Expenditure Accounting:

Governmental Funds

Chapter 6
 Learning Objectives
 Define expenditures
 Understand & apply expenditure recognition guidance
 Understand multiple classifications of expenditures
 Account for typical debt service & capital outlay
expenditures
 Understand accounting for capital leases, claims &
judgments, compensated absences, pension, and OPEB
expenditures
 Account for changes in expenditure accounting principles
and error corrections
 Expenditures
 Foundation of planning, authorizing,
controlling, & evaluating activities of
governmental funds
 Measure of fund liabilities incurred (or
expendable financial resources used)
 Typically classified as:
– Current Operations
– Capital outlay
– Debt service
When to recognize expenditures
In the accounting period in which the fund
liability is incurred except for unmatured
principal and interest on long-term
liabilities, which should be recognized
when due
 Expenditure / Expense Comparison

Expenditures Expenses
Salaries, Salaries,
Operating supplies, supplies,
Chapter 6
utilities, etc. utilities, etc.
Capital Outlay Acquisition Depreciation
Chapter 7

Debt Service Principal &

Interest
Chapter 8 interest
Expenditure / Expense Comparison
Expenditure Recognition Options
 Interest on long-term debt maturing in following
fiscal year may be accrued in current fiscal year
if due “early” (not more than one month) in next
year
 Inventory expenditures may be recognized using
either purchases method or consumption
method
 Prepayment expenditures [prepaid items or
“prepayals”] may be allocated over benefited
period or accounted for only in current period
 Intergovernmental:
The “New” Expenditure Classification
 Frequently incurred in conjunction with
state revenue-sharing, grant, and other
financial assistance programs with local
governments
 Classification indicates that expenditure
was not for state-level operations
Timing of Expenditure Recognition
When Acquired
 Salaries and wages
 Contractual services
 Capital outlay
 Interest on fund liabilities
 Materials and supplies (Purchases Method)
 Insurance (Purchases Method)
 Rent (Purchases Method)
Timing of Expenditure Recognition
When Used
 Materials and supplies (Consumption
Method)
 Insurance (Consumption Method)
 Rent (Consumption Method)
Timing of Expenditure Recognition
When Due
 Interest on GLTL
 GLTL principal retirement
 Claims and judgments
 Compensated absences
 Pensions
 Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB)
Accounting for Personal Services
 Ensure that the persons is a bona fide
employees
 Determine rates of pay
 Establish amounts earned by employees
 Record payments made to employees
 Charge expenditures to proper accounts
 Pension Cost Expenditures
 Payments to pension plans, even self-
administered ones, qualify as expenditures
 Most governments use either:
– Defined contribution pension plan
– Defined benefit contribution plan
 Defined Contribution Plan
 Government obligation is limited to
making contributions required by the plan
 Retiree benefits dependent upon
contributions made and investment
performance of the plan
 Government should recognize expenditure
in year employees earned benefit –
underpayment is not liability of fund but a
noncurrent liability
 Defined Benefit Plan
 Government obligation is to pay certain amount
to retirees each period
 Annual required contribution (ARC) based on
many actuarial assumptions:
– Years of service
– Inflation and pay rates over time
– Employee turnover
– Retiree life spans & mortality rates
– Plan funding, investment returns, & administrative
costs
Accounting for Materials & Supplies
When accounting for materials & supplies
inventory, it is good to keep two things mind:
 In the consumption method, the expenditures
account reports the amount of supplies used –
that is why changes in inventory level are
charged to that account
 In the purchases method, the expenditures
account reports the amount of supplies
purchased – that is why changes in inventory
are charged to OFS (increases) and (OFU)
decreases
 Inventory Accounting Methods
Consumption Method – Perpetual System
Purchased Inventory
Vouchers Payable
Issued Expenditures
Inventory
Year-end Over Inventory
Expenditures
Short Expenditures
Inventory
 Inventory Accounting Methods
Consumption Method – Periodic System
Purchased Expenditures
Vouchers Payable
Issued No entry

Year-end Increase Inventory

Expenditures
Decrease Expenditures
Inventory
 Inventory Accounting Methods
Purchases Method
Purchased Expenditures
Vouchers Payable
Issued No entry

Year-end Increase Inventory

OFS – Inventory Increase
Decrease OFU – Inventory Decrease
Inventory
 Use of the Reserve account
 Fund Balance Reserved for Inventory
optional for Consumption Method – may
have no reserve, partial reserve, or fully
reserve
 Fund Balance Reserved for Inventory
required for Purchases Method – must be
fully reserved
 Why is a Reserve for Inventory
account not always required?
 Consumption Method: supplies represent
an expendable current financial resource –
it can be used to finance future
“expenditures” for supplies
 Purchases method: already charged to
expenditures, so it does not represent a
current financial resource
 Accounting for Prepayments
 Known as prepaid expenses in the private
sector or in Proprietary Funds
 Examples include:
– Insurance
– Rent
 Accounting for Prepayments: Options

May use either consumption method or

purchases method
 Under consumption method, balance in
account reported as an asset
 Under purchases method, balance is not
reported as an asset since amount has
already been charged to expenditures
 Capital Leases
GASB requirements have adapted private sector
requirements for accounting for capital lease:
 Assets under capital lease are recorded in
General Capital Assets with corresponding entry
in General Long-term Liabilities
 Asset is recorded in appropriate fund as capital
outlay expenditure with corresponding Other
Financing Source for in-substance debt issued to
acquire asset
 Use of Capital Projects Fund for acquisition or
Debt Service Fund for paying principal and
interest not required
Review of Private Sector Entries
Also used in Proprietary Funds

