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Bond debt service fund

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Budgetary accounting for regular serial bond debt service funds differs somewhat from that for deferred serial bond or term bond debt service funds. Explain these differences.

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Solution Summary

The solution examines bond debt service funds. The differences between deferred serial bond and bond debt service funds are discussed.

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A major goal of governmental financial reporting is assessing financial performance, that is, how well the government is doing with the money entrusted to it. From the standpoint of making judgments about the performance of government funds and government finance, the financial reports are a good place to start. These reports can provide a considerable amount of the information for gauging financial compliance, success, and health. Governmental and nonprofit accounting both use the concept of fund accounting. In fund accounting, the entity is divided into subsets or "funds" each with its own self-balancing set of accounts. Even though GASB Statement #34 will dramatically change the reporting format, the concept of fund accounting will remain the key difference between governmental and private sector accounting. A look at the various types of funds can lead to a better understanding of the impact they have on accounting disciplines. The funds are grouped into three fund types: governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary. There are also account groups, but account groups are not funds because they do not have transactions in the ordinary course of business. Instead, they are holding places for items such as fixed assets and long-term debt.

Our focus is on one example of a governmental fund called a debt service fund. Codification section 1300.104a(4) defines a debt service as a fund to account for the accumulation of resources for, and the payment of, general long-term principal and interest. Debt service funds are used for the accumulation of monies to make required payments on principal and interest for such liabilities as bonds and capital lease payments. General long-term liabilities are those that arise from activities of Governmental funds and that are not accounted for as fund liabilities of a proprietary or fiduciary fund. General long-term liabilities are reported in the governmental activities column of the government-wide statement of net assets, but are not reported as liabilities of governmental funds. Governmental fund types account for only short-term liabilities to be paid from fund assets. The proceeds of long-term debt issues may be placed in a governmental fund, but the long-term liability must be recorded in the governmental activities at the government-wide level. The Reporting Long-Term Liabilities principal states that long-term liabilities to be serviced from the revenues of a proprietary fund should be accounted for by the proprietary fund along with service of such debt. However, ...

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