GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTING

All those involved in the oversight or management of government operations, and those whose
livelihood and interest rely on the finances of local governments, need to have a clear
understanding of governmental accounting, auditing, and financial reporting which are based on
a sound set of principles and interrelated practices and procedures.

Accounting, financial reporting, and the financial statement audit provide the informational
infrastructure of public finance.

Accountability: Term used by GASB to describe a government’s duty to justify the raising and
spending of public resources. The GASB has identified accountability as the “paramount
objective” of financial reporting “from which all other objectives must flow”.

Accounting and financial reporting (primarily the responsibility of management) are

complementary rather than identical.

Accounting: The process of assembling, analyzing, classifying, and recording data relevant to
a government’s finances.

Financial reporting: “Accounting” and “financial reporting” are similar but distinctly different
terms that are often used together. The process of taking the information thus assembled,
analyzed, classified, and recorded and providing it in usable form to those who need it.
Financial reporting can take one of three forms: internal financial reporting (management
reports), special purpose financial reporting (outside parties), and general purpose external
financial reporting (GPEFR). The nationally recognized standards that govern GPEFR are
known as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

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Display: The display method of communication provides that items are reported as dollar
amounts on the face of the financial statements if they both 1) meet the definition of one of the
seven financial statement elements and 2) can be reliably measured.

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 7 ELEMENTS OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Assets: resources with present service capacity that the government presently controls.
Deferred Outflow of Resources: consumption of net position by the government that is
applicable to a future reporting period.
Liabilities: present obligations to sacrifice resources that the government has little or no
discretion to avoid
Deferred Inflow of Resources: acquisition of net position by the government that is applicable to
a future reporting period.
Net Position: the residual of all other elements presented in a statement of financial position.
The difference between assets + deferred outflows of resources , on one hand, and liabilities +
deferred inflows or resources, on the other, constitutes the last of the financial statement
elements presented in a statement of financial position, net position.
*Inflows of Resources: an acquisition of net position by the government that is applicable to the
reporting period. Acquisition will result in either a net increase in assets or a net decrease in
liabilities.
*Outflow of Resources: consumption of net position by the government that is applicable to a
reporting period. Consumption will result in a net decrease in assets or a net increase in
liabilities.

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Governments use fund accounting to segregate certain resources for specific activities
or objectives in accordance with special regulations, restrictions, or limitations to
facilitate the assessment of stewardship and compliance.

FUND ACCOUNTING

Statute indicates resources which a municipality is permitted to receive and expressly and/or
implicitly states the purposes for which those resources may be used. The accounting system
used by a municipality should provide for legal compliance; that is, resources are received and
spent according to law. For this reason, municipalities have evolved a means of indicating legal
compliance by use of “fund accounting.”

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has defined the term “Fund” as follows:

A Fund is a fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of

accounts recording cash and other financial resources, together with all
related liabilities and residual equities or balances, and changes therein,
which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or
attaining certain objectives in accordance with special regulations,
restrictions, or limitations.

The diverse nature of a municipality’s operations and the necessity of determining legal
compliance preclude a single set of accounts for recording and summarizing all the financial
transactions. Instead, the required accounts are organized on the basis of funds, each of which
is completely independent of any other. Each fund must be so accounted for that the identity of
its resources, obligations, revenues, expenditures, and fund equities is continually maintained.
These purposes are accomplished by providing a complete self-balancing set of accounts for
each fund which shows its assets, liabilities, fund balances or net position, revenues, and
expenditures/expenses.

An account is defined as a formal record of a particular type of transaction. A group of accounts

comprises a ledger. Similarly, a group of accounts consisting of all accounts required to
describe the financial condition and results of an entity operation comprise a general ledger.

In the private-sector, even complex businesses generally are presented in external financial
reports as a single, unitary entity. For example, data from a parent company are merged with
data from that company’s subsidiaries to create a single, consolidated entity for financial
reporting purposes. State and Local governments, on the other hand, have prepared combined
(rather than consolidated) financial statements that focus on groups of related funds (fund types
and account groups), rather than on the government as a whole. Fund accounting for state and
local governments has its historical roots in the desire of state and local governments to ensure
and demonstrate legal compliance with internal (budgetary) and external limitations (grantors
and creditors) placed upon the use of resources.

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At the inception of fund accounting, individual funds most often corresponded to
separate bank accounts. Today’s funds may exist only as data sets within the
government’s information system (computerized accounting systems).

