The main difference between the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and a
corporate report is that a corporate report provides financial statements and the ACFR
provides information that will help the reader understand the financial statements.
The ACFR that I reviewed was from the City of Waltham, from 2019. I thought it would be
interesting to review the ACFR of the city that my husband and I live in, since we constantly
complain about how snow removal is handled and why the streets are never fixed. The main
difference I noticed from the corporate report to the ACFR is the narrative that starts out
about the describing the demographic of the people, the industries and the perspective in
which the reader should take when reading the financials. The other key difference I noticed
is before getting to the basic financials there is a section for Management Discussion and
Analysis that goes over each financial statement and what the reader will find. Both the
Corporate report and the ACFR have the notes to the financial statement but the
Management Discussion and Analysis, helps to provide more information on how to
interpret the notes and financials. Overall, the ACFR provides a new reader like me a better
understanding of the information that is being provided and can be found in both reports,
whereas the corporate report just provides the bare-bones.
OpenGov. (n.d.). Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. Retrieved August 18, 2022,
from
https://stories.opengov.com/az/published/OEWRCB6lz#:~:text=A%20regular%20an
nual%20report%20typically,properly%20understand%20the%20basic%20statements
.
Waltham. (n.d.). Retrieved August 18, 2022, from
https://www.city.waltham.ma.us/sites/g/files/vyhlif6861/f/pages/update_and_certify_
public_and_private_ways_rfb_final_1.pdf
