United Wi-Fi
We know that it's important to stay connected while you fly, so we're happy to offer you United Wi-Fi℠ on all mainline aircraft and two-cabin regional aircraft.
For more convenience, we now offer Wi-Fi subscriptions — purchase now and access the internet for an entire month or year on United and United Express® flights equipped with Wi-Fi. You can also purchase Wi-Fi on board, with the option to use MileagePlus miles on select flights. Adherence to GAAP implies that their financial reports contain the same types of financial statements for the same categories and types of funds and account groups. Such conformity will enhance the comparability of LEA financial reporting. In keeping with GAAP, this manual’s content and format are based on double entry and the.
For more convenience, we now offer Wi-Fi subscriptions — purchase now and access the internet for an entire month or year on United and United Express® flights equipped with Wi-Fi. You can also purchase Wi-Fi on board, with the option to use MileagePlus miles on select flights. This feature is offered on our new portal, currently available on select aircraft and expanding to more aircraft throughout 2018. United Wi-Fi pricing will vary.
Please note that we do not allow the use of our inflight internet service for voice communication or videoconferencing through a cell phone, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or any similar device or service. Voice and video calls are expressly prohibited.
United Wi-Fi installation
We have completed Wi-Fi installation on all aircraft with the exception of Guam-based aircraft. We also offer Wi-Fi on all two-cabin regional aircraft.
Wi-Fi satellite coverage map
The map below reflects satellite coverage in the U.S. and internationally.
United Wi-Fi pricing varies by flight. On aircraft equipped with our new Wi-Fi portal, you can also purchase Wi-Fi using your MileagePlus miles.
Internet video streaming is not supported. Video clips and streaming services provided by Netflix, Hulu, HBO GO, YouTube, Vevo, etc., are not supported.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video or audio conferencing are expressly prohibited on board. This includes, but is not limited to, applications such as Skype™ and FaceTime®.
On all 737 and select 757-300 aircraft, internet availability is limited to the continental United States.
On all other mainline aircraft, internet access is available throughout the flight, but is limited over polar regions and areas restricted by government regulations.
Wi-Fi coverage on 737 aircraft and DIRECTV equipped aircraft
Please note: Satellite coverage may experience outages for reasons such as government regulations, weather and switching between satellite regions. 737 aircraft and aircraft equipped with DIRECTV® will only have satellite coverage within the continental U.S.
On two-cabin regional aircraft, internet availability is limited to the continental United States and Canada.
- The basic steps below apply to most wireless devices. Please follow these steps, also making sure to follow flight crew instructions for usage and stowing of portable electronic devices.
- Before the flight leaves the gate, make sure that your wireless device is in airplane mode.
- To connect to United Wi-Fi on your device, view available wireless networks and select 'United_Wi-Fi.'
- Launch your internet browser. If you are not automatically redirected to the United Wi-Fi Portal, type 'www.unitedwifi.com' in the browser's address bar.
- Purchase an internet access plan, and enjoy.
If you want to purchase a Wi-Fi subscription for a month or year, please do so before your flight.If you don't want to purchase an internet access plan, you may choose to browse united.com for free. On united.com, you can check your flight status, obtain connecting flight information, purchase tickets and more.Note: If you're traveling on a premium transcontinental service flight with internet service provided by Gogo®, you can purchase a day pass in advance from gogoair.com and save up to 60%. See the section below for more information. - United currently offers internet service from several providers including Gogo® on aircraft with premium transcontinental service, serving select transcontinental routes.Starting 48 hours before the scheduled departure of your premium transcontinental service flight, you can check if the Wi-Fi internet service is provided by Gogo by visiting the Amenities section in the United app (search for your flight, go to the Details page and scroll down to select Amenities) or the Inflight Amenities tab of your flight status on united.com. If Gogo is the Wi-Fi provider, you can purchase a day pass for your premium transcontinental service flight in advance at gogoair.com and save up to 60%.To use Gogo internet service, you can register in advance or simply launch your web browser while you're in flight. After registering, you will be able to browse the web, catch up on email and access corporate VPNs on your Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or mobile device.
BARS Account Export
Select a government type/Select basis of accounting
This government type selection will limit the accounts to those applicable to the selected government type. Although the listing provided intends to be all inclusive, it is possible that needed account codes will not be included. If this occurs, please use the All option to view the entire chart of accounts and contact [email protected] so the listing can be updated.
Select export type
The Excel option provides a spreadsheet which you can format. The PDF is formatted to highlight the different categories of account codes. For display purposes, the account codes contain decimal points which should be excluded in your annual report.
Select a reporting level
Above and Prescribed option includes those accounts which are aggregates of detailed account codes and are not valid for reporting in addition to Prescribed accounts which are the valid BARS account codes. Prescribed option only lists valid BARS account codes.
Your annual report requires seven digits for all account codes however, their display in the chart of accounts varies. The expenditure or expense accounts are presented without object codes. Object codes are available in the BARS Manual. The reporting at the subobject level is not required.
This section was last edited by SAO on 07/30/19Back to Top
Introduction
2.4 Budget Compliance
2.4.1 Introduction
2.4.1.10 A budget is a legal document that forecasts the financial resources of a government and authorizes the spending of those resources for a fiscal period. At a minimum, local governments’ budget must meet the requirements of Washington state law and the State Auditor’s Office. The SAO does not prescribe how to budget or what a budget should look like. The adopted budget should be of sufficient detail to be meaningful and meet the intention of the law. The SAO considers budgets showing revenues and expenditures at the legal fund level to be the minimum acceptable level of detail.
2.4.1.20 Budgeting is more than just an activity to satisfy state law. It is a sophisticated process of strategic planning, communication and policy development resulting in a detailed plan of operations for allocating and monitoring the use of limited resources among various competing demands. Teaching how to budget is outside the scope of the BARS. However, there are many educational resources available to local governments, such as the Municipal Research and Services Center (mrsc.org) and the Government Finance Officers Association (gfoa.org).
2.4.1.30 Glossary of Budgetary Terms:
Appropriation. The legal spending level authorized by a budget ordinance or resolution. Spending should not exceed this level without prior approval of the governing body.
Original Budget. The first complete appropriated budget. The original budget may be adjusted by reserves, transfers, allocations, supplemental appropriations, and other legally authorized legislative and executive changes before the beginning of the fiscal year. The original budget should also include actual appropriation amounts automatically carried over from prior years by law.
Final Amended Budget. The original budget adjusted by all reserves, transfers, allocations, supplemental appropriations, and other legally authorized legislative and executive changes applicable to the fiscal year, whenever signed into law or otherwise legally authorized.
Comprehensive Budget. An government-wide budget that includes all resources the government expects and everything it intends to spend or encumber during a fiscal period. The comprehensive budget contains annual/biennial appropriated budgets, the annual/biennial portion of continuing appropriations such as the capital improvement projects, debt amortization schedules, and grant projects, flexible budgets and all non-budgeted funds.
Fixed Budget. Those budgets which set an absolute maximum or ceiling on the expenditures of a particular fund, department, or other specific category. A fixed budget can be either an annual/biennial appropriated budget or a continuing appropriation. Fixed budgets must be adopted by ordinance or resolution, either for the government’s fiscal period or at the outset of a service project, debt issue, grant award, or capital project.
Annual/Biennial Appropriated Budget. A fixed budget adopted for the government’s fiscal period. The appropriated budget was traditionally used to determine a government’s property tax levy, and a ceiling on expenditures was made absolute so that the expenditures of a government unit would not exceed its revenues. This budget was also historically a balanced budget, estimated revenues equaling appropriations. The appropriated budget is still used to set tax levies and some budget statutes still require balanced budgets, but it is more generally used to authorize a specific amount of expenditures regardless of whether estimated resources meet or exceed that amount. Appropriated budgets are required by statute in cities (Chapter 35.32A RCW, Chapter 35.33 RCW and Chapter 35A.33 RCW), counties (Chapter 36.40 RCW), and most other local governments in Washington State. These budgets are also called legal budgets, adopted budgets, or formal budgets. The appropriated budgets should be adopted by ordinance or resolution.
Continuing Appropriation. A fixed budget which authorizes expenditures for a fiscal period that differs from the government’s fiscal year, such as capital projects, debt issues, grant awards, and other service projects. These expenditures require an ordinance or resolution to authorize the project, establish the assessment roll, adopt the debt amortization schedule, or accept the grant award. Such ordinances or resolutions set an absolute maximum or ceiling on the expenditures, but the time period for incurring expenditures does not coincide with the government’s fiscal year; it may even cover several years. The major difference between annual/biennial appropriated budgets and continuing appropriations is that the latter do not lapse at fiscal period end; this implies that no legislative action is required to amend the annual/biennial portion of a continuing appropriation, unless the total authorized expenditures would exceed the entire appropriation.
Flexible Budgets. Are usually regarded as managerial tools, which do not set a ceiling on expenses or expenditures but establish a plan for them at various levels of service. They are especially appropriate for the day-to-day operations of a public utility where it is essential to plan fluctuations in the demand for services and where revenues will automatically increase with demand, so that a balanced budget does not depend on establishing a ceiling for expenses.
Working Capital Budget. Combines flexible and fixed budget elements in one document for enterprise and internal service funds. Current operations are flexibly budgeted based on the estimated level of services to be provided and long-range sources and uses of assets are controlled by annual/biennial appropriations and continuing appropriations.
Capital Improvement Budget. Consists of two elements: the annual/biennial portion of capital projects and annual/biennial appropriations for the purchase, construction or replacement of major fixed assets in the current fiscal period.
Operating Budget. Presents the estimated expenditures and available resources necessary to provide the services for which the government was created. An operating budget will contain flexible budgets and fixed budgets; the fixed budgets will include annual/biennial appropriations for services and the annual/biennial portion of continuing appropriations for debt service and for service projects.
Encumbrances. Commitments related to unperformed (executory) contracts for goods or services should be utilized to the extent necessary to assure effective budgetary control and to facilitate cash planning. Encumbrances outstanding at year end represent the estimated amount of expenditures ultimately to result if unperformed contracts in process are completed; they do not constitute expenditures or liabilities.
This section was last edited by SAO on 01/23/19Back to Top
Fund Types and Accounting Principles
3.1 Accounting Principles and Internal Control
3.1.7 Fund Types and Accounting Principles
3.1.7.10 The following principles are basic rules of accounting and financial reporting for cash based cities, counties, and special purpose districts.
3.1.7.20 ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING CAPABILITIES
A governmental accounting system must make it possible to determine and demonstrate compliance with finance related legal and contractual provisions.
3.1.7.30 FUND ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS
Windows posready 7. A governmental accounting system should be organized and operated on a fund basis. A fund is defined as 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.
3.1.7.40 BASIS OF ACCOUNTING
Basis of accounting refers to when revenues and expenditures are recognized and reported in the financial statements.
Revenues are recognized only when cash is received and expenditures are recognized when chargeable against the report year’s budget appropriations as required by state law. This generally results in revenues being recognized when delivered to the government or government’s agent and expenditures being recognized when paid. Warrants and checks are considered paid when issued. Writing software download for mac. An exception to expenditure recognition would be during any open period after the close of the fiscal year when expenditures can be charged against the previous period for claims incurred in the previous period. Open periods are required by statute for cities (RCW 35.33.151 and RCW 35A.33.150) and allowed for counties (RCW 36.40.200). Special purpose districts which use the county or a city as their treasurer may use the same open-period as their treasurer. If a district acts as its own treasurer, no open period is allowed by statute.
Revenues and expenditures should be reported at gross amounts by account and not netted against each other.
Revenues and expenditures should be recognized for all receipts and payments of a government’s resources, including those where the cash is handled by an agent (such as a bank, underwriter, etc.) on behalf of the government rather than handled directly by the local government. For example, debt proceeds wired directly to an escrow account, payments by the State Treasurer’s Office to vendors for items purchased with LOCAL resources, etc.
Interest earned on investments may be recognized at cost, amortized cost or fair value in accordance with the government’s disclosed accounting policy.
In addition, revenue and expenditures should also be recognized when the government agrees to forgo revenue in exchange for reduction of expenses (offsetting agreement) or receipt of an asset (e.g., acquiring an asset in exchange for reduced permit fees, etc.). In such cases, the transaction should be recorded as if the cash was received and expended in order to reflect the legal transaction.
This basis results in no reported assets other than cash and investments and no reported liabilities. For example, purchases of capital assets are expensed during the year of acquisition without any capitalization of capital assets or allocation of depreciation expense. However, please be aware that certain liabilities should be reported on Schedule 09 and in the notes in financial statements.
3.1.7.50 TYPES OF FUNDS
In fund financial statements, governments should report governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary funds to the extent that they have activities that meet the criteria for using these funds.
Presented below is a system to classify all funds used by local government and the assignment of code numbers to identify each type of fund. A three digit code is used: the first digit identifies the fund type and the next two digits will be assigned by the governmental unit to identify each specific fund.
Since counties account for special purpose districts in their accounting systems as agency funds, they often provide the districts with reports showing assigned fund codes 630-699. These codes refer to the fund from the county perspective. A district has to “reassign” the county code to the code appropriate to the fund type it is reporting (e.g., if the district’s general fund is coded in the county records as 663, the district in its annual report has to code this fund as 001).
For reporting purposes local governments are required to follow the described below fund structure. However, the local governments may create other funds for accounting or managerial purposes. When preparing external financial reports, those accounting or managerial funds should be rolled to appropriate fund types (e.g., there should be only one general fund or if an entity accounts separately for operating, capital or/and debt activities of its proprietary function, those activities should be rolled up into the appropriate enterprise fund, etc.)
Governmental Funds
Code 000 General (Current Expense) Fund – should be used to account for and report all financial resources not accounted for and reported in another fund. For reporting purposes the local government can have only one general fund.
Although a local government has to report only one general fund in its external financial reports, the government can have multiple general subfunds for its internal managerial purposes. These managerial subfunds have to be combined into one general fund for external financial reporting.
Code 100 Special Revenue Funds – should be used to account for and report the proceeds of specific revenue sources that are restricted or committed to expenditure for specific purposes other than debt service or capital projects. Restricted revenues are resources externally restricted by creditors, grantors, contributors or laws or regulations of other governments or restricted by law through constitutional provisions or enabling legislation. Committed revenues are resources with limitations imposed by the highest level of the government (e.g., board of commissioners, city council, etc.) through a formal action (resolution, ordinance) and where the limitations can be removed only by a similar action of the same governing body. Revenues do not include other financing sources (long-term debt, transfers, etc.).
The term proceeds of specific revenue sources establishes that one or more specific restricted or committed revenues should be foundation for a special revenue fund. They should be expected to continue to comprise a substantial portion of the inflows reported in the fund. It is recommended that at least 20 percent is a reasonable limit for restricted and committed revenues to create a foundation for a special revenue fund. Local governments need to consider factors such as past resource history, future resource expectations and unusual current year inflows such as debt proceeds in their analysis.
They may use the calculation below to determine whether an activity would qualify for reporting as a special revenue fund.
Other resources (investment earnings and transfers from other funds, etc.) also may be reported in the fund if these resources are restricted, committed, or assigned (intended) to the specific purpose of the fund.
Governments should discontinue reporting a special revenue fund, and instead report the fund’s remaining resources in the general fund, if the government no longer expects that a substantial portion of the inflows will derive from restricted or committed revenue sources.
