Governmental and Non Profit Essay

1. Certain core services are provided by most general purpose governments – those related to the protection of life and property, public works, parks and recreation facilities, and cultural and social services. Governments must also incur costs for general administrative support of its service departments. Core governmental services, together with general administrative support, comprise the major part of what GASB refers to as governmental activities. The measurement focus and basis of accounting for these activities is on the flow of current financial resources on the modified accrual basis in the governmental funds and on the flow of economic resources on the accrual basis in the Governmental Activities column of the government-wide financial statements. 2. The business-type activities of a government include public utilities, transportation systems, toll road and bridges, hospitals, parking garages and lots, liquor stores, golf courses, airports, and swimming pools, among other activities. Many of thses activities are intended to be self-supporting by charging users for the services they receive. Focusing financial reporting on economic resources recognized on the accrual basis of accounting allows the government to determine whether charges for services are sufficient to cover the full cost of the activity. This measurement focus and basis of accounting allows the government to determine whether charges for services are sufficient to cover the full cost of the activity. This measurement focus and basis of accounting is the same used for reporting governmental activities in the government-wide financial statements, but quite different from the current financial resources measurement focus and modified accrual basis of accounting use d in the governmental funds. 3. Fiduciary activities of a government involve the government’s discharge of its fiduciary responsibilities, either as an agent or trustee, for parties outside the government. For example, a government may serve as agent for other governments in the administering and collecting of taxes. Fiduciary activities are accounted for in agency funds, investment trust funds, pension trust funds, and private-purpose trust funds. Fiduciary activities are reported only in the fund financial statements and not in the government-wide financial statements because these resources belong to external parties, not the government. Fiduciary funds use accrual accounting and focus on economic resources, as do business-type activities. However, reporting for fiduciary activities differs from that for governmental funds since the latter funds focus primarily on the budget and current financial resources. 4. The three categories of funds are governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary. The fund types included in each category are the following: Governmental (general fund, special revenue funds, debt service funds, capital projects funds, and permanent funds), Proprietary (enterprise funds and internal service funds) and Fiduciary (agency funds, investment trust funds, pension trust funds, and private-purpose trust funds.) These categories correspond the three activity categories with the exception that financial information for internal service funds is generally reported in the governmental activities column of the government-wide financial statements. However, if an internal service fund predominantly serves an enterprise fund, its financial information is reported in the Business-type Activities column. 5. As a fiscal entity, a fund has its own resources and can incur liabilities to be repair from the fund resources. As an accounting entity, the fund has its own self-balancing set of accounts. 6. Governmental funds focus on the flow of current financial resources. Consequently, these funds use the modified accrual basis of accounting. Under modified accrual revenues are recognized if the inflow is measurable and available to pay current period obligations. Expenditures are recognized as incurred if they will be paid from available resources.