AICPA Government Accounting

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News Report

Government Accounting

Boost for Performance Reporting
The GASB received a three-year grant to research and develop performance-reporting techniques that will make it easier for citizens, elected officials and other financial report users to better understand the results of their governments operations. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a philanthropic not-for-profit institution that is particularly interested in assessing government performance, awarded the grant.

The GASB also will hire a full-time staff member to work on its project on reporting for government service efforts and accomplishments. The GASB and FASB use that term to define the full results of government and not-for-profit operations.

According to Jay Fountain, GASB assistant director of research, the board will

Establish an electronic clearinghouse as a forum for governments to exchange information on performance reporting.
Research the effectiveness of performance reportingincluding how, if at all, it improves particular programs, budgeting and the governments ability to communicate with its citizens.
Determine whether it should establish performance reporting standards for state and local governments.

We also must determine how performance measures are being reported, what methods of reporting and communication are effective and how governments can prepare citizens and elected officials to use this information, said Fountain.

For more information on the GASBs project, contact Jay Fountain by phone at 203-847-0700, ext. 259 or by e-mail at jrfountain@gasb.org.

New Federal Government Subcommittee
The AICPA has formed a new subcommittee of the government accounting and auditing committee that will address issues relevant to federal and international government accounting and auditing. It will provide views and comments on Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) proposals and proposed legislation, regulation and other requirements relevant to federal audits and financial management activities.

David Cotton, managing partner of Cotton & Co. in Alexandria, Virginia, will chair the subcommittee. He and other committee members also will meet with representatives of federal agencies and departments to discuss federal audits and financial management and advise AICPA representatives on the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) public sector committee. Representatives from the Office of Management and Budget and FASAB will be nonvoting participants in subcommittee meetings and activities.

For more information, contact Wendy Frederick, AICPA technical manager, at 202-434-9211.