Accountants' Handbook, Volume Two, Special Industries and Special Topics, 12th Edition

Chapter 32

Federal Government Accounting, Budgeting, and Auditing

Segments of this chapter are adapted in whole or in part from material contained in three books also written by Kearney & Company and published by John Wiley & Sons. These books are: Federal Accounting Handbook, 2nd ed. (2006); Federal Government Auditing (2005): and OMB Circular A-123 and Sarbanes-Oxley (2006). Kearney & Company is a Certified Public Accounting firm located in Alexandria, Virginia, specializing in providing accounting and auditing services to the federal government.

David M. Zavada, CPA, MPA

Partner, Kearney & Company

32.1 Federal Government Organization

32.2 Federal Financial Management

(a) Organizational Roles and Responsibilities Related to Federal Financial Management

(i) U.S. Government Accountability Office

(ii) Office of Management and Budget

(iii) Department of the Treasury

(b) Parallel Accounting Bases: Budgetary and Financial Accounting

(i) Budgetary (Obligations and Cash) Accounting

(ii) Financial (Accrual) Accounting

(iii) Comparing and Contrasting Budgetary and Financial Accounting

32.3 Federal Financial Reporting

(a) Federal Accounting and Reporting Today

(i) Accelerated Reporting Schedule

(ii) Assertions Relating to Internal Control over Financial Reporting

32.4 Federal Budget Process

(a) Federal Budget Defined

(b) Phases of the Budget Cycle

(i) Phase 1: Budget Formulation

(ii) Phase 2: Congressional Action

(iii) Phase 3: Budget Execution

(iv) Phase 4: Review and Audit

32.5 Auditing ...