All revenues have to be recognized in the special revenue fund. If the resources are initially received in another fund, such as the general fund, and subsequently remitted to a special revenue fund, they should not be recognized as revenue in the fund initially receiving them. They should be recognized as revenue in the special revenue fund from which they will be expended. So, the local governments can either receive resources directly into the special revenue fund, or account for the resources as agency deposits in the receiving fund and, after remitting them, recognize them as revenue to the special revenue fund.
Special revenue funds should not be used to account for resources held in trust for individuals, private organizations, or other governments.
The state statutes contain many requirements for special funds to account for different activities. The legally required funds do not always meet standards for external reporting. So, while the local governments are required to follow their legal requirements, they will have to make some adjustment to their fund structure for external financial reporting.
Code 200 Debt Service Funds – should be used to account for and report financial resources that are restricted, committed, or assigned (intended) to expenditure for principal and interest. Debt service funds should be used to report resources if legally mandated. Financial resources that are being accumulated for principal and interest maturing in future years also should be reported in debt service funds. The debt service transactions for a special assessment for which the government is not obligated in any matter should be reported in an agency fund. Also, if the government is authorized, or required to establish and maintain a special assessment bond reserve, guaranty, or sinking fund, it is required to use a debt service fund for this purpose.
Use enterprise funds (400) for debt payments related to utilities and other business activities.
Code 300 Capital Projects Funds – should be used to account for and report financial resources that are restricted, committed, or assigned (intended) for expenditure for capital outlays including the acquisition or construction of capital facilities or other capital assets. Capital outlays financed from general obligation bond proceeds should be accounted for through a capital projects fund. Capital project funds exclude those types of capital-related outflows financed by proprietary funds or for assets that will be held in trust for individuals, private organizations, or other governments (private-purpose trust funds).
Use enterprise funds (400) for capital projects related to utilities and other business activities.
Code 700 Permanent Funds – should be used to account for and report resources that are 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 citizens (public-purpose). Permanent funds do not include private-purpose trust funds which account for resources held in trust for individuals, private organizations, or other governments.
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Proprietary Funds
Code 400 Enterprise Funds – may be used to report any activity for which a fee is charged to external users for goods or services. Enterprise funds are required for any activity whose principal revenue sources meet any of the following criteria:
- Debt backed solely by a pledge of the net revenues from fees and charges.
- Legal requirement to recover cost. An enterprise fund is required to be used if the cost of providing services for an activity including capital costs (such as depreciation or debt service) must be legally recovered through fees or charges.
- Policy decision to recover cost. It is necessary to use an enterprise fund if the government’s policy is to establish activity fees or charges designed to recover the cost, including capital costs (such as depreciation or debt service).
These criteria should be applied in the context of the activity’s principal revenue source.
The term activity generally refers to programs and services. This term is not synonymous with fund. As a practical consequence, if an activity reported as a separate fund meets any of the three criteria, it should be an enterprise fund. Also, if a “multiple activity” fund (e.g., general fund) includes a significant activity whose principal revenue source meets any of these three criteria, the activity should be reclassified as an enterprise fund.
The determination of an activity’s principal revenue source is a matter of professional judgement. A good indicator of the activity’s significance may be comparing pledged revenues or fees and charges to total revenue. For example, consider a county auditor’s office that charges fees to provide a payroll service to various taxing districts. Even if the fee is meant to cover the cost of the service, the county auditor function as a whole is primarily supported with tax dollars from the general fund. It would be allowable in this case to leave the activity all within general fund.
Finding an appropriate fund type requires a careful analysis since there is not always a clear choice. For example, building permit fees may be accounted for in the general fund or a special revenue fund in certain circumstances, such as when they are partially supported by taxes. However, if there is a pricing policy to recover the cost of issuing those individual building permits, they should be reported in an enterprise fund.
Separate funds are not required for bond redemption, construction, reserves, or deposits, for any utility. If separated, use 400 series number. Separate funds are not required even though bond covenants may stipulate a bond reserve fund, bond construction fund, etc. The bond covenant use of the term fund is not the same as the use in governmental accounting. For bond covenants, fund means only a segregation or separate account, not a self-balancing set of accounts.
Local governments may separate operating, capital projects and debt functions of enterprise funds. However, when reporting such proprietary activities, all those functions should be contained in one fund.
Code 500 Internal Service Funds – may be used to report any activity that provides goods or services to other funds, departments or agencies of the government, or to other governments, on a cost-reimbursement basis. Internal service funds should be used only if the reporting government is the predominant participant in the activity. Otherwise, the activity should be reported in an enterprise fund.
Fiduciary Funds
Note: The new definitions of fiduciary funds are required for reporting fiduciary activities in FY 2019 (i.e., reports submitted in 2020). Additional information regarding these changes is availablehere.
Code 600 Fiduciary Funds – should be used to account for assets held by a government in a trustee capacity or as a custodian for individuals, private organizations, other governmental units, and/or other funds. These include (a) investment trust funds, (b) pension (and other employee benefit) trust funds, (c) private-purpose trust funds, and (d) custodial funds.
Code 600-609 Investment Trust Funds – should be used to report fiduciary activities from the external portion of investment pools and individual investment accounts that are held in a trust that meets the following criteria: the assets are (a) administered through a trust in which the government itself is not a beneficiary, (b) dedicated to providing benefits to recipients in accordance with the benefit terms, and (c) legally protected from the creditors of the government.
Code 610-619 Pension (and Other Employee Benefit) Trust Funds – should be used to report fiduciary activities for pension plans and OPEB plans that are administered through qualifying trusts. Qualifying trusts are those in which:
- Contributions to the plan, and earnings on those contributions, are irrevocable. Pay-as-you-go plans do not qualify because they are “payments,” not contributions.
- Plan assets are dedicated solely to providing benefits to plan members in accordance with the benefit terms. Different plans (for example a pension and an OPEB plan) cannot be commingled in the same trust. The assets must be partitioned for specific plans.
- Plan assets are legally protected from creditors.
If you are acting as administrator for someone else’s pension/OPEB plans, the plans still must meet the criteria above to be reported in a trust fund.
Code 620-629 Private-Purpose Trust Funds – should be used to report all fiduciary activities that (a) are not required to be reported in pension (and other employee benefit) trust funds or investment trust funds, and (b) are held in a trust that meets the following criteria: the assets are (a) administered through a trust in which the government itself is not a beneficiary, (b) dedicated to providing benefits to recipients in accordance with the benefit terms, and (c) legally protected from the creditors of the government.
Code 630-698 Custodial Funds – should be used to report all fiduciary activities that are not required to be reported in pension (and other employee benefit) trust funds, investment trust funds or private purpose trust funds. The external portion of the investment pools that are not held in trust that meets criteria listed above should be reported in a separate external investment pool fund column under the custodial funds classification.
Code 699 External Investment Pool Fund – The external portion of the investment pools that are not held in trust and meet criteria listed above. Although this is consider a custodial fund, it should be reported in a separate external investment pool fund column under the custodial funds classification.
NOTE: The custodial funds are required to be used by business-type activities and enterprise funds, if the assets, upon receipt, are normally expected to be held for more than three months.
3.1.7.60 NUMBER OF FUNDS
Governments should establish and maintain those funds required by law and sound financial administration. Only the minimum number of funds consistent with legal and operating requirements should be established. Using numerous funds results in inflexibility, undue complexity, and inefficient financial administration.
Local governments should periodically undertake a comprehensive evaluation of their fund structure to ensure that individual funds that became superfluous are eliminated from accounting and reporting.
Elected officials should be educated to the fact that accountability may be achieved effectively and efficiently by judicious use of department, program and other available account coding or cautious use of managerial (internal) funds.
3.1.7.70 BUDGETING, BUDGETARY CONTROL, AND BUDGETARY REPORTING
a. An annual/biennial budget must be adopted by every government.
b. The accounting system should provide the basis for appropriate budgetary control.
c. Budgetary comparisons must be included in the appropriate financial statements and schedules for funds for which an annual/biennial budget has been adopted.
b. The accounting system should provide the basis for appropriate budgetary control.
c. Budgetary comparisons must be included in the appropriate financial statements and schedules for funds for which an annual/biennial budget has been adopted.
3.1.7.80 TRANSFER, REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT CLASSIFICATIONS
a. Interfund transfers, proceeds of general long-term debt issues and material proceeds of capital asset disposition should be classified separately from fund revenues and expenditures.
b. Governmental fund revenues should be classified by fund and by the sources indicated in BARS Account Export. Expenditures should be classified by fund and by the categories indicated in BARS Account Export.
c. Proprietary fund revenues and expenses should be classified in essentially the same manner as those of similar business organizations, functions, or activities.
b. Governmental fund revenues should be classified by fund and by the sources indicated in BARS Account Export. Expenditures should be classified by fund and by the categories indicated in BARS Account Export.
c. Proprietary fund revenues and expenses should be classified in essentially the same manner as those of similar business organizations, functions, or activities.
3.1.7.80 COMMON TERMINOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION
A common terminology and classification should be used consistently throughout the budget, the accounts, and the financial reports of each fund.
3.1.7.90 INTERIM AND ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTS
a. Appropriate interim financial statements and reports of operating results and other pertinent information should be prepared to facilitate management control of financial operations, legislative oversight, and, where necessary or desired, for external reporting purposes. (RCW35.33.141, RCW35A.33.140 and RCW36.40.210)
b. Annual reporting requirements are prescribed by the State Auditor’s Office. See Reporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Cities and Counties or Reporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Special Purpose Districts for details.
This section was last edited by SAO on 01/07/19Back to Top
Note 1-Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Note 1-SummaryofSignificantAccountingPolicies
The (official name of the government) was incorporated on (date) and operates under the laws of the state of Washington applicable to a (type of government). [1] The (city/county/district) is a (general/special) purpose local government and provides (list major types of services). [2]
The (city/county/district) reports financial activity in accordance with the Cash Basis Budgeting, Accounting and Reporting System (BARS) Manual prescribed by the State Auditor’s Office under the authority of Washington State law, Chapter 43.09 RCW. This manual prescribes a financial reporting framework that differs from generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the following manner:
- Financial transactions are recognized on a cash basis of accounting as described below.
- Component units are required to be disclosed, but are not included in the financial statements.
- Government-wide statements, as defined in GAAP, are not presented.
- All funds are presented, rather than a focus on major funds.
- The Schedule of Liabilities is required to be presented with the financial statements as supplementary information.
- Supplementary information required by GAAP is not presented.
- Ending balances are not presented using the classifications defined in GAAP.
A. Fund Accounting
Wi Doa Gaap Manual
Financial transactions of the government are reported in individual funds. Each fund uses a separate set of self-balancing accounts that comprises its cash and investments, revenues and expenditures. The government’s resources are allocated to and accounted for in individual funds depending on their intended purpose. Each fund is reported as a separate column in the financial statements, except for fiduciary funds, which are presented by fund types. The total column is presented as “memo only” because any interfund activities are not eliminated. The following fund types are used:
GOVERNMENTAL FUND TYPES: [3]
General Fund
This fund is the primary operating fund of the government. It accounts for all financial resources except those required or elected to be accounted for in another fund.
This fund is the primary operating fund of the government. It accounts for all financial resources except those required or elected to be accounted for in another fund.
Special Revenue Funds
These funds account for specific revenue sources that are restricted or committed to expenditures for specified purposes of the government.
These funds account for specific revenue sources that are restricted or committed to expenditures for specified purposes of the government.
Debt Service Funds
These funds account for the financial resources that are restricted, committed, or assigned to expenditures for principal, interest and related costs on general long-term debt.
These funds account for the financial resources that are restricted, committed, or assigned to expenditures for principal, interest and related costs on general long-term debt.
Capital Projects Funds
These funds account for financial resources which are restricted, committed, or assigned for the acquisition or construction of capital facilities or other capital assets.
These funds account for financial resources which are restricted, committed, or assigned for the acquisition or construction of capital facilities or other capital assets.
Permanent Funds
These funds account for financial resources that are legally restricted to the extent that only earnings, and not principal, may be used for purposes that support programs for the benefit of the government or its citizenry.
These funds account for financial resources that are legally restricted to the extent that only earnings, and not principal, may be used for purposes that support programs for the benefit of the government or its citizenry.
PROPRIETARY FUND TYPES: [3]
Enterprise Funds
These funds account for operations that provide goods or services to the general public and are supported primarily through user charges. Best nes emulator for mac os x.
These funds account for operations that provide goods or services to the general public and are supported primarily through user charges. Best nes emulator for mac os x.
Internal Service Funds
These funds account for operations that provide goods or services to other departments or funds of the government on a cost reimbursement basis.
These funds account for operations that provide goods or services to other departments or funds of the government on a cost reimbursement basis.
FIDUCIARY FUND TYPES: [3]
Fiduciary funds account for assets held by the government in a trustee capacity or as an agent on behalf of others.
Pension (and Other Employee Benefit) Trust Funds
These funds are used to report fiduciary activities for pension and OPEB plans administered through trust.
These funds are used to report fiduciary activities for pension and OPEB plans administered through trust.
Investment Trust Funds
These funds are used to report fiduciary activities from the external portion of investment pools and individual investment accounts that are held in trust.
These funds are used to report fiduciary activities from the external portion of investment pools and individual investment accounts that are held in trust.
Private-Purpose Trust Funds
These funds report all trust arrangements under which principal and income benefit individuals, private organizations or other governments.
These funds report all trust arrangements under which principal and income benefit individuals, private organizations or other governments.
Custodial Funds
Best mac local backup software. These funds are used to account assets that the government holds on behalf of others in a custodial capacity.
Best mac local backup software. These funds are used to account assets that the government holds on behalf of others in a custodial capacity.
B. Basis of Accounting and Measurement Focus
Financial statements are prepared using the cash basis of accounting and measurement focus. Revenues are recognized when cash is received and expenditures are recognized when paid.
In accordance with state law the (city)[4] also recognizes expenditures paid during twenty days after the close of the fiscal year for claims incurred during the previous period.
C. Cash and Investments
See Note X, Deposits andInvestments.
D. Capital Assets
Capital assets are assets with an initial individual cost of more than $____ and an estimated useful life in excess of __ years. Capital assets and inventory are recorded as capital expenditures when purchased.
E. Compensated Absences
Vacation leave may be accumulated up to ___ days and (is or is not) payable upon separation or retirement. Sick leave may be accumulated (indefinitely or up to X hours). Upon separation or retirement employees (do or do not) receive payment for unused sick leave. Payments are recognized as expenditures when paid.
F. Long-Term Debt
See Note X, DebtServiceRequirements.
G. Reserved Portion of Ending Cash and Investments[5]
Beginning and Ending Cash and Investments is reported as reserved when it is subject to restrictions on use imposed by external parties or due to internal commitments established by _____________. When expenditures that meet restrictions are incurred, the (city/county/district) Download winzip free no trial. intends to use reserved resources first before using unreserved amounts.
Reservations of Ending Cash and Investments consist of ______________________.
INSTRUCTIONS TO PREPARER
[1] For typeofgovernment describe the legal formation of your government, such as second-class citywith amayor-councilformofgovernment.
[2] For majortypesofservices, summarize the functions that your government performs, such as:
Public safety,fire prevention, streetimprovement,park sandrecreation, health and socialservices,andgeneraladministrative services.Inaddition,the(city/county/district)ownsand operatesa sewersystem.
