Research Case- Federal Financial Report

Review Ch. 1, Case 1-16, Research Case Federal Financial Reporting Objectives.

Write a 175- to 350-word response.

Briefly describe the user groups, their needs for information, and how these tie into the four objectives of federal financial reporting identified in the statement.

Download a copy of the most recent comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) for a city of your choice. Many cities with 25,000 or more population provide internet access to their CFR’s. Familiarize yourself with the city’s CAFR and reread the section in Chapter 1 titled “Financial Reporting of State and Local Governments”.

NOTE: you can usually access a city’s CAFR by doing a sear on “City of (name)” and looking for a link to the city’s departments. At that link, select Finance Department or a department with a similar function, such as Accounting and Budgeting, and look for “Financial Reports” or similar link.

• Introductory Section
• What has the city included in the introductory section of its CAFR?
• Does it include the items identified in the section of the text titled “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report”?
• Financial Section
• Audit Report. Are the financial statements in the report audited by an independent CPA, state auditors, or auditors employed by the government being audited? Has the city received an unmodified audit report?
• Basic Financial Statements. Does the CAFR contain both government-wide financial statements and fund statements? How many financial statements have been included as part of the basic financial statements section of the CAFR?
• Notes to the Financial Statements. How many notes follow the required basic financial statements? Is there a phrase at the bottom of the basic financial statements indicating that the notes are an integral part of the financial statements?
• Other Supplementary Information. Following the notes to the financial statements, does the CAFR provide other supplementary information, such as combining and individual fund statements?
• Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A). Does the CAFR contain and MD&A? If so, where is it located and what type of information does it contain?
• Statistical Tables
• What information has been included in this section of the CAFR?