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CAFRPGCFinalPaper.docxRunning Head: SUMMARY OF COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT 1
SUMMARY OF COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT 5
Prince Georges County CAFR
UMGC
ACCT 424
12/2/20
Summary of Prince Georges County CAFR
Introduction
Prince Georges County is the second-largest city in the State of Maryland. The County begins in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from land in Calvert and Charles counties through parliament. The County's name came from Prince George of Denmark, who was the husband of Princess Anne. Prince Georges County is a political section of the State of Maryland, which is under home rule charter. The city is the second largest political section in the State of Maryland. The county was formed in 1696, from land in Calvert and Charles counties through an act of parliament. The name of the county came from Prince George of Denmark, who was the husband of Princess Anne. Every government creates an annual financial report, which must adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which is broken down to other standards such as CAFR. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is a thorough detailed presentation of the state's/county financial condition. This report includes state's/county activities and balances for each year. This document is purposed to show transparency in the use of tax payer's money and provide a detailed accounting to the public of all the expenditures. This report must include basic and more intricate financial reports accompanied by notes and supporting data. The public of a state can follow up on the use of taxpayer's money through this document that enhances transparency in the use of tax (Salter, 2016). This paper aims at summarizing the comprehensive annual financial report for Prince Georges County and its importance to the target audience.
Main Section of the CAFR
Prince George County’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report presented in three sections, Introductory, Financial, and Statistical. In the Introductory paragraph, it includes the List of County Officials, County Executive and Council, Organizational Chart, Certificate of Achievements for Excellence in Financial Reporting, and the Letter of Transmittals. An introductory section's main reason is to provide information better to understand the financial report (PGC CAFR 2019). The financial area involves the Management’s Discussion and Analysis, available financial statements, merging and personal fund financial reports and programs, and the independent auditors’ report. The auditors are responsible for presenting overall opinions regarding prince George's county based on their audit. The auditors' opinion shows that the CAFR presented by this County presents all information required in this document legally. However, the auditor proposes additional supplementary information that will supplement basic financial statements. The management narrative of the financial report follows, highlighting bit by bit. Bhujel (2020) affirms that financial statements are crucial documents in an organization as they help the organization evaluate its performance in different fields. Prince Georges County community will be able to understand the achievements of their County and the failures. By allowing proof of these documents will help them to be able to appreciate the work done through their tax or else protest for the work required and not done.
The Statistical section is unaudited and provides detailed information of the primary government to understand the information in the CAFR indicates regarding the County's financial health in certain areas. The areas include financial treads that help understand how the County's financial performance and wellbeing have changed over time. Revenue capacity showing the most significant local revenue resource, debt capacity offering the affordability of the county levels of outstanding debt, and the ability to issue additional obligations. Demographic and economic information is to demonstrate to depict the environment that supports the County's financial activities. The operating statements are illustrated and relate to the services offered by the County and the actions it performs to its financial reports.
Additionally, the introductory section in George's CAFR explains the County's challenges while executing its duties. The County shows its commitment to providing essential services to its people by focusing on various important sections to the public. The County has launched an initiative, "Economic Development Initiative," to help the County expand its tax base, attract business opportunities, retain existing businesses, and grow job opportunities. Prince Georges County explains how it plans to increase the local economy by implementing various strategies, including extended plans implementation in phases. Also, an extensive budget control system is established that ensures compliance with legal provisions. The County's management is responsible for controlling internal affairs that guarantee that the County's resources are safeguarded from theft, loss, or misappropriation and ensure accurate bookkeeping of all events and financial documents regarding the County.
Fund financial statements include governmental funds, proprietor funds, and fiduciary funds. Fund financial statements present significant funds individually and non-major funds in the aggregate for governmental and proprietor fund types. According to Khalifa and Abdelrahman (2020), the management fund accounts in any organization. These are crucial to realizing the purpose of executing the funds. The various fund statements presented in the CAFR for Prince county show the specific work done using the funds, hence recognizing this County's achievements to the far they are. Government funds focus on the events that produce near-term inflows and outflows of spendable resources. Readers of this document can understand the long-term impact of the near-term financing decisions by comparing statements for governmental funds and governmental activities.
Proprietor funds involved two different types, i.e., enterprise and internal service funds. The organizational fund provides the same information as enterprise type events in the government comprehensive financial reports. Prince County utilizes the corporate fund to credit for stormwater management, garbage, water protection, and restoration. Internal service funds are an accounting device used to accumulate and allocate costs internally for the County. The third type of fund is the Fiduciary fund that helps Prince County account for resources held to benefit parties outside the government. These funds are not available to support the programs of the County; thus, they do not appear in the government's complete financial statements.
The Purpose of a CAFR
The CAFR is vital to local governments and municipalities to determine transparency and accountability within the entity's financial status. Most local or state governments are required to submit a CAFR annually. This report differs from a standard annual report therein; this report includes more details and knowledge. The aim of containing this extra information is to clarify how the taxpayers' money is being spent (Bean-Mellinger, 2019).
The audience of CAFR Report
Prince Georges County CAFR reports to the citizens of its jurisdiction as the primary audience. However, public officials, business owners, government entities, lawmakers, and other interested parties are considered an audience for this report. These people will find the information more useful to their institutions. It will enable them to be able to create robust financial strategies for their businesses and institutions. CAFR report gives a heads up for the institutions to foresee what to expect in the next financial year. Notes to the financial statements provide full understanding to the audience of the government-wide and fund financial statements that give a comprehensive guide to the business institutions on to plan for business operations.
CAFR requires a substantial presence that will capture the attention of its users. The CAFR is used to build confidence in the organization; therefore, its presentation must positively impact the users and create an image of the organizations' actual financial impacts. While presenting this report, have a proper narration to introduce the information. Demonstrate impact by highlighting the achievements of the organization to the audience. Dealing with financial records requires transparency; thus, the presentation must show the transparency in the report. Biancone et al. (2016) assert that the information's expression has to be precise and direct to the point, summarizing main points to avoid boredom in the presentation. An exciting indication can acquire more readers than a cold expression. Therefore, the presenter of CAFR must employ some presentation skills aimed to catch the attention of the present audience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, CAFR reports indicate to citizens and other stakeholders in the County the progress made by the government using the taxpayer's money. The government can show its commitment to its citizens through this report and offer transparency in public resource usage. Thus the creation of this document is paramount to its impact on its users.
References
Bhujel, S. (2020). Role of Financial Statements in Investment Decision Making Process. Journal of Balkumari College, 9(1), 105-108.
Biancone, P., Secinaro, S., & Brescia, V. (2016). The Popular Financial Reporting: Focus on Stakeholders—The first European Experience.2972-2983).
Khalifa, H. M. E., & Abdelrahman, S. M. E. (2020). USES OF PUBLISHED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN FUNDING DECISIONS. International Journal of Research-GRANTHAALAYAH, 8(1), 150-164.
Salter, M. L. (2016). Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
Warzocha, G. (2018). Annual financial statements, the importance of other comprehensive income. Financial Sciences. Nauki o Finansach, 23(2), 90-101.
