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NEW GAAP BARS guidance: Contingencies and litigations

March 21, 2019

The 2019 Budgeting, Accounting and Reporting System (BARS) update for entities that report using generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) has a new section on accounting for “contingencies and litigations,” and we encourage you to check it out. It includes a comprehensive chart that will help financial statement preparers more quickly assess potential accounting and disclosure requirements. It also includes guidance on how to handle expected insurance recoveries related to a contingent liability.

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New resource identifies best practices for small and attractive assets

October 24, 2018

BBB. Recently, the Performance Center provided several resources on accounting for capital assets to help local governments with financial reporting. Another group of assets, which fall below a government’s capitalization threshold, should also be considered when establishing and evaluating asset policies and other internal controls. In Washington, we frequently refer to these as “small and attractive assets,” but they these could be described using different terminology.

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Know what to look for to prevent disbursement fraud

October 9, 2018

Fraudulent disbursements are the most common form of asset misappropriation. This type of disbursement occurs when an employee uses their position to make payment for an inappropriate purpose. They are on-book fraud schemes, which means that money in the form of checks leaves the entity fraudulently, but is recorded on the books and leaves an audit trail. In this way, entities can become victims of fraud, even when no cash is involved.

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New resource identifies best practices for small and attractive assets

May 29, 2018

Recently, the Performance Center provided several resources on accounting for capital assets to help local governments with financial reporting. Another group of assets, which fall below a government’s capitalization threshold, should also be considered when establishing and evaluating asset policies and other internal controls. In Washington, we frequently refer to these as “small and attractive assets,” but they these could be described using different terminology. For example, the Government Finance Officers Association refers to them as “controlled capital-type items” in its best practice guidance.

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