State and Local Governments: Checklists and Illustrative Financial Statements

Updated as of April 30, 2013, this checklist is designed to assist auditors and preparers with overcoming the complexities of financial statement preparation for state and local governments, and with identifying the applicable reporting requirements you need to know and apply.

This essential practice aid saves you countless research hours and reduces the risk of noncompliance.

Whether you are preparing financial statements or auditing those financial statements, you’ll find the most comprehensive information available, including helpful illustrative financial statements and Auditor’s Reports. This checklist has been fully updated to reflect changes from the ASB Clarity Project, and provides one comprehensive source for the required and recommended U.S. GAAP disclosures for state and local governments.

This practice aid will help you:

• Master the complexities of financial statement preparation for state and local government entities.
• Confirm that all GASB financial statement presentation and disclosure requirements are met.
• Ensure that revisions to Independent Auditor’s Reports are in compliance with the new Clarified Auditing Standards.
• Know when audits of state and local government entities departs from the standard Independent Auditor’s Report.
• Guidance on Emphasis-of Matter and Other-Matter paragraphs in independent auditor’s report of state and local governmental entity audits.
• Understand new guidance for audits performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards (2011 Revision) and OMB Circular A-133.
• Master new guidance for state and local government entity audits subject to the new Group Audits auditing standards –AU-C 600 Group Audits.

In addition, this edition includes authoritative pronouncements issued as of March 31, 2013, including, among others: GASB Statement No. 70, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Nonexchange Financial Guarantees; GASB Statement No. 69, Government Combinations and Disposals of Government Operations; GASB Statement No. 65, Items Previously Reported as Assets and Liabilities; and GASB Statement No. 63, Financial Reporting of Deferred Outflows of Resources, Deferred Inflows of Resources, and Net Position.

Purchasers of the online format can download the checklist content into Microsoft Word for added flexibility.

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