CLASSIFICATION OF FUNDS AND SELF BALANCING ACCOUNTS

Funds are classified according to the source of revenue and the type of activities which they
finance. Funds of a similar nature are classified according to fund groups. The following
classification contains the appropriate fund groups, types, and self-balancing accounts.

Governmental Fund Types

100 - General Fund - to account for all financial resources except those required to be
accounted for in another fund.

200 - Special Revenue Funds - to account for the proceeds of specific revenue sources
(other than major capital projects) that are legally restricted to expenditures for specified
purposes. When grants require a separate fund, a special revenue fund should be
established for each grant.

300 - Debt Service Funds - to account for the accumulation of resources for, and the
payment of, general long-term debt principal and interest.

400 - Permanent Funds - To account for resources that are legally restricted to the extent that
only earnings, and not principal, may be used for purposes that support the reporting
government's programs - that is for the benefit of the government or its citizenry.

500 - Capital Projects Funds - to account for financial resources to be used for the
acquisition or construction of major capital facilities (other than those financed by
proprietary funds or in trust funds for individuals, private organizations or other
governments.) Capital outlays financed from general obligation bond proceeds should
be accounted for through a capital projects fund.

Proprietary Fund Types

600 - Enterprise Funds - to account for operations (a) that are financed and operated in a
manner similar to private business enterprises - where the intent of the governing body
is that the costs (expenses, including depreciation) of providing goods or services to the

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 general public on a continuing basis be financed or recovered primarily through user
charges; or (b) where the governing body has decided that periodic determination of
revenues earned, expenses incurred, and/or net income is appropriate for capital
maintenance, public policy, management control, accountability, or other purposes.

650 - Internal Service Funds - to account for the financing of goods or services provided by
one department or agency to other departments or agencies of the governmental unit, or
to other governmental units, on a cost-reimbursement basis.

Fiduciary Fund Types

Fiduciary Fund Types are used to account for assets held by a governmental unit in a
trustee capacity or as an agent for individuals, private organizations, and other
governmental units. These include:

740 - Private Purpose Trust Funds - To account for trust arrangements under which principal
and income benefit individuals, private organizations, or other governments. (This type
of fund is used to report escheat property.)

750 - Agency Funds - To account for resources held by the reporting government in a purely
custodial capacity (assets equal liabilities. Agency funds involve only the receipt,
temporary investment, and remittance of fiduciary resources to individuals, private
organizations, or other governments.

770 - Pension (and other employee benefit) Trust Fund – To account for resources
that are required to be held in trust for the members and beneficiaries of defined benefit
pension plans, defined contribution plans, other post-employment benefit plans, or other
employee benefit plans.

780 - Investment Trust Funds – To account for the external portion of investment pools
reported by the sponsoring government, as required by GASB Statement 31, paragraph
18.

SELF BALANCING ACCOUNTS

900 - General Capital Assets – capital assets of the government that are not specifically
related to activities reported in proprietary or fiduciary funds. General capital assets are
associated with and generally arise from governmental activities. Most often, they result
from expenditures of governmental fund financial resources. They should not be reported
as assets in governmental funds but should be reported in the governmental activities
column in the government-wide financial statements.

1000 - General long-term liabilities – the unmatured principal of bonds, warrants, notes, or
other forms of noncurrent or long-term general obligation indebtedness. General long-
term debt is not limited to liabilities arising from debt issuances, but may also include
noncurrent liabilities on lease-purchase agreements and other commitments that are not
current liabilities properly recorded in governmental funds. General long-term liabilities
should not be reported as liabilities in governmental funds, but should be reported in the
governmental activities column in the government wide statement of net position.

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 CHART OF ACCOUNTS

The chart of accounts provides a systematic means by which the municipality may code its
financial transactions. Coding is the use of numerical designations, in lieu of words or names,
for the identification of specific funds or accounts. Coding simplified the identification of
transactions and may be used in either a manual or automated system. the chart of accounts is
divided into four elements, which include: (a) the fund structure, (b) the general ledger account
summary, (c) the revenue classifications, and (d) the expenditure classifications.

The fund structure is the classification which provides the basis for the fund accounting system.
Coding transactions by fund allows the municipality to account for specific resources (tax levies)
and their expenditure, which are required by law to be accounted for in a specific fund.

The general ledger account summary coding controls the asset, liability and equity accounts.
These accounts provide the municipality with a picture of the financial position of a particular
fund at a specific point in time. These accounts are the primary source of financial data to be
used in the compilation of the financial statements.

