Welcome to our resource library. If you are needing assistance on government accounting standards, internal controls, or need the link to government authoritative websites, this is the place for you.
COSO
Government Auditing Standards
aka Yellow Book
These publications and videos cover various topics ranging from internal control, accounting software, fraud prevention and detection, budgeting, etc. Please, feel free to download any of these reports.
If you have any questions, please contact us at david@dfarnsworthcpa.com or call us at (408) 780-2236.
CATCH FRAUD BEFORE IT VICTIMIZES YOU AND YOUR REPUTATION!
As Board members and management you assume a heavy burden to ensure that all financial practices of the District/Agency are running properly and managed responsibly.
FRAUD PREVENTION A PRACTICAL GUIDE
There is a much information written to protect your District from fraud, but much of the information is technical, too long to read and not practical for smaller local governments with limited budgets. Thankfully in my reading and studying fraud prevention, I came...
FRAUD PREVENTION STRATEGIES
Who do you think is responsible for preventing and detecting fraud? Is it the external auditor, company management, board of directors, or outside specialists and how does the financial statement audit play a part in the fraud. The answer may surprise you! External...
GUARD YOURSELF FROM WASTE, ABUSE, AND FRAUD
How does an organization protect itself from wasteful, abusive, or fraudulent financial and operational practices? Local governments are especially susceptible to these types of practices. Unfortunately, many smaller local governments have no plan in place to protect...
FRAUD FIGHTING STRATEGIES
Have you ever thought, can fraud happen to me or if it does, what should I do? You’re not alone.
Fraud Prevention Package
NEW TO MANAGEMENT? WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED!
Recommendations to Transparency in Government
THE JOURNEY TO TRANSPARENCY
Recommendations to Transparency in Government
REMEMBER TO KEEP AN EYE ON FRAUD AND ABUSE
With the turmoil and scare of COVID 19, many organizations reduced office staff. Because of the reduction in staff, local governments may want to re-assess checks and balances. For example, If your office staff are reduced from 4 to 1 and that one staff member is now...
THE POWER OF AN INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEM
How is a green book powerful? If you stick around you'll see how the 'Green Book' can be a powerful tool for any local government and its implementation could save you thousands of dollars over many years. Yes, chances are thousands of dollars will be saved! The...
HAS YOUR BOARD MEETING BEEN CANCELED?
What is your Organization planning as a backup or contingency plan if you are not allowed to leave your personal residence? For some of my clients no board meetings mean the District won't pay any bills, approve prior minute meetings, start new projects, etc. I've...
CAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS PARTAKE IN THE CORONAVIRUS STIMULUS BILL?
Recently, Congress passed the Covid-19 stimulus bill. There are many pieces of the bill, and we'll only cover the State, Tribal, and Local Government segment of the bill. To give an overview, the bill's name is the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act...
WHAT IS THE SINGLE AUDIT AND WILL IT EVER APPLY TO ME?
Is your local government or nonprofit organization looking for grant awards to assist in a new program or project? The federal government grants monies to many local governments and nonprofits. Many of these grants are given to local governments and nonprofit...
GRANT MANAGEMENT, ARE YOU READY?
Managing grants from federal agencies is crucial especially if you expend $750K or more in one given year. Are there basic principles to follow when managing grants? Thankfully there is. Generally speaking grant managers should be knowledgeable in the grant's specific...
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT, IS IT BENEFICIAL? YOU BE THE JUDGE.
Imagine going back to 2008 and the economy is at its worst state since the great depression. You are managing a local government and property taxes don't come it as expected or the charges for services are down by 25%. What would you do? How would you manage the...
A SIMPLE WAY TO PREPARE THE GASB 68 PENSION ACCOUNTING ENTRY
Is there an easier way to prepare your Government's GASB 68 accounting entry? Generally speaking, there are four accounts when an accountant enters the accounting entry related to pensions. These include: Net pension liability Deferred outflows of accounting Deferred...
THE 5 MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN A FINANCIAL AUDIT AND HOW TO FIX THEM
Expedite the audit process to finish within 90 days and reduce your proposed adjusting journal entries
GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTING AND WHY ITS DIFFERENT
If you are a general manager or work in an accounting department of a local government (i.e. city, county, JPA, special district) and had previously worked at a private business, you may have questions why the financial statements are different. I will endeavor to...
PENSIONS AND REPORTING: A GENERAL OVERVIEW
Pensions for state and local governments are a benefit to attract industry workers and others to work and have a career in government. There are many types of pensions and this month's topic will revolve around the accounting and reporting of cost-sharing employer...