[3] Eliminate labels and descriptions of any funds that your government does not use. The external portion of investment pools that are not held in trust should be reported in a separate external investment pool fund column under the custodial funds classification.
[4] Counties that elected under RCW 36.40.200 to allow appropriation account to remain open after the end of the fiscal year should include the following disclosure:
Inaccordancewithstatelaw,the(county)alsorecognizeexpenditurespaid during(numberofdays)afterthecloseofthefiscalyearforclaimsincurredduringtheprevious period.
[5] In relation to internal commitments, describe the government’s highest level of decision-making authority and the formal action required to establish, modify or rescind a fund balance commitment. For example: “…by ordinance or resolution of the City Council.”
If the government reports any reserved amounts of ending cash and investments, it should describe the specific purposes (not functions) and amounts of these reservations.
This section was last edited by SAO on 01/16/19Back to Top
Table of Contents
Index of Sections
CHARTS OF ACCOUNTS | |
BARS Account Export | 1.4 |
Object Codes | 1.3 |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts Overview | 1.1 |
General Ledger Accounts | 1.2 |
Account Structure | |
Applicability | 1.1.6 |
Structure | 1.1.2 |
BUDGETING | |
Budget Compliance | |
Introduction | 2.4.1 |
Budget Adoption and Amendments | 2.4.3 |
Budget Process | 2.4.2 |
ACCOUNTING | |
Accounting Principles and Internal Control | |
Fund Types and Accounting Principles | 3.1.7 |
Internal Control | 3.1.3 |
Original Supporting Documentation | 3.1.4 |
Reserved and Unreserved Cash and Investments | 3.4 |
Assets | |
Compensating Balances | 3.2.5 |
Deposits and Investments | 3.2.1 |
Money Held in Trust | 3.2.4 |
Special Assessments | 3.2.7 |
Sweeping Interest and Investment Returns into County General Fund | 3.2.3 |
Capital Assets | |
Capital Assets Management | 3.3.8 |
Liabilities | |
Accounting for LOCAL Program Financing Activities | 3.4.11 |
Bonds and Revenue Warrants | 3.4.3 |
Issuance of Duplicate Instruments | 3.4.5 |
Other Post-Employment Benefits | 3.4.16 |
Pension Liabilities | 3.4.13 |
Refunding Debt | 3.4.14 |
Solid Waste Utilities: Closure and Postclosure Cost Accounting | 3.4.10 |
Revenues | |
Cash Receipting | 3.6.1 |
County Auditor's Operation and Maintenance Fund (Recording Fees) | 3.6.2 |
County Treasurer's Operation and Maintenance Fund | 3.6.3 |
Criminal Justice Funding | 3.6.4 |
Diversion of County Road Property Tax | 3.6.5 |
Electronic Funds Transfer - Receipts | 3.6.6 |
Liquor Tax and Profits - Two Percent for Substance Abuse Treatment Programs | 3.6.8 |
Prosecuting Attorney's Salaries | 3.6.12 |
Suspense Funds | 3.6.11 |
Utility Tax | 3.6.13 |
Working Advances from Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) | 3.6.10 |
Grants | |
Grants Accounting | 3.7.1 |
Pass-Through Grants | 3.7.2 |
Expenditures | |
Confidential Funds (Drug Buy Money, Investigative Funds) | 3.8.9 |
Electronic Funds Transfer - Disbursements | 3.8.11 |
Employee Travel | 3.8.2 |
Imprest, Petty Cash and Other Revolving Funds | 3.8.8 |
Memberships in Civic and Service Organizations | 3.8.13 |
Mobile Devices | 3.8.3 |
Paths and Trails - Accounting | 3.8.10 |
Purchase Cards | 3.8.4 |
Redeemed Warrants/Cancelled Checks | 3.8.7 |
Unemployment and Deferred Compensation | 3.8.1 |
Use of Payroll and Claims Funds | 3.8.6 |
Voter Registration and Election Costs Allocation | 3.8.12 |
Voucher Certification and Approval | 3.8.5 |
Interfund Activities | |
Interfund Activities Overview | 3.9.8 |
Equipment Rental and Revolving (ER&R) Fund | 3.9.7 |
Loans | 3.9.1 |
Overhead Cost Allocation | 3.9.5 |
Property Transfers | 3.9.2 |
Reimbursements | 3.9.4 |
Utility Surplus Transfers | 3.9.3 |
Compliance | |
Bond Coverage for Public Officials and Employees | 3.10.3 |
County Fair Operations | 3.10.1 |
Limitation of Indebtedness | 3.10.5 |
New Entity Creation and Dissolution Notification | 3.10.6 |
Promotional Hosting | 3.10.7 |
Public Works Records | 3.10.4 |
Reporting Losses of Public Funds or Assets or Other Illegal Activity | 3.10.2 |
Special Topics | |
Transportation Benefit District (TBD) | 3.11.1 |
REPORTING | |
Reporting Principles and Requirements | |
Reporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Cities and Counties | 4.1.5 |
Reporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Special Purpose Districts | 4.1.6 |
Certification | 4.1.3 |
GAAP versus Cash Reporting | 4.1.7 |
Financial Statements | |
Fund Resources and Uses Arising from Cash Transactions (C-4) | 4.3.12 |
Fiduciary Fund Resources and Uses Arising from Cash Transactions (C-5) | 4.3.13 |
Notes to Financial Statements | |
Instructions | 4.6.2 |
Supplementary and Other Information | |
Liabilities (Schedule 09) | 4.8.13 |
Expenditures of Federal Awards (Schedule 16) | 4.8.5 |
SAO Annual Report Schedules | |
Revenues/Expenditures/Expenses (Schedule 01) | 4.8.1 |
Summary of Bank Reconciliation (Schedule 06) | 4.8.17 |
Disbursement Activity (Schedule 07) | 4.8.2 |
Cash Activity (Schedule 11) | 4.8.4 |
Expenditures of State Financial Assistance (Schedule 15) | 4.8.16 |
Public Works (Schedule 17) | 4.8.6 |
Labor Relations Consultant(s) (Schedule 19) | 4.8.7 |
Sales and Use Tax for Public Facilities - Rural Counties (Schedule 20) | 4.8.8 |
Risk Management (Schedule 21) | 4.8.9 |
Assessment Questionnaire (Schedule 22) (Cash) | 4.8.14 |
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BARS Alerts & Overview of Significant Changes
BARS Alerts
Overview of Significant Changes – Applicable to the Reporting Year 2018
BARS Alerts
7/20/2017 | BARS Manual Update - Coding Marijuana Excise Tax Distribution (Cities/Counties Only) |
3/14/2017 | BARS Update - Reporting Court Related Agency Deposits and Remittances (Cities/Counties Only) |
1/4/2017 | BARS Manuals Update - 2017 Filing System Update |
Topic | Reference | Description of Changes |
CHART OF ACCOUNTS | ||
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3132400, Local Infrastructure Financing Tool (LIFT) | Added a new account for revenues from the local sales and use tax dedicated for LIFT projects. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3340370, State Grant from CRAB | The title was changed to Rural Arterial Program (RAP). |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3340372, CRAB Road Arterial – Projects | The title was changed to County Arterial Preservation Project (CAPP). |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 335/336 | The titles for both categories was revised to State Shared Revenues, Entitlements and Impact Payments. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3360425, Foundational Public Health Services | A new account was added for 2017 distributions from the DOH. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3360642, Marijuana Excise Tax Distribution | A new account was added for the distribution of the marijuana excise tax from the State. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3421000, Law Enforcement Services | The definition was expanded to include payments from the WASP for processing the sex and kidnapping offenders’ registration. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3670000, Contributions and Donations from Nongovernmental Sources | The definition was clarified regarding connection fees. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 395, Disposition of Capital Assets | Added a clarification regarding use of the account in the proprietary fund. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 398, Insurance Recoveries | The account was split into two 3981, Insurance Recoveries for cash basis governments and 3985, Insurance Recoveries for GAAP. The split was necessary to accommodate reporting by cash basis proprietary funds since the BARS codes in 370 series are not available to them. The revised account 3981 replaces the original 372 code. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 51530, Legal Services | The account was divided between internal and external legal services. Within each category were created more separate accounts for different specific legal expenditures. The change will allow governments to analyze and compare costs much more effectively. This also aligns accounting records with procedures auditors are required by professional standards to perform on legal liabilities, so it will help make the audit process more efficient. This account will be required for 2018 reporting. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 51770, Unemployment Compensation | Changed references to section of the BARS manual to correctly refer the current title (Payroll Accounting vs. Unemployment and Deferred Compensation). |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 51830, Maintenance/Security/Insurance/Janitorial Services | Clarified the definition regarding property insurance. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 51863, General Grants and Financial Assistance to Other Governments | Revised title to General Grants, Financial Assistance and Other Distributions to Local Governments. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 538, Combined Water/Sewer/Solid Waste Utilities | Revised title and definition to correctly reflect RCW 54.16.300 (i.e., Combined Utilities). |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 562, Public Health | The WA State DOH added additional detail accounts 562.11-562.15 for local governments subject to the DOH’s jurisdiction. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 593, Advance Refunding Escrow | Added to the definition a reminder that this account should be reported also for proprietary funds. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 595, Roads/Streets and Other Infrastructure | Added to the definition a reminder that this account should be reported also for proprietary funds. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 599, Payments to Refunded Debt Escrow | Added to the definition a reminder that this account should be reported also for proprietary funds. |
