GAAP and Cash Basis BARS manuals have been updated
The GAAP and Cash Basis BARS manuals have been updated and are available on our website at www.sao.wa.gov.
The GAAP and Cash Basis BARS manuals have been updated and are available on our website at www.sao.wa.gov.
The Budgeting, Accounting, and Reporting System (BARS) roundtables are underway in various locations all over the state. Discussion in these free three hour meetings presented by the State Auditor's Office, includes many topics such as: Information on changes to the BARS manual, a preview of requirements for upcoming GASB standards, demonstration of the Financial Analysis Tool (FIT), and discussion of other valuable resources and trainings free to local governments.
Understanding a government's financial health can be complex.
Local governments have the ability to specify a name brand during their procurement process.
Washington's state and local governments regularly undergo a wide variety of audits with differing objectives.
Does it seem like there's always some new accounting standard that needs to be implemented? That's because there is! The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issues an average of three new accounting standards a year.
Accounting for capital assets is an area of difficulty for many governments. General purpose governments have been reporting infrastructure assets for more than a decade because of Governmental Accounting Standard's Board (GASB) Statement No. 34. This pronouncement required the reporting of many more assets than had been previously reported, including some with their own unique challenges such as roads.
The State Auditor's Office has established a new OPEB web page to help local governments understand and implement GASB Statement No.
We are offering the BARS Roundtable Sessions again this fall. The roundtable discussions are free, three-hour feedback opportunities open to all local governments.
This week, our Office notified local governments across Washington of a modest adjustment to our hourly billing rate that begins next year.