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COST OF IMPLEMENTATION <br /> lw.. <br /> It is unclear as of this date whether the proposed UCOA is intended to replace the 2011 Uniform Accounting System <br /> Manuals for Cities, Counties, and Other Reporting Entities (all of which are dated as of August 9, 2010) or whether the <br /> proposed UCOA is intended to operate as an "overlay" to those manuals. The answer to that question will have a <br /> significant impact to units of state and local government, both operationally as well as from a cost perspective. <br /> As noted elsewhere in this document, there is also the issue of monthly reporting versus year-end reporting and the <br /> challenges presented both by the frequency of reporting as well as the reconciliation (or lack thereof) of the monthly <br /> information to the year-end data. <br /> It is our expectation that since the year-end reporting will presumably be prepared in conformity with generally <br /> accepted accounting principles and therefore be "reconcilable" with the local government's audited financial <br /> statements,the issues with the year-end reporting will generally be limited to the following three major categories: <br /> 1. The level of detail required for certain objects of expenditures (i.e. contractual services and <br /> travel expenses) is far greater than the level of detail previously reported either in the audited financial <br /> statements or in the Annual Financial Report (AFR) required pursuant to the provisions of Section 218.32(1)(a), <br /> Florida Statutes; <br /> 2. Similar to item 1, it is our understanding that units of state and local government will now be required to report <br /> information at a much higher level of detail for each individual fund. In the past, information reported in the AFR <br /> was reported by fund type and information in the "basic financial statements" produced by units of government <br /> for the purpose of annual audit were only segregated by fund for the "major fund" (as that term is defined in <br /> GASB Statement Number 34 Basic Financial Statements-and Management's Discussion and Analysis for State <br /> and Local Governments) with all "non-major" funds combined into one column for financial reporting purposes. <br /> While many units of government participate in the Government Finance Officers Association's "Certificate of <br /> Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting" Program, which requires the presentation of combining and <br /> individual fund level financial statements and schedules, participation in the program is voluntary. In any event, <br /> the opinions expressed by external auditors on the fairness of presentation of the financial statements generally <br /> only extend to the basic financial statements and not to the individual fund level financial statements (with the <br /> exception of the "major" funds). The cost for local governments to obtain an opinion on the fairness of <br /> presentation of financial information at the fund level would be significant; and <br /> 3. If the implementation of Chapter 2011-44, Laws of Florida, is intended to create an "overlay" as discussed <br /> above, units of local government will need to determine the capabilities of their current financial management <br /> software applications to create such an "overlay." In any event,this exercise is also expected to be costly. <br /> Similar to year-end reporting requirements, it appears there are also three ways to implement the monthly reporting <br /> requirement: <br /> 1. Modify the entity's current accounting system; <br /> 2. Develop a "crosswalk"from the entity's current system to the proposed UCOA, or <br /> 3. A combination of(1)and (2). <br /> w.. it <br /> 93 <br />