Financial Reports

What is the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report?

Each year all State and local governments prepare a financial report on assets, liabilities, revenues and expenditures in more or less a standardized format that must conform to the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) accounting and financial reporting standards. This financial report is called the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). Most people have heard of the budget, which is the document that plans and authorizes the spending of money. The ACFR describes what actually was spent and the status of assets and liabilities at the end of the fiscal year.

The ACFR:

• Presents a comprehensive picture of a government's financial condition by combining the annual financial reports of all government agencies and universities.
• Presents information on the accrual basis recognizing amounts owed by the government but not paid at the end of the fiscal year, as well as amounts due to the government but not received by the end of the fiscal year.
• Contains information on real property and other fixed assets, long-term obligations or investments held outside the government treasury.
• Includes statistical and some economic data.

Annual Comprehensive Financial Report provide information which is used by investment companies such as Moody's Investors Services and Standard and Poors Corporation to determine the state's fiscal integrity and set bond rates. It includes a comprehensive presentation of the state's financial and operating activities.

Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports: