The goals of this course are:

• Explain the differences between for-profit accounting and accounting for governmental and not-for-profit organizations
• Explain why the budget is integrated into governmentatl accounting
• Discuss the accounting rules and standards applicable to accounting for governments and not-for-profit organizations and apply them in assignmed exercises, problems, and cases
• Analyze government financial reports [comprehensive annual finacial reports (CAFRs)] and not-for-profit organizations' financial reports to see whether they form an adequate basis for sound decision making
• Describe federal government accounting and explain the rationale for the movement to standardize it
• Describe and explain the rational for the various types of audits-- financial, compliance, efficiency, and effectiveness-- performed in the governmental sector

Cross Curricular Initiatives:
In addition to these learning objectives, this course also concentrates on UMUC's cross-curriculum initiatives, detailed below, designed to help UMUC students build business skills to enhance their careers and overall effectiveness in their employment.

• Effective writing. There are writing assignments throughout the semester. Those assignments are expected to indicate appropriate professional writing skills. That is, they will be evaluated on the basis of grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and overall sound writing principles. The student should demonstrate effective written communications consistent with a professional business environment.
• Information literacy. Students will be expected to demonstrate proficiency in research activities, using both the library and online sources.
  Globalization. While this course will focus on domestic and national business and management firms, an important outcome will be the realization that the management principles apply to global and multinational organizations.
• Fluency in technology.  The student should demonstrate proficiency in use of the computer for writing tasks (including charts/graphs in written assignments).
• Historical Perspective. Historical development of business management theory provides the student with a context for current practices.
• Civic Responsibility. Positive and negative ethical behavior and role of business organizations in society will be explored in this course.

You are introduced to the theory and procedures of accrual accounting used in for-profit organizations in your first course in accounting principles.  Your exposure to this theory and its procedures continues on into intermediated and advanced acoounting. In this course, however, you meet a different theory of accounting-- namely, fund theory, which is used by governmental and not-for-profit organizations.

The goal of governments and not-for-profit organizations is to maximize benefits other than financial for their designated beneficiaries, for example, residents of a particular political jursidiction or the patients of a voluntary health-care agency.  The particular benefits, such as puclic safety or good health, may be intangible or impossible to quantify to the degree appropriate for accounting measurement.  Therefore, governmental and not-for-profit accounting focuses on stewardship, the responsible transformation of contributed inputs into desired outputs.

To measure the success of its stewards, government budgets are made integral parts of financial statements.  By comparing the budget with the achieved results, citizens can observe whether of not their governmental agents have steered the appropriated resources to their intended ends.

In this course, you will have the opportunity to examine the rationale for and procedures of fund accounting as used by governmental and not-for-profit organizations through reading, discussion, and the solution of assigned exercises and problems.  In addition, you will be exposed to pending changes in GASB's standards.  Also, you will study how not-for-profit organizations account for their activities, assets, and liabilities according to their version of the accrual method.  Finally, you will get a glimpse of the auding of governments.

Two of the educational goals of University of Maryland University College are to develop your global awareness and to increase your use of computer technology.  Therefore, you will be asked to review in a study group, research paper, or other assignment how foreign governments and supranational organizations, such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, account for their operations.  Also, you will be asked to use computer spreadsheets, such as Excel, for you accounting problems.  These are especially applicable to fund accounting because you can arrange related funds and account groups side by side for easier and clearer movement from one fund to antoher.

A = 90-100%; B = 80-89%; C = 70-79%; D = 60-69%; F below 60%

The course grade will be computed on a weighted average of:
 Written Assignment        20%
 Midterm exam              30%
 Homework                  20% 
 Final exam                30%             

The key to success in this course is to keep current in the reading and to do all the assigned homework on a timely basis.  My job is to help you learn the material and pass the course, but if you do not do the work, I cannot help you.  If you do not do the assigned reading and attempt the homework before coming to class, much of what is done in class will be wasted on you.  I cannot make you learn, nor is that my job to do so.  If I do my job well I will have assisted you in the learning process, but the primary responsibility is yours.  Finally, I do not "give" grades to students, nor do I grade the individual student.  I review the work submitted to me and assign a grade solely on the basis of the work I have received

All work submitted, including emails and attachments, must include your Full Name, Course and Section.  Submissions withous this information will not be read or graded.

Take responsibility for Your Learning.

It is very important that students motivate themselves to complete the assigned exercises and problems and to check them carefully against the solutions each week.  Just looking at the question and the solution will not help you learn this material; you must actually work them out for yourself.

Ask questions whenever you don't understand something in your textbook and especially, in the solutions to assigned problems and exercises.

Keep up with your work.  If you fall behind, you will not be able to catch up and it will be difficult to learn all the material.

Before submitting your paper, check the criteria that you have been given carefully.

Base your research paper on a topic relevant to accounting in federal, state, or local governments; domestic or foreign not-for-profit organizations; foreign governments; or supranational organization.  The paper should be from three-to-four pages long and followed by endnotes.  Please follow Modern Language Association (MLA) style rules.  The paper should be single-spaced and he font size should be no less than 10 nor more than 12.  Submit your paper online, specifically as a file using the assignments feature in WebTycho.

The paper will be graded proportionately on the basis of (1) cotent; (2) grammer, spelling, and continuity; (3) use of citations within the paper; and (4) appropriate authoritative sources.  Regarding content, does your paper deal with a significant question in governmental or not-for-profit accounting?  For example, how do the standards proposed by the GASB for governments correspond to those set down by the FASB for not-for-profit organizations?

The content of the paper cannot be communicated without correct grammer and spelling.  Continuity, the easy and logical flow from one idea to another, enable readers to understand the writer's argument.

Citations, correctly presented according to MLA rules, are important to give due credit to the originator of a particlar idea.  Finally, to assure that those you cite are recognized by their peers and not simply people self-publishin their random remarks on the Internet, be sure to use professional literature as your sources of information.  For example, you may want to use the Government Accounting Office's Yellow Book or the Journal of Accountancy published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

SESSION  #                ASSIGNMENTS
1 
Introduction
Chapter 1: Financial Reporting for Governmental and Not-for-Profit Entities  

2
Chapter 2: Principles of Accounting and Financial Reporting for State and Local Government  

3
Chapter 3: Governmental Operating Statement Accounts:
Budgetary Accounting The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

4
Chapter 4: Accounting for Governmental Operating Activities

5
Chapter 5: Accounting for General Capital Assets and Capital projects

6
Chapter 6: Accounting for Long-Term Liabilities and Debt Service

7
Chapter 7: Accounting for the Business-Type Activities of
State and Local Governments

8
Chapter 8: Accounting for Fiduciary Activities

9
Midterm Exam   

10
Chapter 9: Financial Reporting of State and Local
Governments and Globalization

11
Chapter 10: Analysis of Governmental Financial Performance 

12
Chapter 11: Auditing of Governmental and Not-for-Profit
Organizations

13
Chapter 12: Accounting and Reporting for the Federal Government
Chapter 13: Budgeting and Costing of Government Services  

14
Chapter 14: Accounting for Not-for-Profit Organizations
Chapter 15: Not-for-Profit Organizations - Regulatory, Taxation, and Performance Issues

15
Chapter 16: Accounting for Colleges and Universities
Review

16
Final Exam