ACC 322Final ProjectOne: Governmental AccountingGuidelines and Rubric

Overview

Thefirstfinal project for this course is the creation of an accounting workbookand accompanyinginformational report to taxpayers.

Governments are unique in that most of their revenue comes from taxes and fees imposed upon the citizens. It is the responsibility of the government accountant to provide accountability for these funds through financial reports.

By working through this project, you will understand how revenues and expenditures are accounted for in governments. The information is presented in various funds that provide accountability at a more detailed level through fund-level statements. The information is also presented in big-picture form through government-wide statements.

In the accounting workbook and report, you will use course-provided information to (1) analyze government transactions for various funds in accordance with the standards of the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB);(2) create and use fund financial statements to assist in the creation of government-wide statements; and (3) communicate the results of operations to interested taxpayer groups.

In this assignment,you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

ï‚· Analyze governmental and nonprofit accounting procedures used for the preparation of financial statements to promote accountability in financial reporting and inform decision making

ï‚· Prepare journal entries, financial statements, and supporting documentation that impact reporting for nonprofit and governmental entities using appropriate accounting standards

ï‚· Evaluate governmental and nonprofit accounting statements in determining the fiscal position of various entities using appropriate tools of the discipline

ï‚· Select accounting methods appropriate to the differentiated needs of governmental and nonprofit organizations

ï‚· Determine appropriate strategies for effectively communicating the differences between private sector, governmental, and nonprofit reporting to stakeholders

Prompt

You are the accountant for a local government. Your job requires that you analyze transactions, post to ledgers,and prepare financial statements. Using the Final Project One Case Studydocument andthe Final Project One Student Workbookspreadsheetprovided, you will prepare an accounting workbook, which includes supporting journals for governmental funds, proprietary funds, and fiduciary funds. The supporting journals will be used in preparation of the fund’sfinancial statements. You will then perform a reconciliation to prepare the government-wide financial statements for governmental activities and business activities. Finally, you will prepare a five-to seven-page informational report explaining the different funds to a taxpayer group interested in understanding the purpose of the funds.

Specifically,the following critical elementsmust be addressed:

I. Prepare an accounting workbook with supporting journals for governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary funds.

a) Analyzeall transactionsin the Final Project OneCase Study document and Final Project One Student Workbookspreadsheetto determine proper handling.

b) Prepare all supporting journals for the governmental funds.

c) Prepare all supporting journals for the proprietary funds.

d) Prepare all supporting journals for the fiduciary funds.

e) Interpret the supporting journal to prepare fund financial statements.

f) Analyze the financial activityto prepare a reconciliation from the fund financial statements to government-wide financial statements.

II. Prepare an informational reportto taxpayers

a) Interpret and discuss the governmental fundssectionof your workbook.

i. Definegovernmental funds.

ii. Identifyand summarizeactivitiesin governmental funds.

iii. Explain how the governmental funds section of your workbook tellsthe taxpayers about the financial positionof the government.

b) Interpret and discuss the proprietary fundssectionof your workbook.

i. Defineproprietary funds.

ii. Identifyand summarizeactivitiesin proprietary funds.

iii. Explain howthe proprietary funds section of yourworkbook tellsthe taxpayers about the financial positionof the government.

c) Interpret and discuss the fiduciary fundssectionof your report.

i. Definefiduciary funds.

ii. Identifyand summarize activitiesin fiduciary funds.

iii. Explain howthe fiduciary funds section of your workbooktellsthe taxpayers about the financial positionof the government.

If you would like a refresher course on using various features of Excel, sign in toAtomic Learning(see the link in the Assignment Guidelines and Rubrics folder) and type “Excel” in the search box. This will provide you with options to select the specific level of training that you need(i.e., intro, intermediate,or advanced) and the specific version of Excel that you have (i.e., 2011, 2013, etc.). The trainings are broken down into small, meaningful chunks. Therefore, you should be able to find specific topics at each level that will meet your needs.