Account Structure | 1.1.2 | The section was revised to discontinue the old terminology regarding the seven-digit account codes (i.e., Prime, BASUB, etc.). The digits are now referred by their location within the code (i.e., first, second, etc.). This change was applied in all places in the BARS manual and the revised sections are not itemized in this listing. |
Revenue/Expenditure Accounts Overview | 1.14.10 | The section was revised to discontinue the old terminology regarding the seven-digit account codes (i.e., Prime, BASUB, etc.). The digits are now referred by their location within the code (i.e., first, second, etc.). |
ACCOUNTING | ||
Diversion of County Road Property Tax | 3.6.5.20 | The BARS previous procedures were revised to better assist compliance with the provisions of the law. |
Payroll Accounting | 3.8.1 | The title was change to Unemployment and DeferredCompensation to better reflect the content of this section. There are no changes in the prescription. |
Loans | A new paragraph (3.9.1.30) was added. The paragraph discusses an issue of incorrectly using its own debt instruments as investments. | |
REPORTING | ||
Reporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Cities and Counties | 4.1.5.10 | The reporting matrix was updated to reflect optional reporting of the new Schedule 06. |
Fiduciary Fund Resources and Uses Arising from Cash Transactions (C-5) | 4.3.13.10, 4.3.13.40, 4.3.13.70 | Adding a requirement for counties to include the special purpose districts on the statement C-5.Also, the format of the statement C-5 was changed. The fiduciary funds should be aggregated according to the fund type (i.e., pension, investment, private-purpose and agency funds plus total column). The instructions and the Online Reporting were updated to incorporate these changes. |
Schedule 01 | 4.8.1.50, 4.8.1.70 | Since a requirement for counties to include the special purpose districts on the statement C-5 was added, Schedule 01 has to include data for these districts.Column 4 – clarified the instruction regarding reporting of revenues and expenses for proprietary funds. |
Schedule 06 | Schedule 06, Summary of Bank Reconciliation was added. This Schedule is optional for cities and counties for reporting bank activities in the fiscal year 2017. Governments choosing to prepare Schedule 06 do not have to prepare neither Schedule 07 nor 11 for the 2017 fiscal year. Schedule 06 will be required schedule for reporting year ending December 31, 2018. | |
Schedule 07 | Removing the requirement for this schedule, if the city/county choose to prepare Schedule 06. | |
Schedule 09 | Added 4.8.13.71 and 4.8.13.81 regarding reporting loans with forgiveness clause. | |
Schedule 11 | Removing the requirement for this schedule, if the city/county choose to prepare Schedule 06. | |
Note X – Pension Plans | Additional column for employers’ contributions was added to the matrix. | |
Note X – Other Disclosures | Added instructions for reporting special items, contingencies and litigations and government combinations. | |
ONLINE FILING | ||
Annual Street/Road Finance Report | The pilot project with DOT has been extended another year to explore the possibility of an alternative reporting process to the existing Street/Road Finance Report required to filed to DOT for cities and counties. | |
Fund Balance – Beginning Check | A minimum variance requirement within $1,000 added summarizing Schedule 01 funds reported. |
BARS Alerts
4/21/2016 | BARS Manual Update - Revisions to the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA/Schedule 16) |
4/5/2016 | BARS Codes for a New Distribution |
2/10/2016 | BARS Manual Update - Cash BARS only - Pension Accounting and Reporting |
2/10/2016 | BARS Manual Update - GAAP BARS only - Pension Liabilities |
2/8/2016 | BARS Manuals Update - BARS Coding of Miscellaneous Revenue |
Topic | Reference | Description of Changes |
CHART OF ACCOUNTS | ||
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 31720, Leasehold Excise Tax | The definition was updated to clarify that this tax can be imposed only by counties and cities and other governments receiving their share of this tax should code the proceeds to 337, Local Grants, Entitlements and Other Payments. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 31740, Timber Excise Tax | The definition was updated to clarify that this tax can be imposed only by counties and other governments receiving their share of this tax should code the proceeds to 337, Local Grants, Entitlements and Other Payments. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 32180, Concessions | A new account was added. This account should be used for revenues from awarding rights to use government’s property. Previously these proceeds were comingled with proceeds from an actual sales and coded to account 36280, Concession Proceeds and 36290, Other Rents, Leases and Concession Proceeds. Proceeds from governments own sales should be accounted for in 34170, Sales of Merchandise. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 32191, Franchise Fees and Royalties | This account was updated to include royalty payments. Previously the royalties were accounted for in 36290, Other Rents, Leases and Concession Proceeds (e.g., property rights, etc.), 34790, Other Fees (e.g., publication royalties, etc.). |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 36210, 36230, 36240, 36250, 36260 | These accounts were combined into 36200, Rents and Leases. This account is designed only for rentals and leases which are not a part of the governments’ principal operation [those rents and leases should be accounted in the appropriate 340s service and sales accounts]. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 36280, Concession Proceeds | Account removed. For revenues from awarding rights to use government’s property use 32180, Concessions. Proceeds from governments own sales should be accounted for in 34170, Sales of Merchandise. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 362900, Other Rents, Leases and Concession Charges | Account removed. The revenues should be accounted in 36200, Rents and Leases, 32191, Franchise Fees and Royalties 34170, Sales of Merchandise or other appropriate account. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 36850, Special Assessment- Operating | The title was changed to Special Assessment – Service and the definition was updated. If the service assessments are related to the governments’ principal operations, they should be coded in 340s as proceeds from sales of goods and services. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 36910, Sale of Scrap and Junk | The title was changed to Sale of Surplus and a definition was added. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 36950, Special Items | The account changed to account 385, Special/Extraordinary Items to better reflect the substance of the transaction [i.e., special items should not be classified as revenue] The account can be also used for extraordinary items, and the title was adjusted to reflect this. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 379, Capital Contributions | The account was removed since the capital contribution category is not applicable to cash basis governments. System development fees should be accounted for in 367, Contributions and Donations from Nongovernmental Sources unless the related costs of the physical connections, etc. are reported as current period expense – then the systems development fees should be reported as operating revenue (340s). |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 380, Nonrevenues |
|
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 51170, Lobbying Activities | New account. The lobbying services were excluded from account 51120, Advisory Services and are now reported separately.[Lobbying expenditures are subject to specific compliance and reporting requirements, so governments need to separately track them. Also, the separation will allow cross-checking figure against PDC filings.] |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 531, Storm Drainage Utilities | The account description was revised to ensure that this account is used only when a local government has a separate utility for storm drainage. The storm drainage projects that are an integral part of streets and roads should be accounted with transportation codes which are generally accounted for in governmental funds. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 580, Nonexpenditures |
|
ACCOUNTING | ||
