New Accounting Rules For Special Assessments

In 1979, the National Council on Governmental Accounting\u27s Statement One eliminated several inconsistencies in governmental accounting. However, accounting for special assessments was never fully resolved. After several revisions, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued Statement 6 in January 1987. Assessments typically are divided into those providing capital improvements and those providing services. The new accounting and financial reporting requirements include: 1. special assessments for operating services provided to the public, 2. accounting for debt service for which no government has an obligation in an agency fund, and 3. reporting a direct capital expenditure or a transfer to a capital projects fund if an improvement is financed with existing resources. The accounting and financial reporting standards of Statement 6 are effective for periods beginning after June 15, 1987. The Statement also discusses reporting for services that are financed in whole or in part by special assessments paid by the property owners receiving those services

Interviewing the Client

This paper examines an assignment where students taking either an introductory auditing students or an accounting communications course interview a client to gain an understanding of internal control and the interview process. Students document the results of the interview in a memorandum. The paper provides detailed information regarding the design and implementation of a portion of the internal control system. The three main objectives of the assignment are 1) to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate, develop, and enhance their communication skills; 2) to convey a realistic picture of the accounting environment; and 3) to familiarize students with a typical responsibility of entry-level accountants

Multinational Firms and the Factor Intensity of Trade

In studying the impact of direct investment on the amount, direction, and composition of international trade we have found that the multinational firm fits uncomfortably into the usual theory of trade and capital movements. We attempt here to introduce the fact of the existence of multinational firms into the explanation of trade flows and particularly into the long-running debate over the relations among factor abundance, factor prices and trade.