An Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR), formerly called a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)) is a set of U.S.
government financial statements Government financial statements are annual financial statements or reports for the year. The financial statements, in contrast to budget, present the revenue collected and amounts spent. The government financial statements usually include a stateme ...
comprising the financial report of a state, municipal or other governmental entity that complies with the accounting requirements promulgated by the
Governmental Accounting Standards Board
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the source of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) used by state and local governments in the United States. As with most of the entities involved in creating GAAP in the United Sta ...
(GASB).
The name of the report was changed in 2021 when the Government Finance Officers Association determined that, when spoken, the acronym for "Comprehensive Annual Financial Report" sounded like an offensive slur used in South Africa (see
Kaffir) and decided to change the report's name.
GASB provides standards for the content of an ACFR in its annually updated publication ''Codification of Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards''. The U.S. Federal Government adheres to standards determined by the
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board
The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) is a United States federal advisory committee whose mission is to improve federal financial reporting through issuing federal financial accounting standards and providing guidance after co ...
(FASAB).
An ACFR is compiled by a state, municipal or other governmental accounting staff and audited by an external
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is the national professional organization of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in the United States, with more than 428,000 members in 130 countries. Founded in 1887 as the Americ ...
(AICPA) certified accounting firm utilizing GASB requirements. It is composed of three sections: Introductory, Financial and Statistical.
[2005 Governmental Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting, p. 151] It combines the financial information of
fund accounting
Fund accounting is an accounting system for recording resources whose use has been limited by the donor, grant authority, governing agency, or other individuals or organisations or by law.Leon E. Hay (1980). ''Accounting for Governmental and Nonp ...
and
Enterprise Authorities accounting.
Further reading
* Jonathan Walters
Are Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports Useless? ''
Governing'' (September 2012).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
Accounting in the United States
Government audit
Government finances in the United States
Single Audit
United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles