The Governmental Accounting Standards Board recognizes the ACFR as the official annual report of the government. Advantages of preparing an ACFR are:
•An ACFR goes beyond the minimum requirements of GAAP to provide additional information of great practical benefit to financial statement users, such as trend and demographic information and an overview of the government and its operations that highlights key financial developments of the current year.
•The financial statements, supporting schedules, statistical tables and narrative explanations required for a Certificate ensure that all fiscal data are presented that are needed by those with an interest in the financial affairs of the County.
•An ACFR demonstrates a government’s professionalism to citizens, colleagues, and industrial prospects.
•An ACFR meets the requirements of SEC Rule 15C2-12 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for municipal bond disclosure, which require an annual update of the financial information and operating data included in the final official bond offering statement.
