Course Information
Governmental Accounting - Basic
Course Description
An introductory course covering the fundamental principles and practices of governmental accounting, including fund accounting, budgetary reporting, and basic financial statement preparation.
Course Objectives
Objectives
1. Understand the unique characteristics of governmental accounting versus commercial accounting.
2. Identify and describe the major fund types used in governmental accounting.
3. Prepare basic governmental fund financial statements.
Outline
Part 1: Introduction to Governmental Accounting
1.a: Overview of the governmental environment
1.b: Key differences from commercial accounting
1.c: Regulatory framework (GASB, GAAP)
Part 2: Fund Accounting Fundamentals
2.a: The fund concept and fund types
2.b: Governmental funds (General, Special Revenue, Capital Projects, Debt Service, Permanent)
2.c: Proprietary funds (Enterprise, Internal Service)
2.d: Fiduciary funds
*Exercise: Classifying transactions by fund type
Part 3: Budgetary Accounting
3.a: Budget types and legal requirements
3.b: Recording budgetary entries
3.c: Encumbrance accounting
*Exercise: Budget vs. actual analysis
Part 4: Basic Financial Statements
4.a: Government-wide financial statements
4.b: Fund financial statements
4.c: Notes and required supplementary information
*Exercise: Preparing basic fund financial statements
Part 5: Wrap-up and Q&A
Prerequisites
None
Entry-level accountants, new government finance staff, and professionals transitioning to governmental accounting
Instructors
Anthony M. Cervini, CPA, CFE, is a principal at Sikich and serves as the firm’s Local Government Audit Leader. Since joining Sikich in 2005, Anthony has led engagement teams for audits of governmental entities, delivering expert guidance in governmental accounting, auditing, financial reporting, and internal controls.
Anthony is a recognized instructor in the field, having led numerous courses on governmental accounting, auditing, financial reporting, and internal controls across the country.
He is an active member of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Special Review Committee and the Illinois CPA Society’s Government Report Review Committee.
A principal at Sikich, Matt Geerdes, CPA, MBA, is a public accounting leader with over 24 years of experience providing auditing and consulting services. Matt works closely with entities in the government and not-for-profit sectors, including municipalities, state agencies and state universities, community colleges, school districts, special districts, and educational foundations. He regularly serves as a subject-matter expert on specific accounting topics pertaining to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board, authoring technical whitepapers and accounting memos, instructing educational courses on accounting and auditing topics, communications with standard setters and speaking at industry events across the country.
Before joining Sikich, Matt spent years providing and leading public sector audit and consulting engagements at a large public accounting firm.