Deposits and Investments | 3.2.1 | Updated content to focus on an overview of requirements for deposits and investments and refer to the Office of State Treasurer’s Guide to Public Funds Investing for Local Governments publication for details. |
Pension Liabilities | 3.4.13.30 | The Cash-Basis Pension - Illustration 1 spreadsheet has been updated with the 2016 PEFI collective pension amounts. |
REPORTING | ||
Fund Resources and Uses Arising from Cash Transactions (C-4) | 4.3.12 | The titles of subcategories were revised and the two sections below revenues and expenditures were rearranged to provide greater clarity and state-wide comparability. Also, a link was added to the checklist for preparation of financial reports. |
Note X – Pension Plans | The pension note has been updated for the second year of pension reporting. | |
Liabilities (Schedule 09) | 4.8.13.110 | Added requirement for cities and counties to provide a BARS code for redemption and specific ID Numbers of debt related to streets/roads to accommodate the DOT Annual Street/Road Finance Report. |
Assessment Questionnaire (Schedule 22) | For fiscal year 2016, all diking/drainage districts, cemetery districts, mosquito/pest/weed districts, TV reception districts and water conservancy boards are required to submit the Schedule 22. | |
ONLINE FILING | ||
Annual Street/Road Finance Report | Steps added as a pilot project exploring an alternative to the DOT Annual Street/Road Finance Report. |
BARS Alerts
12/23/2015 | BARS Manuals Update - 2016 Filing System Update |
10/05/2015 | BARS Manual Update - GAAP Cities, Counties and Special Purpose Districts - Upcoming Changes |
9/30/2015 | BARS Manuals Update - Cities and Counties Only - Cash Basis and GAAP - Marijuana Enforcement Code |
3/11/2015 | BARS Manuals Update - Cash BARS Only - Reserved and Unreserved Cash and Investments |
1/6/2015 | BARS Manuals Update - Online Filing System Update |
Wisconsin Gaap Manual
Topic | Reference | Description of Changes |
CHART OF ACCOUNTS | ||
The new chart of accounts is an interactive application. To see accounts applicable to your government choose an appropriate government type. | ||
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 3132100 | The account title was changed to Public Transportation Systems. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 3322100 | The account Equitable Sharing of Federally Forfeited Property was removed. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 3350301 | The account LEOFF Special Funding was added. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 3360641 | The account Marijuana Enforcement was added. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 3451100 | The detailed codes listed in the 3451100, Soil and Water Conservation Services are optional and not required to be reported on the Schedule 01. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 3573900 | The account Miscellaneous District/Municipal Court Cost Recoupment was removed. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 3688000 | The account Deferred Assessment was removed. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 5010000 | The account Depreciation was added. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 51860 | The account 51860 [Risk Management] was changed to 519; account 51920 [Judgements and Settlement] became 51861, account 51970 [Jobbing and Contacting] became 51862; added account 51863 [General Grants and Financial Assistance to Other Governments]. |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Account | 5510000 | The account 55920 [Public Housing] was moved to 5510000 [Public Housing Services]. |
Object Codes | 00 | The object 00 was updated to include account 501[Depreciation] and exclude account 508 [Ending Balances]. |
ACCOUNTING | ||
Cash Receipting | 3.6.1.50 | Added new section discussing requirements when a local government receives payments through third party vendors. |
Electronic Fund Transfer | 3.6 | The section was divided into two sections: one for receipts (3.6.6) and other for disbursements (3.8.11). |
Voucher Certification and Approval | 3.8.5 | Added checks and electronic payments. |
Grants – Accounting | 3.7.1 | This section was updated for the New Uniform Guidance. The following subsections contain new information: 3.7.1.10, .40, .50 and .60. |
Pension Liabilities | 3.4.13 | This is a new section discussing the new reporting requirements regarding governments’ pension liabilities. The guideline contains a link to an Excel spreadsheet with calculation instructions. |
Transportation Benefit Districts (TBD) | 3.11.1.120 | This new section discusses accounting and reporting requirements for cities and counties assuming the TBDs as authorized by the 2015 legislation. |
Refunding Debt | 3.4.14 | This is a new section which discussed refunding debt. The guidelines include coding and reporting the transactions on the Schedule 09. |
Accounting for LOCAL Program Financing Activities | 3.4.11 | This section was revised to provide better guidelines for accounting and reporting of LOCAL program. It does not contain new requirements, only clarifies existing instructions. |
Utility Tax | 3.6.13 | This is a new section discussing accounting and reporting tax on utilities. |
REPORTING | ||
Supplementary and Other Information | Schedules 09 (Liabilities) and 16 (SEFA), if applicable, are required from all local governments; however since they are an integral part of the audit reports they were moved from the SAO Annual Report Schedules category to Supplemental and OtherInformation category to properly align with the audit reports. | |
Revenues/Expenditures/Expense (Schedule 01) | 4.8.1.25 | Local governments completing the Schedule 01 for fiscal years ended on or after December 31, 2015 must ensure the data submitted is accurate. The Online filing system will calculate ending fund balances/net position using government-submitted information. If the SAO calculated ending balances/net position result in a variance from the local government’s submitted ending balances of greater than $1,000, the government will not be able to submit its annual report until corrected. |
Liabilities (Schedule 09) | Schedule 09 debt and liability IDs were changed from categorizing by fund type to categorizing based on obligation type (i.e., general obligations, revenue and other non-G.O. obligations and assessment obligations). The change allows for better alignment of categories with the debt limit calculation and avoids the need to allocate certain liabilities between different IDs in different categories. Since Schedule 09 uses general, revenue and assessment obligations as titles, the re-alignment will also improve the accuracy of this presentation. In addition, several ID numbers were added to facilitate calculation of debt limit and an ID number was also added for pension liabilities (264.30). Please review and update ID numbers. | |
Expenditures of Federal Awards (Schedule 16) | 4.8 | This is a transition year between the requirements of OMB Circular A-133 and the new Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance). This section has been updated for the new Uniform Guidance as it will be applicable for the majority of the BARS users, specifically those entities with a calendar year end. The effective date for the Audit Requirements, which include the SEFA requirements, of the new Uniform Guidance found in Subpart F of 2 CFR 200 is for fiscal years beginning after December 26, 2014. For those entities which the Audit Requirements of the new Uniform Guidance is not effective yet (fiscal years beginning prior to December 26, 2014), we left the references to the OMB Circular A-133 in parenthesis. Click here for the new Uniform Guidance. Also sections 4.8.5.125 and 126 were added and Question 2 was revised.Information for Schedule 16 was updated in the BARS Manual in the fall of 2015; however, several items were inadvertently missed in those updates. The changes, which were put into effect on April 20, 2016.Here are the changes to the SEFA, with corresponding information from the Uniform Guidance:Amounts passed through to subrecipients: Same information, but a location change.(b) Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards. . At a minimum, the schedule must:(4) Include the total amount provided to subrecipients from each Federal program.Change: Therefore, a column is being added to the SEFA and input for these amounts, and the disclosure will not be needed. No additional information is being requested, since the pass-through information was previously reported in the notes.Use of de minimis indirect cost rate: Additional affirmative disclosure by governments.(6) Include notes that describe that significant accounting policies used in preparing the schedule, and note whether or not the non-Federal entity elected to use the 10% de minimis cost rate as covered in § 200.414 Indirect (F&A) costs.Change: The BARS Manual information for the SEFA notes has been updated, along with an instruction stating that it’s not an optional disclosure.Basis of Accountingnote disclosure: (Minor change) Language was added to the sample note to recognize the fact that pre- and post-Uniform Guidance grants may have different bases for recognizing costs (i.e., cost principles). This disclosure will be needed during the transition period when a mixture of pre- and post-Uniform Guidance awards may be shown on the SEFA. |
Risk Management (Schedule 21) | Minor updates to add options and clarify questions encountered in practice. | |
Note X – Debt Service Requirements | The reporting requirements changed from reporting by debt type to reporting principal, interest and total amount. Also, if applicable, local governments are required to provide disclosure regarding their refunding and debt guaranties activities. | |
Note X – Pension Plans | The cash basis local governments are required to report their pension related liabilities in this new note and on their Schedule 09. The BARS manual in accounting part discusses the new pension accounting and reporting. It also contains a link to Excel spreadsheet with examples of calculation of these liabilities. | |
Questionnaire for Small Local Governments Accountability Audits (Schedule 22) | 4.8.14 | The Schedule 22 applicability expanded to include all cash-basis fire districts. Further, all conservation districts filing the Schedule 22 are required to submit the requested Schedule 22 attachments. Schedule 22 introductory training is provided via YouTube video, located here. |
BARS Alerts
Overview of Significant Changes – Applicable to the Reporting Year 2014Topic | Reference | Description of Changes | |
CHART OF ACCOUNTS | |||
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | This Excel book contains three spreadsheets. The spreadsheets are different versions of the same BARS chart:Above&Prescribed contains all prescribed accounts (including grants) and summary accounts which are above prescribed level and indicate categories of revenues and expenditures;Prescribed_Only contains all prescribed accounts (including grants) but excludes summary accounts;Prescribed_NoFederal_Grants contains only prescribed accounts and exclude federal grants.These spreadsheets are just examples of different versions serving different purposes. You may reformat the chart of accounts similarly to meet your needs; however when reporting only valid prescribed accounts applicable to your entity type should be included on Schedule 01. | ||
Account Structure | 1.1.2.30 | TheLocal Option field was removed from prescribed BARS code structure. The local governments can add additional digits for their internal purposes in any part of their BARS code; however when reporting to the SAO they have to follow the seven digit code requirement. The entire section was adjusted to reflect this update. The change does not have any impact on BARS coding since the removed fields were never prescribed. | |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | In previous versions we indicated unprescribed digit with an X. In the current chart of accounts the X was replaced with 0 which, except for two instances where is specifically designated (general fund number and object code for fund balances, nonexpenditures, and transfers-out) indicates unprescribed digit. | ||
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | Coding federal (direct - 331/indirect - 333), ARRA (direct - 3391/indirect - 3392), capital (direct – 374/indirect – 375) grants was simplified. The local governments have to use only first two digits of the CFDA for BARS coding. The BARS code still has to be seven digits long; however the last two digits are not prescribed. | ||
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3360104 | New account 3360104, Court Cost Reimbursement – Children’s Attorney was added. | |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 3695000 | Added a new account for special items. | |
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense Accounts | 562 | The description of the account 562, Public Health Services contains the link to the DOH listing of elements/subelements for this BARS code. The supplement is no longer listed with BARS manuals. | |
Object Codes | The object codes are not listed together with revenues and expenditures. They are now listed in a separate section. | ||
BUDGETING | |||
The entire budgeting part of manual was replaced with new one. There are NO changes in requirements. The revision included removal of outdated or unnecessary prescriptions and adding statutory requirements for special purpose districts. | |||
ACCOUNTING | |||
Reserved and Unreserved Cash and Investments | 3.1.8 | Added new section discussing how to properly classified beginning and ending cash and investments. There is no substantive change to the classification. The new section provides only an expanded discussion of the classification. The section was added 03/10/2015. | |
Money Held in Trust | 3.2.4 | Updated the discussion of interest on deposits. Clarified the accounting requirements for Superior Court trust funds, emphasizing the need to reconcile accounts monthly. | |
Compensating Balances | 3.2.5 | Clarified the discussion of compensating balances and added informational links to MRSC and GFOA. | |
Accounting for LOCAL Program Financing Activities | 3.4.11 | Added guidelines for how to account for the LOCAL program. | |
Imprest, Petty Cash and Change Funds | 3.8.8.30 | Added that for financial reporting purposes, revolving funds should be reported at their authorized balance in whichever reported fund is predominately served by the account and expenditures should be recorded when submitted for replenishment. This reporting will match the reconciled balance of each revolving fund so long as replenishment is done at fiscal year-end as expected. | |
REPORTING | |||
Reporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Cities and CountiesReporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Special Purpose Districts | 4.1.5.604.1.6.60 | All subsequent discoveries of errors and omissions in the annual report – from the date of original submission up through the end of the audit applicable to that period – are required to be corrected by resubmitting the annual report. For any misstatements discovered during the audit, governments should ensure open communication with the audit team about the correction. Any misstatements discovered after the audit is completed that affect Schedule 01 should be recorded as a prior period adjustment. If misstatements discovered after completion of the audit are material, governments should immediately alert their audit team. | |
GAAP versus Cash Reporting | 4.1.7 | The section discusses advantages and disadvantages of GAAP or cash basis reporting. This information was previously available on our website and now is incorporated into BARS manual. | |
Fund Resources and Uses Arising from Cash Transactions (C-4)Fiduciary Fund Resources and Uses Arising from Cash Transactions (C-5) | 4.3.12.154.3.13.15 | Added a requirement to update incorrect financial statements. | |
Note 1- Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | The note was revised to conform to the reporting and auditing standards for cash basis entities. The local governments are required to follow the new format. This and other notes are available in the Reporting Templates. | ||
Note X-Deposits and Investments | The note was expanded to include deposits and different forms of investments. The local governments are required to follow the new format. This and other notes are available in the Reporting Templates. | ||
Revenue/Expenditure/Expense (Schedule 01) | 4.8.1.50 | In Column 2 added that the government reports only one fund, it should indicate the fund type and use 0XX for the governmental fund and 4XX for the proprietary fund type. | |
Expenditure of Federal Awards and State Financial Assistance (Schedule 16) | 4.8.5 | The Schedule of State Assistance was excluded from the Schedule 16 and it became a separate Schedule 15. There are no changes in the reporting requirements for this Schedule. Adjustments related to split of the previous Schedule 16 into two schedules were carried through the Manual.The federal expenditures should be still reported on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (Schedule 16). In addition to the requirement to submit a data collection form and reporting package to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse, governments are required to submit a copy of the reporting package to each pass-through entity per OMB Circular A-133 section .320 (e), which provides the results of the audit. As a courtesy, the SAO will distribute the reporting package to each pass-through agency listed on the SEFA if you will provide the following contact information:
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Questionnaire for Small Local Governments Accountability Audits (Schedule 22) | 4.8.14 | The Schedule 22 was updated for 2015 to: improve specific targeting of questions to entities based on government type, eliminate questions that would normally be marked, “NA,” due to a previous question’s response, improve the ability to navigate the Schedule 22 and allow entities to upload requested supplemental attachments directly to the Schedule 22, when requested, within the online filing application. Additionally, our Office now offers guidance to all Schedule 22 questions, which is available by following the link located in the BARS manual Schedule 22 instructions. | |
APPENDICES | |||
Glossary of Accounting Terms | Removed the outdated glossary of accounting terms. | ||
Overview of Significant Changes | The listing of changes focuses only on significant ones; revisions which do not have a substantive impact on accounting or reporting are not listed. |