Week 6 examines the effects of accounting on organizations, especially as it affects agencies in the government sector. Look for a current news article or event that relates to budgets and accounting. Consider how it will impact you.
Good accounting practices keep any organization running smoothly on a daily basis by maintaining and offering information for reporting on how business transactions involving money occur and why money is being used in the way that accounting reports show. Accounting is often considered overhead that fails to contribute to an organization’s bottom line. But is this really the case? A critical part of the accounting and reporting process in government organizations is demonstrating compliance with the adopted budget. As you learned last week, budgets reveal the strategic priorities of the government. Therefore, accounting and financial reporting is akin to a system of “checks and balances” for how well the budget is being followed.
This week, you consider the value of financial reporting by analyzing an actual financial report. You also determine which accounting method is being used based on how an organization records income and expenditures.
Organization is HOLLY SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT in GEORGIA
https://hollyspringsga.us/Departments/Finance/2019/GFOA%20Budget%20Book%202019.pdf
pages 155-162 pertain to police department specifically
Required Readings
Mikesell, J. L. (2018). Fiscal administration: Analysis and applications for the public sector (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
Chapter 2, “The Logic of the Budget Process” (pp. 44-97)
Genito, M. (2013, February). Back to basics: An overview of governmental accounting and financial reporting. Retrieved from http://www.gfoa.org/sites/default/files/GFR_FEB_13″¦
Governmental Accounting Standards Board. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.gasb.org
Internet Center for Management and Business Administration, Inc. (2010). Double-entry bookkeeping. Retrieved from http://www.quickmba.com/accounting/fin/double-entr”¦
Discussion: Analyzing Financial Reports
Financial reports tell the story of an organization within a fiscal year. Annual financial reports are extremely valuable to government organizations because they give both the administrators in the organization and the public who are funding the organization a sense of where revenue is going.
In this Discussion, you analyze an organization’s comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) and explain its value to the organization. (ORGANIZATION IS HOLLY SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT IN HOLLY SPRINGS GEORGIA) (LINK TO BUDGET ABOVE)
Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the responsibility of government organizations to provide accurate financial reports to the public. Then, select a public organization and a specific CAFR from the selected organization. Public organization budgets are required by law to be available. An Internet search will yield an annual budget for your specific organization.
With these thoughts in mind:
By Day 4
Post a brief description of the organization you selected. Then, provide an analysis of that organization’s CAFR. In your analysis, explain what the report tells the stakeholders of the organization and the value of the report to the organization.
Be sure to support your posting and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.
