Cafr Briefing

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Briefing

Brevard Public Schools are located on the Central, East Coast of the State of Florida in Brevard County. Because of the state of the economy severe budget cuts have impacted the way the district spends its funds. The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is the report in which government entities report activities that take place within the funds. This extensive report provides users with a comprehensive look at the government’s activities from both a government-wide and fund perspective. The CAFR consists of three main sections; Introductory section, Financial section, and Statistical section. The Introductory section provides users with a brief overview of the government; how it is organized, and who the key elected officials are. In the Financial section users are made privy to Managements Discussion & Analysis (MD&A), the basic financial statements of the government, notes to those statements, and any other supplementary information related to those statements. Historical data related to the demographics, economy, tax rates, outstanding debt, and other financial supplemental information to the basic financial statements can be found in the statistical section (Copley & Engstrom, 2008).

Government Accounting Versus For Profit Accounting

Among one of the most obvious differences between government accounting and for profit accounting is the focus of expenses and revenues. For profit entities focus their emphasis on increasing cash flows and improving profits; whereas, government and other not for profit entities focus on budgeting to maintain an equal playing field between revenues and expenditures.

Both, government accounting and for profit accounting must abide by standards; however, each has their own standards to abide by. Established in 1984, The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) ensures that government entities were taking accountability for the monies earned and spent during the...