Accounting

CCR Overview:

Graduate students will need to complete an additional project to satisfy the DUES required in graduate level classes. For this class students need to complete a Citizen Centric Report (CCR) which is a relatively new initiative being implemented by the Association of Government Accountants (AGA). Below is an overview from the AGA website pertaining to the CCR Report:

“Many governments struggle to communicate the business of government to residents, particularly when presenting information about how taxpayers' money is allocated and spent. Traditionally, financial information has been presented in forms accessible only to trained accountants—reams of information, which, though vital, have little meaning for the average person.

AGA's Citizen-Centric Government Reporting Initiative is intended to foster innovative means of communication between governments and their citizenry. AGA believes that government financial information should be provided to citizens in forms that are clear and understandable, updated regularly and often, delivered to all, easy to locate, honest in breadth and technically accurate in detail. In fact, as the owners of government, citizens have a right to this information.

AGA's Citizen-Centric Reports detail government finances in a visually appealing, clear and understandable four-page document. The suggested format shows community information—such as population figures, regional characteristics and government goals for the community—on the first page, and the second page presents a performance report on key missions and service. The third page details cost and revenue information, and the fourth looks forward to the year ahead.”

Instructions for Completing the CCR

1. Use Word template, posted on blackboard, as base starting point for completing the project.

2. Research a local government (county, city, village, township, etc.).

a. The local government must NOT already publish a CCR. I am a member of AGA and have access to the list of governments that do so I will know!

b. Governments who do not publish a CCR will have at least a Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) report and government-wide/fund financial statements. Many will have a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). These reports (especially the CAFR) should provide enough information to create a CCR.

c. CCR’s report data from multiple years so at least 2 (3 preferred) years’ worth of data needs to be used/researched (template uses 3 years in performance measurement table).

d. Target measurement data should be available, if not let me know and alternatives can be established.

3. The following documents will need to be turned in by the student to complete the CCR:

a. Completed 4-page template containing information (complete with updated graphics) of the local government researched.

b. A works cited document containing links, references, or any other necessary documentation necessary to adequately describe where research was derived.

c. Any additional documentation to substantiate CCR report (optional).

4. AGA CCR website link showing examples of published CCR’s: