The basis of accounting under which revenues are recorded when earned and expenditures are recorded as soon as they result in liabilities for benefits received.
What is the accrual basis?
100
Authorizations granted by a legislative body to incur liabilities for purposes specified in the Appropriation Act.
What are appropriations?
100
Loans made by one fund to another.
What are interfund loans?
100
Being obliged to explain one's actions, to justify what one does; the requirement for government to answer to its citizenry—to justify the raising of public resources and expenditure of those resources. Also, in the GASB's view, the obligation to report whether the government operated within appropriate legal constraints; whether resources were used efficiently, economically, and effectively; whether current-year revenues were sufficient to pay for the services provided in the current year; and whether the burden for services previously provided will be shifted to future taxpayers.
What is accountability?
100
A fund created to account for all resources to be used for the construction or acquisition of designated capital assets by a government except those financed by proprietary or fiduciary funds.
What is a capital projects fund?
200
Funds consisting of resources received and held by the government as an agent for others; for example, taxes collected and held by a municipality for a school district.
What is an agency fund?
200
Accounts used to record the estimated amount of purchase orders, contracts, or salary commitments chargeable to an appropriation. The account is credited when goods or services are received and the actual expenditure of the appropriation is known.
What is encumbrances?
200
Governmental-type funds used to account for public-purpose trusts for which the earnings are expendable for a specified purpose, but the principal amount is not expendable (i.e., an endowment).
What is a permanent fund?
200
Category of the basic financial statements that assist in assessing fiscal accountability.
What are fund financial statements?
200
Roads, bridges, curbs and gutters, streets, sidewalks, drainage systems, and lighting systems installed for the common good.
What are infrastructure assets?
300
A fund established to finance and account for the payment of interest and principal on all tax-supported debt, serial and term, including that payable from special assessments.
What is a debt service fund?
300
A legally mandated addition to a tax on the day it became delinquent (generally, the day after the day the tax is due).
What is a penalty?
300
Taxes remaining unpaid on and after the date on which a penalty for nonpayment is attached.
What are delinquent taxes?
300
The body of accounting and financial reporting standards, conventions, and practices that have authoritative support from standards-setting bodies such as the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or for which a degree of consensus exists among accounting professionals at a given point in time.
What are GAAP?
300
An approach that allows the government to elect not to depreciate certain eligible infrastructure assets provided certain requirements are met.
What is the modified approach?
400
A fund established to finance and account for the acquisition, operation, and maintenance of governmental facilities and services that are entirely or predominantly self-supporting by user charges; or for when the governing body of the government has decided periodic determination of revenues earned, expenses incurred, and/or net income is appropriate.
What is an enterprise fund?
400
Unusual and infrequent material gains or losses.
What are extraordinary items?
400
Notes (sometimes called warrants) issued in anticipation of collection of taxes usually retirable only from tax collections and frequently only from the proceeds of the tax levy whose collection they anticipate.
What are tax amticipation notes?
400
A government's annual report that contains three sections—introductory, financial, and statistical.
What is a CAFR?
400
A significant, unexpected decline in the service utility of a capital asset.
What is asset impairment?
500
A fund used to account for all transactions of a government that are not accounted for in another fund.
What is a general fund?
500
Amounts of financial resources estimated to be disbursed or accrued during a period by a governmental or similar type fund for transfer to other funds.
What are estimated other financing sources?
500
A method of recording supplies as inventory when purchased and as expenditures when used or consumed. The alternative method is called the purchases method.
What is the consumption method?
500
Current-period financial position and budgetary compliance reported in fund-type financial statements of governments. See also Financial Accountability.
What is fiscal accountability?
500
A compulsory levy made against certain properties to defray part or all of the cost of a specific improvement or service that is presumed to be a general benefit to the public and of special benefit to such properties.