Page 31 - Forest Hill FY21 Annual Budget

Fore� Hill I BAsis oF BUDGETING AND AccoUNTING

The accounting and financial reporting treatment applied to a fund is dete1mined by its "measurement
focus."
All governmental funds (i.e., General Fund, Special Revenue funds, tee.) are budgets and accounted for
using a cu1Tent financial resources measurement focus. With this measurement focus, only cu1Tent assets
and cu1Tent liabilities are generally included on the balance sheet. Operating revenues of governmental
funds present increases (revenues and other financing sources) and decreases (expenditures and other
financing uses) in net current assets.

Proprietary fund types, including enterprise funds (i.e., Water and Sewer, Drainage Utility), are accounted
for on a flow of economic resources measurement focus. With this measurement focus, all assets and
liabilities associated with the operation of these funds are included on the balance sheet. Fund equity
(assets net of liabilities) is segregated into invested in capital assets, net of related debt and unrestricted net
asset components. Proprietary fund type operating statements present increases (revenues) and decreases
(expenses) in net assets.

Financial information is presented using the modified accrual basis of accounting for all governmental fund
types and agency funds. Under the modified accrual basis of accounting, revenues are recognized when
susceptible to accrual (when they become both measurable and available). "Measurable" means the amount
of the transaction can be determined, and "available" means the amount is collectible within the cu1Tent
accounting periods, or soon enough thereafter to be used to pay liabilities of the current pe,iod. Ad
volorem, franchise and sales tax revenues are recognized under the susceptible to accrual concept, since
they are both measurable and available within 60 days after year end. Licenses and pennits, charges for
services (except for water and sewer billings), fines and forfeitures, and miscellaneous revenues are
recorded as revenues when received in cash because they are generally not measurable until actually
received. Expenditures are recorded when the related fund liability is incu1Ted. Interest on general long­
tern1 debt is recorded as a fund liability when due or when amount have been accumulate in the debt service
fund for payments to be made early in the following years.

The accrual basis of accounting is used in Proprietary Fund types, i.e., Enterprise Funds for financial
reporting purposes. Under the full accrual basis of accounting, revenues and expenses are identified with a
specific pe,iod of time, and are recorded as incurred, without regard to the date of receipt or payment of
cash. For example, water and wastewater service charges are customarily recognized as revenues when
billed, rather then at the time when the actual payment of the bill is received, in contrast to license and
permit fees, which are recognized as revenues when payment is actually received in cash. This method of
accounting is used for financial repo11ing purpose in the City's comprehensive annual financial report;
however, for budget presentation purposes, working capital is recognized as fund balance. Working capital,
rather than unrestricted net assets, is used to represent fund balance in Enterprise Funds (which is similar to
using the modified accrual basis). Under the working capital approach, depreciation expense is not
budgeted, and capital outlay and debt service principal are budgeted as expenses. Working capital is
generally defined as the difference between cu1Tent assets (e.g., cash and receivables, etc.) and cu1Tent
liabilities ( e.g., accounts payable), and provides a more thorough analysis of proprietary fund reserves for
budget purposes than does the presentation of net assets. In addition, budgeting capital outlay as an expense
for budgetary purposes allows the proposed capital purchases to be reviewed and authorized by City
Council.

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