You've heard the old adage that good food comes from quality ingredients. The same could be said about your government's annual report: it's only as good as the data that goes into it. As you prepare to file your annual report this year, remember that there are many consumers of your financial data and its accuracy is important.
Spring is here and so is the annual report filing season. This year's deadline is May 30. Every year, we encourage governments to submit their annual reports on time. Not only does timely filing ensure local governments comply with state law, it demonstrates our shared commitment to accountability and transparency in government.
This year, we bring you a refreshed way to view filing progress across the state. Powered by SAO's Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT), our new infographic updates daily as we approach the deadline.
With the new year comes new annual report filings. Our second quarterly update of the 2020 fiscal year financial data in the Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT) includes more governments so you can see where public money comes from and where it goes.
In this bonus edition of our FIT Data Stories series on COVID-19's effect on our cities and towns' revenues, we use our Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT) to take a deep dive into how the pandemic affected Washington's border towns and special districts. Scroll through our interactive infographic to get a better picture of the pandemic's financial effect on our state.
With new annual report filings from nearly 200 governments across the state since June 30, we're excited to share our first quarterly update of the 2020 fiscal year financial data in the Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT).
2020 was anything but normal, and we can look at the annual reports that Washington's cities and towns recently submitted to see how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their operations. How did the pandemic affect sales tax collections? How did federal funding support our cities and towns as they navigated the economic challenges of the pandemic?
Budgeting and planning season is here for local governments that have a Dec. 31 fiscal year-end. With 2022 on the horizon, some governments might be anticipating increases to certain revenues or planning changes to salaries and benefits. Our Financial Intelligence Tool's (FIT) “Add Projection” feature allows governments to adjust their known or anticipated revenues and expenditures, and then project those amounts into the future. Continue reading to learn how to access this feature and start projecting today.
How to create a projection
Every local government in Washington is legally required to submit an annual financial report to the State Auditor's Office. In turn, SAO is legally required to publish the data from that annual report and make it available to the public. We do this through our online Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT).
Every quarter, we publish an updated snapshot-in-time of the financial data SAO has, which ensures that FIT contains the most recent data for every local government that successfully filed a report.
After hours of time and energy, you've submitted your annual report for fiscal year 2020. Congratulations! Now you may be asking, “Is there anything more I can do?” Our answer is, “Yes!”
Take a look at your data and answer these questions:
Cash is the heartbeat of government operations, especially for smaller cash basis governments. For better or worse, without cash there is no government spending. And without spending, there are no government services. As the old saying goes – cash is king! So how much cash is needed to keep a cash –basis government's operations humming? The proper amount of “cash balance sufficiency” (CBS) for a government depends on each government's spending priorities and what it hopes to accomplish for its citizens.