I Want You to Have it All: Avoiding Common Deficiencies in Financial Reporting

Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting (COA) award recipients adhere to high professional standards that enhance accountability, transparency, and uniformity of financial reporting. All government participating in the program need to be rewarded for their accomplishments and public service. However, all reports are also not perfect and GFOA's COA program exists to provide education and work collaboratively to drive improvement.

GFOA tracks common deficiencies that are noted in the annual comprehensive financial reports submitted to the COA program. This session will highlight common areas for improvement, including errors seen in the reporting of leases, subscription arrangements and restated or adjusted beginning balances. The session will also discuss "asterisk" items that generally prevent an organization from receiving their GFOA award, including errors in calculating the net investment in capital assets and major fund determination.