Document Type

Honors Project

First Advisor

Dr. Arthur Gumenik

Degree Award Date

Spring 2003

Keywords

GASB Statement 34, New Requirements, Infrastructure Asset Capitalization

Disciplines

Accounting | Finance and Financial Management

Abstract

GASB Statement 34 was issued in October of 1999. Its main purpose was to provide clearer financial statements and to make them more reliable for users of the financial statements. I decided to research this statement to get a better understanding of GASB, as well as learn a little more about why statements are issued and how they are implemented. I chose Statement 34 because it was recent and it had major implications on governmental financial reporting.

First, I researched some articles published by various accounting journals to gain an understanding of the statement and to learn what it was about. The statement deals with numerous issues, but I decided to focus on the new infrastructure requirements. The articles helped me understand what the new requirements were and what it meant for different government units. Second, I went to the source itself and studied Statement 34 that was published in the Journal of Accountancy. The statement provided a more in-depth look into the requirements of Statement 34. In order to learn GASB's reasoning behind issuing Statement 34, I looked at Appendix A and B of the statement. This provided a lot of useful, reliable information regarding Statement 34.

Lastly, I conducted 5 interviews with CPA's and government officials. This helped understand the statement from a hands-on perspective. These interviews provided helpful insight into the statement and how officials plan to implement it. I gained a lot of knowledge through this project and I feel much more informed after completing it.

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