On June 30, 1999 the GASB passed statement number 34. Statement 34 establishes new accounting requirements for state and local governments that are scheduled to begin on June 15, 2002. There are three phases scheduled for the implementation of statement 34, each depending on the size of the government. The largest governments must meet the requirement first while the smaller governments have more time to comply with the statement. Statement 34 will improve the governmental accounting system in many ways. First, statement 34 will …showed first 75 words of 759 total…

…showed last 75 words of 759 total…a good idea of the financial position a government is in. Secondly, the financial reports will be more accurate. Since the full accrual method will be used, governments will report all revenues they have earned. Finally, it will be easier to determine if government money is being spent properly. The new fund system will provide specific information about where money is being spent. Statement 34 will be a considerable improvement for state and local governmental accounting.