The revenue classifications provide a means of coding the revenue received by the municipality
from various sources. Revenues are defined as additions to assets which do not increase a
liability, do not represent a recovery of a current expenditure, and do not represent resources
received from within the municipality (e.g., from another fund). The resources received from
another fund should be classified and coded as “other financing sources.” The coding of
revenue sources facilitates the primary functions of revenue accounting which are as follows:

1. To provide a means of verifying receipt of all revenues which should have been
received.

2. To furnish information for preparing financial statements.

3. To implement budgeting and planning for the future, by giving necessary

information about sources of revenues which have been utilized, and the amount
obtained from each source.

Coding by expenditure classification provides a means of controlling and identifying what the
resources received were used for and which department or activity utilized them. the
expenditure classifications listed in this section have been developed as a guide for collecting
and recording the expenditure information in order to satisfy statutory requirements, provide
prudent stewardship of funds, and meet management needs in regard to making decisions,
preparing the budget and preparing financial statements.

Coding in general for revenue sources should be by fund and type of revenue. For example,
the municipality receives the first cent of sales tax. The coding would be General Fund –
General Sales and Use Taxes or 101-313. Expenditure coding is by fund, activity and object.
The municipality purchases insurance for the street department. The coding would be General
Fund – Highway and Streets – Insurance or 101-431-421. The coding are recorded on the
source documents, journalized in the books of original entry, are summarized and are posted to
each fund’s revenue budget record and expenditure budget record, respectively.

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 TABLE 1

CLASSIFICATION OF FUNDS AND SELF BALANCING ACCOUNTS

Governmental Fund Types

100 General
101 General Fund

200 Special Revenue Funds (201 through 299)

201 Special Park Fund (SDCL 9-38-6)
202 Auditorium Building Fund (SDCL 6-4-1)
204 Parking Lot and Area Fund (SDCL 9-51-2)
205 Casualty Reserve Fund (SDCL 9-21-16.1)
206 Library Building Fund (SDCL 14-2-46)
208 Home Health Revolving Fund (SDCL 34-3A-1 and 2)
211 Liquor, Lodging and Dining Gross Receipts Tax Fund (SDCL 10-52A-2)
212 Additional Sales Tax Fund (SDCL 10-52-2)
213 Business Improvement District Fund (SDCL 9-55)
214 911 Emergency Fund (SDCL 34-45-4)
215 Historical Restoration and Preservation Fund (SDCL 42-7B-46)
216 Special Assessment Revolving Fund (SDCL 9-43-120/121)
217 Grant Revolving Loan Fund
218 Municipal Street Fund (SDCL 10-52-5.1)
220 Street Assessment Fund (SDCL 9-43-138)
221 Special Park Gift Fund (SDCL 9-38-112)
222 Special Recreation Gift Fund (SDCL 9-38-113)
223 First Cent Sales Tax Fund (to be used when city restricts use of the first cent
of sales tax by way of an ordinance)
224 Storm Sewer Maintenance Fund (SDCL 9-48-21)
225 Drainage Assessment Fund (SDCL 46A-11-5)
226 Library Fines Fund (SDCL 14-2-42 and AGR 82-33)
227 Historical Preservation Fund (SDCL 1-19B-5)
228 Library Special Gifts Fund (SDCL 14-2-41)
230 Airport Fund (SDCL 50-6-14)
231 Storm Drainage Fund (SDCL 46A-10B-23)
272 Federal Grants Fund
(Use a separate number for each Federal Fund)
290 Other Special Revenue Funds

300 Debt Service Funds (301 through 399)

400 Permanent Fund (401 through 499)

401 Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund
402 Endowment Fund
403 Library Special Gifts Fund

500 Capital Projects Funds (501 through 599)

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 Proprietary Fund Types

600 Enterprise Funds (601 through 649)

601 Liquor Fund (SDCL 35-3-21)
602 Water Fund (SDCL 9-47-1)
603 Electric Fund (SDCL 9-39-1 and 9-39-26)
604 Sewer Fund (SDCL 9-48-2 and 9-48-29)
605 Hospital Fund (SDCL 34-9-1, 28-18-7)
606 Airport Fund (SDCL 50-7-2)
607 Cemetery Fund (SDCL 9-32-13)
608 Nursing Homes Fund (SDCL 28-18-7)
611 Telephone Fund (SDCL 9-41-1 and 8)
612 Solid Waste Fund (SDCL 9-32-11 and 34A-6)
613 Auditorium Fund (SDCL 9-52-1)
614 Swimming Pool Fund (SDCL 9-38-60 and 69)
615 Cable TV Fund (SDCL 9-35-18)
616 Recycling Fund (SDCL 34A-16-12)
617 Natural Gas (SDCL 9-39-1 and 9-39-26)
650 Internal Service Funds (651 through 699)
651 Unemployment Insurance Compensation Fund (SDCL 61-1-16-1)
652 Employee Health and Accident Insurance Fund (SDCL 9-4-30)
653 Municipal Equipment Fund (SDCL 9-21-32)

