Federal government reporting entities
The U.S. Constitution Article I, Section IX mandates “a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time” by the federal government.Two centuries after the publication of the U.S. Constitution, it is still difficult for the federal government to issue financial statements.In this assignment, you examine the U.S. Federal Government’s financial statements to explore the differences in these statements from other governmental financial statements and the reasons that necessitate these differences.
Discuss at least three unique characteristics of the federal government that necessitate special accounting and reporting practices, presenting at least one example for each transaction.
Choose at least three unique characteristics of the federal government that necessitate special accounting and reporting practices.
Discuss these characteristics, presenting at least one example for each one.
Accurately identify and explain the type of audit performed, the audit opinion issued, and the auditor’s reasons for that opinion, on the most recent federal government financial statement.
Each year the federal government issues an “official” comprehensive financial report that covers all its activities and is subject to audit.
Review the most recent Financial Report of the United States Government.
Explain the type of audit performed, the audit opinion issued, and the auditor’s reason for that opinion. (Auditor’s opinion is last item on Table of Contents).
Identify all eight of the financial statements presented by the federal government and the relevance of each one’s contents to a financial statement user.
In reviewing the federal government’s financial statements, you will observe more basic financial statements than were required by GASB for the local governments or by FASB for not-for-profits.
Identify each financial statement presented by the federal government and the relevance of the statement’s content to a financial statement user.
Express an opinion on whether the selected financial statement met its objectives, correctly identifying the objectives, justifying the opinion with three relative pieces of data from the Financial Report.
Congress enacted the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, which requires federal agencies to develop strategic plans, operational objectives, and measures of performance, reporting on the extent to which the agency met its objectives.
Select one of the federal government reporting entities included in the Financial Report of the United States Government, and express an opinion on whether it is meeting its objectives. Justify your opinion with at least three pieces of data from the reporting entity’s Financial Report (reporting entities are listed in Appendix A).
Sample Solution
A reporting entity is the government and organizations controlled by it. A list of indicators that provide more persuasive evidence of control and other indicators of control are included in this Section. The federal government is unique among U.S. institutions, and so, also, are its accounting and reporting concerns. Although obviously distinguished by its size, it also is differentiated by: the range of its activities (e.g., defense, Social Security and Medicare, and managing the money supply); the diversity of its resources (e.g., national parks and monuments, stores of gold bullion, and military hardware); and the nature of its obligations (e.g., Social Security and Medicare benefits, and loan guarantees).