ACC 322Final ProjectOne: Governmental AccountingGuidelines and Rubric

Overview

Thefirstfinal project for this course is the creation of an accounting workbookand accompanyinginformational report to taxpayers.

Governments are unique in that most of their revenue comes from taxes and fees imposed upon the citizens. It is the responsibility of the government accountant to provide accountability for these funds through financial reports.

By working through this project, you will understand how revenues and expenditures are accounted for in governments. The information is presented in various funds that provide accountability at a more detailed level through fund-level statements. The information is also presented in big-picture form through government-wide statements.

In the accounting workbook and report, you will use course-provided information to (1) analyze government transactions for various funds in accordance with the standards of the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB);(2) create and use fund financial statements to assist in the creation of government-wide statements; and (3) communicate the results of operations to interested taxpayer groups.

In this assignment,you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

ï‚· Analyze governmental and nonprofit accounting procedures used for the preparation of financial statements to promote accountability in financial reporting and inform decision making

ï‚· Prepare journal entries, financial statements, and supporting documentation that impact reporting for nonprofit and governmental entities using appropriate accounting standards

ï‚· Evaluate governmental and nonprofit accounting statements in determining the fiscal position of various entities using appropriate tools of the discipline

ï‚· Select accounting methods appropriate to the differentiated needs of governmental and nonprofit organizations

ï‚· Determine appropriate strategies for effectively communicating the differences between private sector, governmental, and nonprofit reporting to stakeholders

Prompt

You are the accountant for a local government. Your job requires that you analyze transactions, post to ledgers,and prepare financial statements. Using the Final Project One Case Studydocument andthe Final Project One Student Workbookspreadsheetprovided, you will prepare an accounting workbook, which includes supporting journals for governmental funds, proprietary funds, and fiduciary funds. The supporting journals will be used in preparation of the fund’sfinancial statements. You will then perform a reconciliation to prepare the government-wide financial statements for governmental activities and business activities. Finally, you will prepare a five-to seven-page informational report explaining the different funds to a taxpayer group interested in understanding the purpose of the funds.

Specifically,the following critical elementsmust be addressed:

I. Prepare an accounting workbook with supporting journals for governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary funds.

a) Analyzeall transactionsin the Final Project OneCase Study document and Final Project One Student Workbookspreadsheetto determine proper handling.

b) Prepare all supporting journals for the governmental funds.

c) Prepare all supporting journals for the proprietary funds.

d) Prepare all supporting journals for the fiduciary funds.

e) Interpret the supporting journal to prepare fund financial statements.

f) Analyze the financial activityto prepare a reconciliation from the fund financial statements to government-wide financial statements.

II. Prepare an informational reportto taxpayers

a) Interpret and discuss the governmental fundssectionof your workbook.

i. Definegovernmental funds.

ii. Identifyand summarizeactivitiesin governmental funds.

iii. Explain how the governmental funds section of your workbook tellsthe taxpayers about the financial positionof the government.

b) Interpret and discuss the proprietary fundssectionof your workbook.

i. Defineproprietary funds.

ii. Identifyand summarizeactivitiesin proprietary funds.

iii. Explain howthe proprietary funds section of yourworkbook tellsthe taxpayers about the financial positionof the government.

c) Interpret and discuss the fiduciary fundssectionof your report.

i. Definefiduciary funds.

ii. Identifyand summarize activitiesin fiduciary funds.

iii. Explain howthe fiduciary funds section of your workbooktellsthe taxpayers about the financial positionof the government.

If you would like a refresher course on using various features of Excel, sign in toAtomic Learning(see the link in the Assignment Guidelines and Rubrics folder) and type “Excel” in the search box. This will provide you with options to select the specific level of training that you need(i.e., intro, intermediate,or advanced) and the specific version of Excel that you have (i.e., 2011, 2013, etc.). The trainings are broken down into small, meaningful chunks. Therefore, you should be able to find specific topics at each level that will meet your needs.