GASB issues implementation guide
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has issued an implementation guide to help the preparers and auditors of state and local government financial statements understand and apply the provision of GASB Statement 34. The guide is the centerpiece of the group’s efforts to assist governments with the preparation of the new financial statements required by Statement 34. Issued in June 1999, the statement is one of the most comprehensive standards in the history of governmental accounting. All state and local governments will implement it in the next two to four years.
“Throughout the process of developing these important improvements in financial reporting, the board was committed to providing meaningful assistance to governments as they implement the changes,” said GASB Chair Tom Allen.
The guide includes nearly 300 questions and answers developed by GASB staff with the assistance of a 36-member advisory group. It also includes more than 50 illustrative financial statement exhibits — including financial statements for a state government, a municipal government and an independent school district — 10 “how-to” exercises and the complete standards section of Statement 34. The Q&A section addresses all aspects of Statement 34 and features dozens of questions about capital assets, depreciation and the modified approach to reporting infrastructure. The exercises section offers practical, step-by-step suggestions on how to comply with some requirements, including:
* calculating composite depreciation rates;
* applying group depreciation to infrastructure assets at transition and in subsequent years;
* calculating net asset balances for governmental activities;
* reporting internal service fund balances and results;
* determining major funds;
* reconciling fund financial statements to government-wide financial statements;
* indirectly determining direct-method cash flows;
* estimating historical cost using current replacement cost;
* calculating weighted-average age of infrastructure assets at transition; and
* determining major general infrastructure assets. GASB’s implementation efforts also include providing speakers for conferences and meetings, as well as development of a series of guides to government financial statements written especially for the users of the financial statement information. Publication of the first of those guides is expected early this summer.
Copies of the implementation guide (GQA34) can be obtained from the GASB order department at 401 Merritt 7, P.O. Box 5116, Norwalk CT 06856; telephone (800) 748-0659; e-mail, [email protected].
