Accounting for governmental and nonprofit entities (The Robert N. Anthony/Willard J. Graham series in accounting)

Several months before the preface to the sixth edition of this text was written, representatives of groups concerned with state and local governmental accounting standards had begun a series of meetings to discuss improvement in the mechanism for enforcement of standards set by the National Council on Governmental Accounting and to consider possible changes in the structure for setting accounting and financial reporting standards for state and local governments. Groups represented in the discussions included the National Council on Governmental Accounting; the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; the Financial Accounting Foundation; the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers; the Municipal Finance Officers Association (now the Government Finance Officers Association); and the United States General Accounting Office. At first the discussions were informal, but by April, 1980, a working committee known as the Governmental Accounting Standards Board Organization Committee (GASBOC), under the chairmanship of Professor Robert K. Mautz, was formed. Observers from seven organizations representing state, city, and county elected officials participated in the GASBOC discussions. In February, 1981, the GASBOC issued 20,000 copies of an exposure draft of its proposed recommendations. Written comments on the exposure draft were solicited, and public hearings were held in Philadelphia in May, 1981. After considering written and oral comments on the exposure draft, the GASBOC issued its final report in October, 1981. The report recommended formation of a Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) under the Financial Accounting Foundation, bearing the same relationship to the Foundation that the Financial Accounting Standards Board does. The Financial Accounting Foundation accepted the GASBOC report and appointed a Governmental Accounting Standards Board Implementation Committee (GASBIC) from among Foundation.