BARS Alerts
| BARS Manual PDF | PDF of the Cash BARS 2022 |
| 02/07/2023 | Opioid Settlement Update |
| 12/17/2022 | Annual update, see changes in table below |
Overview of Changes – Applicable to the Reporting Year 2022
| Topic | Reference | Description of Changes |
| Chart of Account | ||
| BARS Account Export | 512.50 (Municipal Court Expenses) | 512.50 (Municipal Court Expense) – Retired see 512.51 and 512.52 |
| 512.51 (Non-Contracted Court) | 512.51 New Code – This code is to be used for municipal governments that provide their own court services. | |
| BARS Account Export | 512.52 (Contracted Courts) | 512.52 New Code – This code is to be used when a municipal government contracts out their court services and should also be used by governments providing the court services to another municipality. |
| BARS Account Export | 54P (Transportation) | Transportation codes are restricted to governmental funds (Exceptions are codes 542.65, 547.10, 546.00, 547.20) |
| BARS Account Export | 341.81 (Data/Word Processing, Printing, Duplication & IT services) | 341.81 (Data/Word Processing, Printing, Duplication & IT services) Allowed for Fire Districts that provide IT services to other Fire Districts. |
| BARS Account Export | 518.61 (Judgments & Settlements) | 518.61 (Judgments & Settlements) Restricted to fund types 100, 200, 300, 500, 700. Only to be used by general purpose governments. |
| BARS Account Export | 333.45.30 (Federal Indirect Award from Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)) | 333.45.30 New Code – This code is to be used for federal indirect awards from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). |
| BARS Account Export | 331.45.30 (Federal Direct Award from Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)) | 331.45.30 New Code – This code is to be used for federal direct awards from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). |
| BARS Account Export | Added instructions and a new resource "Codes to Funds" | Added instructions for chart of accounts export. All codes from the Chart of Accounts as of November 30th are included in the resource with the allowable fund types indicated. |
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Budgeting |
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| Budget Adoption and Amendments | 2.4.3 | 2.4.3 Removed statement that this guidance applies only to cities and counties since it applies to all government types. |
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Accounting |
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| Original Supporting Documentation | 3.1.4 | 3.1.4 Clarified guidance on electronic documentation and digital signatures. |
| Fund Types & Accounting Principles | 3.1.7 | 3.1.7.40 – Clarified how to account for non-cash transactions and receipting by a third party for the benefit of the government. 3.1.7.50 – Clarified which transactions can be reported in Permanent Funds. |
| Leases and Installment Purchases | 3.4.1 | 3.4.1 Leases – New section for the leases standard |
| Intergovernmental and Forgivable Loans | 3.4.7 | 3.4.7 Intergovernmental and Forgivable Loans – Moved accounting for forgivable loans out of the Schedule 09 instructions and added information on intergovernmental loans. |
| Accounting for LOCAL Program Financing Activities | 3.4.11 | 3.4.11.30 – Added that deposits of LOCAL program resources into bank accounts besides LGIP still must be reported. |
| Pension Liabilities | 3.4.13 | 3.4.13 Updates, changes, and clarifications for reporting pensions made throughout. |
| Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) | 3.4.16 | 3.4.16 Updates, changes, and clarifications for reporting other postemployment benefits made throughout. |
| Federal Awards - Accounting | 3.7.1 | 3.7.1 Updates, changes, and clarifications for reporting federal awards made throughout (annual updates). |
| Use of Payroll and Claims Funds | 3.8.6 | 3.8.6.30 – Added information on registered warrants issued by counties. |
| Imprest, Petty Cash and Other Revolving Funds | 3.8.8 | 3.8.8.20 – Added a new section, bullet 6, for debit and ATM card use. |
| Interfund Loans | 3.9.1 | 3.9.1.10 – Added when interfund loans could be used and requirements for interfund loans from the General Fund. 3.9.1.31 – Added information on negative fund balances and the accounting for those balances. 3.9.1.32 – Added information on when interfund payments become interfund loans. |
| Limitation of Indebtedness | 3.10.5 | 3.10.5.60 – Changed capital leases to installment purchases 3.10.5.70 – Added leases to the obligations that do not constitute debt for debt limitation. |
| Promotional Hosting | 3.10.7 | Added public facility districts to governments that can participate in promotional hosting. |
| Reporting | ||
| Reporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Cities and Counties | 4.1.5 | Removed Schedule 19 from the list of required schedules. |
| Reporting Requirements and Filing Instructions for Special Purpose Districts | 4.1.6 | Removed Schedule 19 from the list of required schedules. |
| Determining Fiduciary Activities to be Reported in Custodial Funds | 4.3.14 | 4.3.14 Added determinations for Flexible Savings (FSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), both when a government controls the asset and when the government does not. |
| Sales and Use Tax for Public Facilities – Rural Counties (Schedule 20) | 4.8.8 | 4.8.8 Added an example of the new online filing template for Schedule 20. |
| Expenditures of Federal Awards (Schedule 16) | 4.14.5 | 4.14.5 Updates, changes, and clarifications for reporting federal awards made throughout (annual updates). |
| Schedule of Long-term Liabilities (Schedule 09) | 4.14.13 | 4.14.13 Removed information on forgivable loans. It was moved to the new Intergovernmental and Forgivable Loans section. Added Schedule 09 lease reporting ID#s. |
| Note X – Budget Compliance | Note X – Budget Compliance | Added information for reporting biennial budgets. |
| Note X – COVID-19 | Note X – COVID-19 | Removed the requirements for all governments to report this note. |
| Note X – Fiduciary Activitites | Note X – Fiduciary Activitites | Removed. |
| Note X – Going Concern | Note X – Going Concern | Added instructions for when to use each part of the note. |
| Note X – Leases (Lessees) | Note X – Leases (Lessees) | New note for disclosing lease liabilities. |
| Note X – Long-term Debt | Note X – Long-term Debt | Added information for conduit debt. |
| Note X – Pension Plans | Note X – Pension Plans | Updates, changes, and clarifications for reporting pensions made throughout. |
| Note X – Telecommunications | Note X – Telecommunications | New note for governments that are providing telecommunications services (wholesale and retail broadband). |
| Online Filing | ||
| Schedule 01 Templates | BARS Reporting Templates | Schedule 01 templates for online filing schedules have been updated. |
| Pension and OPEB Templates | BARS Reporting Templates | Fiscal year 2022 Pension Calculation Worksheet template is available for download. |
| Schedule 19 – Labor Relations | BARS Reporting Templates | Removed due to change in state law. |