Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - History

History

The National Committee on Municipal Accounting (NCMA) was formed in 1934 by the Government Financial Officers Association to create accounting standards. As a result of its work, the 'Principles of Municipal Accounting', the predecessor to the CAFR, was created. The successor to the NCMA, the National Council on Governmental Accounting (NCGA), issued 'Governmental Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting', which is the basis of the format for the current standard. This document, known as the "Blue Book", and its successors documented the CAFR accounting structure and provided standardization and example documents. By 1946, the various levels of government—federal, state, local and municipal—each began producing a CAFR to catalog an accurate picture of institutional funds, enterprise or financial holdings, assets and total investment incomes for those government and nongovernmental entities using the report. This measure is above and beyond the budget process and replaced what was regularly an "off-the-books" practice called the "general fixed-asset account group". General Purpose government "budget" reports did not reflect accounting of this financial data, only reporting on the budget or "rainy day" funds or pension fund investments. By the 1970s, the CAFR became the nationwide paradigm for local government accounting.

The resulting CAFR is presented to the GFOA, which conducts each year a review of applicant local government CAFRs and upon review awards their Certificate of Achievement Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting to those local governments that are in compliance with their CAFR accounting standards of preparation. Presently, accounting principles for government entities are set by transmittal letters issued to local governments by the GASB.