Inception of the Lease

Equipment Under Capital Lease 900
Obligations Under Capital Lease 860
Cash 40

Annual Lease Obligation

Obligations Under Capital Lease 13
Interest Expense 5
Cash 18
Contrast with Governmental Fund
 Adjusting Entries
 Rules are not the same as revenue adjusting
entries – availability criterion does not apply
 General rule
– Record expenditure and related liability, unless the
liability is noncurrent
– Alternate view: if expenditure is normally paid from
current financial resources, it should be recorded with
related fund liability – applies primarily to accruals for
debt service, claims and judgments, accrued vacation
and sick leave, and pension plan contributions
 Encumbrances
 Review outstanding encumbrances at
year-end to determine if the order has
been filled
 Failure to properly record expenditures
could be
– Unintentional – invoices and receiving reports
not received in a timely manner at year-end
– Intentional – department trying to avoid going
over budget for the year
 Long-Term Debt Service
 Debt service (principal and interest) normally not
accrued at year-end
 Governments may accrue if two conditions are
met:
– Debt service payment occurs early (not more than 30
days) in the next fiscal year; and
– Dedicated financial resources must have been
provided in current fiscal year
 If accrual is made, it must be for full amount
 Short-Term Debt Service
 Governmental funds may borrow on short-
term basis using:
– Tax anticipation notes (TANs)
– Revenue anticipation notes (RANs)
– Bond anticipation notes (BANs)
– Other similar short-term notes
 Recorded as fund liabilities
 Accrue interest at year-end
 Claims & Judgments
 Employment – workers compensation or
unemployment claims
 Contractual actions – claims for delays or
inadequate specifications
 Actions of governmental personnel – medical
malpractice, damage caused by government-
owned equipment, or improper police arrest
 Government properties – claims related to
personal injuries & property damage
 May be difficult to estimate
ultimate liability
 Unreasonably high claims
 Time between occurrence and filing
 Time between filing and settlement and
payment
 GASB Standards
 Claims against the government are
contingencies – rules of FASBS #5 have been
adapted
 Liability is recorded if:
– It is probable that an asset has been impaired or a
liability has been incurred (as of date of financial
statements)
– Amount can be reasonably estimated
 If criteria not met, outstanding claims are
disclosed in the notes
 FASBS #5 Criteria Are Met
 Amount calculated reported as fund
liability if amount is payable from
expendable current financial resources –
amount would include legal & other
related costs and the settled or
adjudicated amount, net of any insurance
recoveries
 Any remaining liability would be recorded
as a General Long-Term Liability
 Insurance
 In governmental funds, insurance claims
recorded as Other Financing Source (or, possibly
as an extraordinary item)
 If insurance settlement is delayed, reservation of
fund balance would be necessary to indicate that
settlement receivable is not available for
expenditure
 If insurance settlement cannot be reasonably
estimated, no receivable or OFS recognized until
estimate can be made
 Self Insurance / No Insurance
 Governments self-insured because of
escalating insurance rates – generally pay
for all claims up to a certain amount
 Alternative is no insurance – establish
significant reserves to handle claims
 Both choices may use umbrella policies to
cover catastrophic losses
 Compensated Absences
 Vacation & similar compensated absences
 Sick leave & similar payments
 Vacation Leave
Must accrue a liability when both conditions
are met:
 Employees’ right to receive compensation
for future absences are attributable to
serviced already rendered; AND
 It is probable that the employer will
compensate the employees through paid
time off or with cash payments at
termination or retirement
 Sick Leave
 Expenditures of the year(s) in which the
employees are ill
 Accrued only if it is probable that the
employees will be paid upon retirement or
termination
 Compensated Absences Accrual Rules

 Liabilities are accrued at current salary levels

 For vacation leave, accrual may be capped by
amount that may be carried forward at end of
current year
 Sick leave capped by amount that will be paid at
retirement or termination
 If not payable from current financial resources,
liability is in General Long-Term Liability list
 Pension / OPEB Contributions
 GASBS #27 provides rules for determining contribution
amounts – requires:
– Use of acceptable actuarial methods in calculating contributions
to defined benefit plan
– Enforce contractual requirements for defined contribution plans
 GASB requires recognition of expenditures and liabilities
in same matter as compensated absences and claims &
judgments
– Amount payable from current financial resources recorded as
fund liability
– Other amounts recorded in General Long-Term Liabilities
 New Requirements for OPEB
Accounting & Reporting
 Published under GASBS #43 and #45 in
2004
 Examples:
– Healthcare insurance
– Vision insurance
– Life insurance
 Requirements are very similar to what is
required for pensions
 Expenditure Reporting:
GAAP vs. Budgetary
 Level of required detail may be different in
budgetary reporting than in GAAP
reporting
 May report at different level of
summarization – may use function for
GAAP reporting but by department for
local use
Change in Accounting Principles
 Expenditure not previously measurable
may now be considered reasonably
estimable
 Change from one acceptable alternative
principle to another
 Change in method of applying a principle
 GASB issues new expenditure recognition
criteria (new standard) that is different
from policy currently in use
 Error Correction:
Same Process as with Revenues
3 step process
1. Recognize the erroneous entry that was
recorded
2. Determine what the correct entry should
be
3. Fix the error by essentially combining
steps 1 & 2
 Error Correction Issues
 If error is caught in same year, fairly
simple process to reverse it and record
correction
 If error was made in a previous year, must
consider if accounts affected have been
closed – may result in a “Correction of
Prior Year Error”
 Classification of Expenditures
 Basic classification is by fund
 Other options include:
– Function or program – Public Safety
– Activity – Police Administration, Crime Control, Traffic
Control, etc.
– Organization unit – Police Department and Fire
Department
– Character – Operating, Capital Outlay, Debt Service
– Object class – Personal Services, Supplies, Land, etc.