Acc. Government and NFP Organization

As an investor in local government instruments of debt, one needs to know the meaning
of CAFR and its contribution to maintaining fiscal transparency. The transparency is for both the
local government in their financial market and the investors. The comprehensive annual
report CAFR consists of a combination of financial reports produced by the local government,
and the state entities as a way of complying with the Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The
GASB equally serves as an oversight in making sure there is compliance and key
communication of any new updates or changes that have taken place in the methods of reporting
fiscal information (City of Baltimore, 2018). The independent auditor will take part in
auditing the CAFR information that has been created by either the local or state government. The
following are some of the fundamental fiscal documents that need to be created by the CAFR.
They include:

1. The Net position Statement.
2. Statement of Activities
3. Fund Financial Statements.
4. Reconciliations both in the balance sheet and books of account.
5. The information on revenue and expenditures.
6. The various notes which are a part of the financial statements.
   In general, the RIS consists of the places after the notes in the financial documents. Some
   examples of Required Supplementary Information (RSI), which need to be a part of the CAFR,
   include the following:
7. The decision of the management discussion and analysis.

BALANCE SHEET 3

2. A comparison of the budget schedules which are not a part of the various fiscal
   statements.
3. Trends of historical data that are found within specific years and are a section of the
   defined benefit employees retirement system.
4. The various presentations which are needed for the entity risk pools.
5. The disclosures that are needed by the government, which equally take advantage of the
   modification approaches of accounting.

BALANCE SHEET 4

References

City of Baltimore (2018). Baltimore City Department of Finance. Documents and Reports.
Baltimore City Annual Financial Reports/Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports
(CAFR). Retrieved February 11, 2018 from:
https://finance.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/finance_baltimorecity_gov/attachment
s/BC-CAFR%202016%20072317_0.pdf