2015).

References

Naughton, J., Petacchi, R., & Weber, J. (2015). Public pension accounting rules and economic outcomes. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 59(2), 221-241.

Popovich, N., & Handy, S. (2015). Downtown, strip centers, and big-box stores: Mode choice by shopping destination type in Davis, California.

Turpen, R. A. (2012). The Timing of Annual Financial Reports of Large Us Cities. Academy of

Accounting and Financial Studies, 17(2), 3.


Related Solutions

Government Audits & Fraud Reporting For discussion: During an audit of a state or local government,...
Government Audits & Fraud Reporting For discussion: During an audit of a state or local government, why would an independent public accountant consider it their responsibility to report suspected fraud to any person(s) or entity?
The government-wide financial statements of the reporting entity of a state or local governmental unit include...
The government-wide financial statements of the reporting entity of a state or local governmental unit include information about which of the following? The primary government Discretely presented component units Blended component units a) I, II, and III. b) I only. c) I and III only. d) I and II only. A government entity is required to include a statement of cash flows in which of the following financial statements? a) Governmental fund financial statements. b) Government-wide financial statements. c) Proprietary...
In your own terms and understanding, state briefly the objective of an audit of financial statements....
In your own terms and understanding, state briefly the objective of an audit of financial statements. In general terms, how do auditors meet that objectives? As a follow up and related to the previous discussion, distinguish between management's and the auditor's responsibility for the financial statements being audited.
26.Explain the different purposes of the fund-based and government-wide financial statements of a state or local...
26.Explain the different purposes of the fund-based and government-wide financial statements of a state or local government and the primary differences between the fund-based and government-wide operating statements. 27. Describe the format prescribed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) for the government-wide statement of activities and how that format benefits financial statement users. 28.Distinguish among appropriations, allotments, expenditures, encumbrances, and expenses. 29.Explain why some transactions for governmental activities at the government-wide level are reported differently than transactions for the...
You are on your first audit of a local government and part of your job is...
You are on your first audit of a local government and part of your job is to evaluate financial ratios. The partner on the job told you that analysis of financial ratios alone is not sufficient for assessing the economic condition of the government entity. Identify at least five other factors that you think should be considered in assessing the entity’s economic condition and why they are important.
Analyze the unemployment rate in your local area and compare it to the state and national...
Analyze the unemployment rate in your local area and compare it to the state and national level. Evaluate the trends in the unemployment rate for an economy. What are the implications of more individuals leaving the labor force on the unemployment rate and does it give us false impression on the economy?
Select a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) from your favorite state or local governmental agency which...
Select a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) from your favorite state or local governmental agency which MARYLAND . Be sure to state which state or local governmental agency you are analyzing. Analyze the CAFR that you selected. Prepare a report in your own words analyzing and explaining the following: 1. Discuss what the main sections of the report are. 2. Discuss the introductory section of the CAFR: a. Explain whether or not the CAFR has a certificate of achievement of...
Review the financial ratios for Medical Associates. Select one of the ratios and recommend one or...
Review the financial ratios for Medical Associates. Select one of the ratios and recommend one or two strategies to improve that ratio in terms of liquidity, profitability, or financial efficiency. Medical Associates CR-2.5 Cash on Hand-26.29 AR-53.46 Total Margin-4.4 ROA-3.1 RE-3.4 Debt Ratio-.27.50 Total Asset Turnover-.7
In your opinion, what can the US government (state or federal or local government) do to...
In your opinion, what can the US government (state or federal or local government) do to ensure that uninsured individuals get the health care services at a low cost?
Which of the following statements is NOT true about Australian Government Bonds? Select one: a. Government...
Which of the following statements is NOT true about Australian Government Bonds? Select one: a. Government bonds sometimes trade at par in the secondary market. b. Government bonds are less risky than corporate bonds. c. The Government issues more bonds when the budget is in deficit. d. Government bonds are always issued at par.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT