Governmental Accounting

1. Introduction. Governmental accounting is concerned with the analysis of a government's finances. This information has very little value if it cannot be communicated in a timely and efficient manner. Thus, timely and accurate financial reporting is the link between a government agency or entity and the people it serves. The mission of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is to establish and improve standards of state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful information for users of financial reports and guide and educate the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of those financial reports.

To accomplish its mission, the GASB:

Issues standards that improve the usefulness of financial reports issued by governmental agencies and entities based on the needs of financial report users; the primary characteristics of understandability, relevance, and reliability; and the qualities of comparability and consistency.

The GASB keeps standards current to reflect changes in the governmental environment.

It provides guidance to governmental agencies and entities on implementation of standards.

It considers significant areas of accounting and financial reporting that can be improved through the standard-setting process.

It improves the common understanding of the nature and purposes of information contained in financial reports.

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officials, An organization chart, A Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, and The State Comptroller's letter of transmittal, which could include a description of the audit objectives, a brief description of the scope of the audit, and a definition of the audit period. The letter of transmittal may also include financial highlights, a description of the economy, and other information deemed relevant by the Comptroller. 1b. No other sections are included in the Introductory Section of Maryland's 2003 CAFR. 1c. Overall, I believe that this section of the CAFR is useful to the reader. In the case of Maryland's fiscal 2003 CAFR, the Comptroller's letter in particular provides an important overview of the economy of the State, as well as the State's current financial condition, major initiatives and specific challenges facing the State. 2a. The Auditors report. What aspects of the auditor's report differ from what you expected? One aspect of the auditor's report that differed from what I expected was the fact the financial statements of eleven governmental agencies or quasi-governmental agencies were not part of the audit. Two examples of entities that were not audited were the Maryland St
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1321
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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