Accounting, auditing, and financial reporting.

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The New Governmental Accounting Model: What It Means for Analyzing Government Financial Condition

Barbara A. Chaney, Dean Michael Mead, and Kenneth R. Schermann

Journal of Government Financial Management, Spring 2002, pp. 26-30.

Obtaining an accurate picture of a government's overall financial position was a difficult proposition under the traditional governmental accounting reporting model now being phased out by GASB Statement No. 34. The authors identify three specific problems that complicated financial position analysis under the old model. First, the inherent flexibility of fund accounting resulted in governments reporting similar programs in different fund types or across multiple funds. Second, it was virtually impossible to aggregate the governmental and proprietary funds into meaningful totals for the entire government. And third, the modified accrual basis of accounting and financial resources measurement focus used for governmental funds prevented accurate...