GFOA Publishes Accounting for Capital Assets: A Guide for State and Local Governments

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Brochure (includes order form)

204 pages
Softbound
Written by Stephen J. Gauthier, Director, GFOA Technical Services Center, and author of Governmental Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting, known as the “Blue Book”

Capital assets typically constitute the largest single item on a state or local government’s statement of net assets, not to mention the many similar items that a typical government does not capitalize, but still needs to control. The Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) much anticipated new book release, Accounting for Capital Assets: A Guide for State and Local Governments, offers clear and straightforward guidance to public-sector accounting professionals who must con-front the practical challenges of accounting for capital assets and similar items on a day-to-day basis.

Accounting for Capital Assets: A Guide for State and Local Governments should prove an invaluable resource. The book includes 10 chapters that cover the gamut of capital asset-related issues:

 
  • Capital Assets: Definition, Accounting Function, Types, and Basic Information Requirements
  • Basic Accounting
  • Major Asset Classes
  • Capitalizable Costs
  • Valuation of Capital Assets for Financial Reporting Purposes
  • Impairments
  • Depreciation
  • Financial Statement Presentation and Disclosure
  • System Design and Policies
  • Inventorying

Each chapter is immediately followed by a handy “chapter in brief” summary and a series of multiple-choice questions (with answers and explanations provided in an appendix). The book also provides an extensive set of sample journal entries illustrating a wide range of situations, from transactions with outside parties to internal activity within the primary government. Readers also can take advantage of a detailed index, which makes access to exactly the right information both quick and easy, as well as of a full glossary.