Fiduciary Fund Types

740 Private Purpose Trust Funds (741 through 749)

750 Agency Funds (751 through 769)

751 Special Assessments (GASB 6)
753 Section 125 Escrows Fund (for medical and daycare spending accounts)

770 Pension (and Other Employee Benefits) Trust Funds (771 through 799)
771 Firemen’s Pension Fund (SDCL 9-16-20)

780 Investment Trust Funds (781 through 789)

Self-Balancing Accounts

900 General Capital Assets

1000 General Long-Term Liabilities

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GENERAL LEDGER ACCOUNTS

• ASSETS, DEFERRED OUTFLOWS OF RESOURCES, AND OTHER DEBITS:

o See listing in Municipal Accounting Manual
o Accounts 1XX

• LIABILITIES, DEFERRED INFLOWS OF RESOURCES, NET POSITION, FUND

BALANCES AND OTHER CREDITS:
o See listing in Municipal Accounting Manual
o Accounts 2XX

REVENUE AND OTHER FINANCING SOURCE CODES

Major Source - Minor Source - Type

310 Taxes

311 General Property Taxes (Imposed Nonexchange Revenue)

G 311.01 Current Year

EXPENDITURE AND OTHER FINANCING USE CODES

Function - Subfunction - Activity

410 General Government

414 Financial Administration

414.2 Finance Officer

• EXPENDITURE AND OTHER FINANCING USE CODES, BY CHARACTER

AND OBJECT

410 Personal Services

411 Salaries and Wages

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 ACCOUNTING PROCESS

1. Basic Accounting Terminology:

• Event: A happening or consequence. An event generally is the source or
cause of changes in assets, deferred outflows, liabilities, deferred inflows,
and equity. Events may external or internal.
• Transaction: An external event involving a transfer or exchange between
two or more entities.
• Account: A systematic arrangement that shows the effect of transactions and
other events on a specific asset or equity. A separate account is kept for
each asset, deferred outflows, liability, deferred inflows, revenue, expense,
and equity.
• Real and Nominal Accounts: Real (permanent) accounts are asset, deferred
outflows, liability, deferred inflows, and equity accounts; they appear on the
balance sheet. Nominal (temporary) accounts are revenues and expense
accounts (other financing sources/uses) they appear on the income
statement. Nominal accounts are periodically closed; real accounts are not.
• Ledger: The book (or computer printouts) containing the accounts. Each
account usually has a separate page. A general ledger is a collection of all
the asset, deferred outflows, liability, deferred inflows, revenue, expense, and
equity accounts. A subsidiary ledger contains the details related to a given
general ledger account.
• Journal: The book of original entry where transactions and selected other
events are initially recorded. Various amounts are transferred to the ledger
from the book of original entry, the journal.
• Posting: The process of transferring the essential facts and figures from the
book of original entry to the ledger accounts.
• Trial Balance: A list of all open accounts in the ledger and their balances. A
trial balance taken immediately after all adjustments have been posted is
called an adjusted trial balance. A trial balance taken immediately after
closing entries have been posted is designated an after-closing or post-
closing trial balance. A trial balance may be prepared at any time.
• Adjusting Entries: Entries made at the end of an accounting period to bring
all accounts up to date on an accrual accounting basis so that correct
financial statements can be prepared.
• Financial Statements: Statements that reflect the collection, tabulation, and
final summarization.
• Closing Entries: The formal process by which all nominal accounts are
reduced to zero and the net income or net loss is determined and transferred
to equity account, also known as closing the ledger, closing the books, or
merely closing.

2. Double Entry Rules (Debits & Credits):

The terms debit and credit mean left or right, respectively. They are commonly
abbreviated as Dr. for debit and Cr. for credit. These terms do not mean increase or
decrease. The terms debit and credit are used repeatedly in the recording process. For
example, the act of entering an amount on the left side of an account is called debiting
the account and making an entry on the right side is crediting the account. When the
two sides are compared, an account will have a debit balance if the total of the debits

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 amounts exceeds the credits. Conversely, an account will have a credit balance if the
credit amounts exceed the debits.

The procedure of having debits on the left and credits on the right is an accounting
custom or rule. Accountants could function just as well if debits or credits were
reversed. However, the custom of having debits on the left side of an account and
credits on the right side (like the custom of driving on the right-hand side of the road) has
been adopted in the United States. This rule applies to all accounts.

The equality of debits and credits provides the basic for the double-entry system of
recording transactions (double-entry bookkeeping). Under the universally used double-
entry accounting system, the dual (two-sided) effect of each transaction is recorded in
appropriate accounts. This system provides a logical method of recording transactions.
It also offers a means of proving the accuracy of the recorded amounts. If every
transaction is recorded with equal debit and credits, then the sum of all the debits to the
accounts must equal the sum of all the credits.

Basic Guidelines for Double Entry (Debit and Credit) Accounting System

DEBIT CREDIT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASSETS + (increase) - (decrease)
+
Deferred Outflows of Resources + (increase) - (decrease)
=
LIABILITIES - (decrease) + (increase)
+
Deferred Inflows of Resources - (decrease) + (increase)
+
EQUITY (fund balance) - (decrease) + (increase)

--------------------------

+
REVENUES - (decrease) + (increase)

-
EXPENDITURES + (increase) - (decrease)

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 Every time a transaction occurs, the elements of the equation change, but the basic
equality remains. To illustrate here are some example of transactions.

1. Government receives $100 in property taxes.

Assets + Deferred Outflows = Liabilities + Deferred Inflows + Equity

+100 +100 (revenue)

2. Disburse $500 cash for custodial wages.

Assets + Deferred Outflows = Liabilities + Deferred Inflows + Equity

-500 -500 (expense)

3. Purchase office equipment priced at $5,000, giving a promissory note in exchange.

Assets + Deferred Outflows = Liabilities + Deferred Inflows + Equity

+5,000 +5,000

4. Pay off a short term liability of $7,000.

Assets + Deferred Outflows = Liabilities + Deferred Inflows + Equity

-7,000 -7,000

5. Pay cash of $10,000 for a new pickup.

Assets + Deferred Outflows = Liabilities + Deferred Inflows + Equity

-10,000
+10,000

3. Steps in the Accounting Cycle:

a. Identification and measurement of transactions and other events.
b. Journalization
i. General Journal Entry
1. Accounts and amounts to be Dr.
2. Accounts and amounts to be Cr.
3. A date
4. Explanation
ii. Special Journals
1. Cash receipts journal
2. Cash payments journal (check register)
c. Posting (T-Account Format)
d. Unadjusted Trial Balance
e. Adjustments
f. Adjusted Trial Balance
g. Statement Presentation
h. Closing

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4. Record transactions in journals, post to ledger accounts, and prepare a trial
balance.
The simplest journal form is a chronological listing of transactions and events expressed
in terms of debits and credits to particular accounts. The items entered in a general
journal must be transferred (posted) to the general ledger. An unadjusted trial balance
should be prepared at the end of a given period after the entries have been recorded in
the journal and posted to the ledger.

5. Prepare Adjusting Entries.

Adjustments are necessary to achieve a proper matching of revenues and expenses so
as to determine net income for the current period and to achieve an accurate statement
of end of the period balance in assets, deferred outflows, liabilities, deferred inflows, and
equity accounts. Examples would be for prepaid expense, unearned revenue, accrued
liabilities (expenses), and accrued assets (revenues).

6. Inventory accounts adjusted at year-end.

When the inventory records are maintained in a periodic inventory system, a Change in
Inventory account is used; the Inventory account is unchanged during the period. The
Inventory account represents the beginning inventory amount throughout the period. At
the end of the accounting period the inventory account must be adjusted by closing out
the beginning inventory and recording the ending inventory amount. Under a perpetual
inventory system the balance in Inventory account should represent the ending inventory
amount, and no adjusting entries are needed.

7. Prepare Closing Entries.

In the closing process all of the revenues and expense account balances (income
statement items) are transferred to a clearing account, which is used only at the end of
the fiscal year. Revenues and expenses are matched in this account. The net result of
this matching, which represents the net income or net loss for the period, is then
transferred to equity account.

8. Identify adjusting entries that may be reversed.

Reversing entries are most often used to reverse two types of adjusting entries; accrued
revenues and accrued expenses.

9. Prepare a 10-column work sheet.

Accountant’s informal device for accumulating and sorting information needed for the
financial statements.

10. Call DLA if you have any questions.

Rod Fortin
Director of Local Government Assistance
Department of Legislative Audit
300 S. Sycamore Ave., Suite 102
Sioux Falls, SD 57110-1323
Email: rod.fortin@state.sd.us
Phone (605) 367-5810

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