The Governmental Accounting Standard Board (GASB), last week introduced the Guide to Implementation of GASB Statement 44 on the Statistical Section. The Guide, developed to assist preparers and auditors implementing the expanded statistical section of state and local government’s comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR), contains 120 questions and answers relevant to important aspects of Statement 44.

“Statement 44 revises the statistical section for the first time in twenty-five years, so governments have been seeking help in adopting the new guidelines,” says GASB project manager David Mead, the principal author of the guide. “The Guide should be valuable not only to general purpose governments, but also to special-purpose governments, such as colleges, utilities, and special districts, for which no specific guidance was previously available.”

Among the important aspects of Statement 44 covered in the Guide to Implementation of GASB Statement 44 on the Statistical Section. are:

• Presenting newly required information, such as net assets, changes in net assets, fund balance and outstanding debt
• Identifying a government’s most significant own-source revenue and its overlapping governments
• Obtaining and reporting demographic and economic information
• Selecting appropriate trend information about government employees, operating indicators and capital assets.

Accompanying the 120 questions and answers are more than 160 illustrations of complete sample statistical sections, alternative formats and optional schedules for nine types of governments, ranging from general purpose local, county and state governments to water, sewer and airport authorities, to library and school districts. The Guide also includes a glossary, topical index and standards section. The Guide can be ordered online ar www.gasb.org or by calling 800-748-0659.