BARS Reporting Templates

BARS Reporting Templates

The Microsoft Word and Excel templates provided on this page are designed to help local governments with different aspects of their accounting and financial reporting. The templates should be used in conjunction with the appropriate BARS Manuals, which contain additional information and instructions for the preparation of the financial reports.

Visit the BARS and Annual Filing FAQ page for additional resources.

Forms and Other Resources

• Annual Report Submissions Page (Note: Requires SAW login)
• BARS and Annual Report Filing FAQ
• Certification (Note: A digital signature/certification is included as part of the standard Online Filing System steps)
• FY2024 - Educational Service District (ESD) FY2024 Notes to the Financial Statements Template 
• Online Filing Correcting Errors Guide
• Upcoming and current accounting changes flyer (updated March 31, 2025)
• Program Specific Packet for federal awards (updated December 3, 2024)

Schedules

Schedule 01

The BARS codes listed in the templates contain the most commonly used codes. A complete list of BARS codes are available in the Charts of Accounts: GAAP BARS Account Export or Cash BARS Account Export.

Note: We strongly recommend governments download the most up-to-date Schedule 01 template for annual report submissions to ensure coding updates are captured. 

If you need assistance with filing a prior report, please email LGCSFeedback@sao.wa.gov.

• Air Pollution (Cash – Governmental) (Cash – Proprietary) (GAAP – Governmental) (GAAP – Proprietary)
• Area Agency on Aging (Cash) (GAAP)
• Behavioral Health (Cash) (GAAP)
• Cemetery District (Cash)
• Conservation District (Cash)
• Diking/Drainage District (Cash)
• Economic/Industrial Development (Cash – Governmental) (Cash – Proprietary) (GAAP – Governmental) (GAAP – Proprietary)
• Emergency Management Services (Cash – Governmental) (Cash – Proprietary) (GAAP – Governmental) (GAAP – Proprietary)
• Fire Protection District (Cash) 
• Flood Control District (Cash)
• Health District (Cash) (GAAP)
• Hospital District (Cash) (GAAP)
• Housing Authority (Cash) (GAAP)
• Insurance Pools/Risk Management (GAAP)
• Irrigation and Reclamation District (Cash) (GAAP)
• Library District (Cash) (GAAP)
• Local/Regional Trauma Care Council (Cash)
• Mosquito/Pest/Weed District (Cash)
• Park and Recreation District (Cash) (GAAP)
• Port/Airport (Cash) (GAAP)
• Public Development Authority (Cash – Governmental) (Cash – Proprietary) (GAAP – Governmental) (GAAP – Proprietary)
• Public Facilities District (Cash – Governmental) (Cash – Proprietary) (GAAP – Governmental) (GAAP – Proprietary)
• Public Utility District (GAAP)
• Regional Planning Council (Cash – Governmental) (Cash – Proprietary) (GAAP – Governmental) (GAAP – Proprietary)
• Stadium Authority (GAAP)
• Transportation Authority (Cash) (GAAP)
• Transportation Benefit District (Cash) (GAAP)
• TV Reception District (Cash)
• Water Conservancy Board (Cash)
• Water/Sewer District (Cash) (GAAP)
• No Activity (Cash – Governmental) (Cash – Proprietary) (GAAP – Governmental) (GAAP – Proprietary)

Other Schedules

• 06 – Summary of Bank Reconciliation (County Cash Basis and City Cash Basis)
• 17 – Public Works (County Version) Note: No template is available for Cities, since the Schedule is completed in the filing system.
• 20 – Sales and Use Tax for Public Facilities (Rural Counties)
• 21 – Risk Management

Schedules Designed for Online Filing:

The following are current templates used for online filing. During the filing process users will have an opportunity to print/save a final version of the schedules in the format prescribed in the BARS Manuals.

Select prior-year templates (including pension/OPEB) can be found here.

• 09 – Liabilities
• 15 – Schedule of State Financial Assistance
• 16 (FY2020 reporting & later) – Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) now with a COVID-19 expenditures field!
• 16 Notes – Notes to the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards
  Non-schools: required addendum to Schedule 16 – Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA). Note: Schools should use the template provided by OSPI.
  • Cash – Notes to the SEFA
  • GAAP – Notes to the SEFA
• 22 – Schedule 22 is a Web-based form and is available within the Online Filing application (portal); login required.
  For additional information/assistance, email LGCSFeedback@sao.wa.gov.

Miscellaneous Templates

• New Entity Creation Notification
• Entity Dissolution Notification

Pension/OPEB Templates for Fiscal Year 2024

Cash basis entities

• (Cash) Pension Worksheet

GAAP basis entities

• (GAAP) Pension Worksheet
• GAAP RSI:
  • (GAAP) RSI for State Sponsored Plans
  • (GAAP) RSI for Single Employers (Qualifying Trust)
  • (GAAP) RSI for Single Employer (No Qualifying Trust)
  • (GAAP) RSI OPEB (No Trust)
  • (GAAP) RSI OPEB (Qualifying Trust)

Pension/OPEB Templates for Fiscal Year 2019-2023

• See the Prior-Year Templates page.