Accounting and Financial Reporting Flashcards

A DoD agency incurs a new obligation for a one-year service contract. Which type of accounting entry primarily records the legal commitment of funds against the appropriation?

Answer: Budgetary

Budgetary accounting is used to recognize and track the status of budget authority. Incurring an obligation, which is a legal commitment to pay for goods or services, is a key transaction recorded in the budgetary accounts to show that funds are no longer available for new commitments. Proprietary accounting focuses on the financial position (assets, liabilities, expenses) and uses an accrual basis.

An auditor reviewing a DoD Component's Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) would expect to find a reconciliation between which two key financial amounts?

Answer: Budgetary resources and the status of those resources.

The primary purpose of the Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) is to provide information on how budgetary resources were made available and their status at the end of the period. It presents the key equation: Total Budgetary Resources equals the Total Status of Budgetary Resources (e.g., obligated, unobligated).

What is the primary purpose of the U.S. Standard General Ledger (USSGL) within the Department of Defense?

Answer: To provide a uniform chart of accounts and technical guidance for standardized financial reporting.

The USSGL provides a uniform chart of accounts and technical guidance for standardizing federal agency accounting. This ensures consistency and supports the preparation of standard external reports for central agencies like the Treasury Department and OMB. It integrates both budgetary and proprietary accounts, rather than tracking them separately.

Under the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA), the head of a DoD agency must provide an annual statement of assurance. This assurance primarily addresses the effectiveness of the agency's:

Answer: Internal controls and financial management systems.

The Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA) requires agency heads to annually evaluate and report on the effectiveness of their internal accounting and administrative controls. The resulting Statement of Assurance reports whether the agency's controls provide reasonable assurance that operations are effective and efficient, reporting is reliable, and laws are followed.

In September, the final month of the fiscal year, a DoD depot completes repairs on a naval vessel. The Navy does not pay the invoice from the depot's working capital fund until October of the next fiscal year. According to the full accrual basis of accounting, in which fiscal year should the Navy recognize the expense for the repairs?

Answer: The fiscal year the repair work was performed.

The accrual basis of accounting, which is required for federal agencies, recognizes transactions or events when they occur, regardless of when cash is exchanged. Therefore, the expense is recognized in the fiscal year the services were received (September), not when the payment was made (October).

Which of the following was a primary driver for the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990, leading to the requirement for federal agencies like the DoD to produce auditable annual financial statements?

Answer: Concerns about a lack of accountability and reliable financial information for managing federal government operations.

The CFO Act of 1990 was enacted to address widespread problems of fraud, waste, and mismanagement by improving federal financial management. Its goal was to ensure the production of complete, reliable, and timely financial information for decision-making and accountability, which included the key requirement for agencies to prepare and have audited annual financial statements.