BARS Alerts
| BARS Manual PDF | PDF of the GAAP BARS 2022: Part 1 Part 2 |
| 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 |
| BARS Account Export | 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 | 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. |
| Determining Operating/Nonoperating Revenues/Expenses in Proprietary Funds | 1.5 | Added an updated determination spreadsheet for codes as of November 30th. |
| Budgeting | ||
| 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. |
| Accounting | ||
| Fund Types & Accounting Principles | 3.1.1 | 3.1.1.40 – Clarified which transactions can be reported in Permanent Funds. |
| Original Supporting Documentation | 3.1.4 | Clarified guidance on electronic documentation and digital signatures. |
| Leases | 3.4.1 | 3.4.1 Leases – Completely revised the section for the leases standard. |
| Pensions | 3.4.2 | 3.4.2 Updates, changes, and clarifications for reporting pensions made throughout (annual updates). |
| 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. |
| Financial Guarantees and Conduit Debt | 3.4.12 | Added information on conduit debt. |
| Other Postemployment Benefits Plan Schedules | 3.4.17 | 3.4.16 Updates, changes, and clarifications for reporting other postemployment benefits made throughout (annual updates). |
| Classification of Deferred Outflows/Inflows of Resources | 3.5.1 | 3.5.1.40 – Added a definition and more examples for unearned revenue (Liability). 3.5.1.50 – Added additional examples for unearned revenue (deferred inflow) and deferred inflow unavailable revenues. |
| Federal Awards – Accounting (Formerly Grants – 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 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 |
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| GAAP Reporting Requirements | 4.1.1 | 4.1.1 Added clarification to footnote 3 of the reporting entity flowchart. |
| Summary of Reporting Requirements | 4.1.4 | 4.1.4 Removed Schedule 19 from the list of required schedules. |
| Classification of Revenues and Expenses for the Statement of Activities | 4.2.4 | 4.2.4 Added footnote 2 that the government should have a policy to address the assignment of revenues that could be classified under multiple functions. |
| Determining Fiduciary Activities to be Reported in Custodial Funds | 4.3.7 | 4.3.7 Added determinations for Flexible Savings and Health Savings Accounts, both when a government controls the asset and when the government does not. |
| Conversion and Reconciliation between Government-Wide and Fund Financial Statements | 4.4 | 4.4 Corrected the reconciliation and replaced unearned revenue with deferred inflows for unavailable revenues. |
| Required Supplementary Information | 4.7 | 4.7 Created separate pages for each type of RSI. |
| Management's Discussion and Analysis | 4.7.1 | 4.7.1 Moved section from large RSI page. |
| Budgetary Comparisons | 4.7.2 | 4.7.2 Moved section from large RSI page. Added information for reporting biennial budgets. |
| Pension Plan Information | 4.7.3 | 4.7.3 Moved section from large RSI page. |
| Other Postemployment Benefits Plan Schedules | 4.7.4 | 4.7.4 Moved section from large RSI page. |
| Revenue and Claims Development Trend Data (for Public Entity Risk Pools) | 4.7.5 | 4.7.5 Moved section from large RSI page. |
| Infrastructure Condition and Maintenance Data | 4.7.6 | 4.7.6 Moved section from large RSI page. |
| Liabilities (Schedule 09) | 4.8.3 | 4.8.3 Removed information on forgivable loans. It was moved to the new Intergovernmental and Forgivable Loans section. |
| 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. |
| GFOA Financial Reporting Recognition Programs | 4.9 | 4.9 Removed the listing of requirements for the GFOA ACFR certificate. Created a link for accessing the official GFOA website and requirements for the certificate program. |
| Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA/Schedule 16) | 4.14.5 | 4.14.5 Updates, changes, and clarifications for reporting federal awards made throughout (annual updates). |
| Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Added lease disclosures. Created an option for non-state sponsored pension plans. |
| Note X – COVID-19 | Note X – COVID-19 | Removed the requirements for all governments to report this note. |
| 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 and related items. |
| Note X – Leases (Lessors) | Note X – Leases (Lessors) | New note for disclosing lease receivable and related items. |
| Note X – Long Term Debt | Note X – Long Term Debt | Updated conduit debt disclosures. |
| Note X – OPEB Defined Benefit Plan – No Qualifying Trust | Note X – OPEB (No Qualifying Trust) | Updates, changes, and clarifications for disclosing other postemployment benefits made throughout (annual updates). |
| Note X – OPEB Defined Benefit Plan - Qualifying Trust | Note X – OPEB (Qualifying Trust) | Updates, changes, and clarifications for disclosing other postemployment benefits made throughout. |
| Note X – Pension and/or OPEB Plans - Defined Contribution | Note X – Pension/OPEB Defined Contribution | Moved note template from the templates page to the notes section. Updates, changes, and clarifications for disclosing pensions made throughout. |
| Note X – Pension and/or OPEB Plans - Nongovernmental Plans | Note X – Pension/OPEB Non-Governmental | Moved note template from the templates page to the notes section. Updates, changes, and clarifications for disclosing pensions made throughout. |
| Note X – Pensions Defined Benefit Plan (No Qualifying Trust) | Note X – Pensions Defined Benefit Plan (No Qualifying Trust) | Moved note template from the templates page to the notes section. Updates, changes, and clarifications for disclosing pensions made throughout. |
| Note X – Pensions Defined Benefit Plan (Qualifying Trust) | Note X – Pensions Defined Benefit Plan (Qualifying Trust) | Moved note template from the templates page to the notes section. Updates, changes, and clarifications for disclosing pensions made throughout. |
| Note X – Pensions State Sponsored Plans | Note X – Pensions State Sponsored Plans | Moved note template from the templates page to the notes section. Updates, changes, and clarifications for disclosing pensions made throughout (annual updates). |
| Note X – Risk Management | Note X – Risk Management | Removed the outdated Housing Authority Risk Retention Pool (HAARP) disclosure. Housing Authorities should receive an updated disclosure from HAARP. |
| Note X – Telecommunication Services | Note X – Telecommunication Services | Added information for all government types that can provide telecommunications services (Cities/Towns, Counties, Public Utility District, and Port). |
| Online Filing | ||
| Schedule 01 | BARS Reporting Templates | Schedule 01 templates for online filing schedules have been updated. |
| Pension and OPEB Templates | BARS Reporting Templates | Fiscal year 2021 Pension and OPEB templates are available for download |
| Schedule 19 – Labor Relations | BARS Reporting Templates | Removed due to change in state law. |