The GASB has issued Statement No. 98, The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. Many governments issue an annual financial reporting package which contains the basic financial statements, footnotes, required supplementary information, other supplementary information, and an introductory section and statistical section. This reporting package has historically been titled a “comprehensive annual financial report”. Users frequently referred to the “comprehensive annual financial report” using an acronym derived from the first initial of each word. However, when pronounced, this acronym sounds very similar to a profoundly offensive term directed at Black South Africans.
Consequently, the GASB has changed the title of the reporting package to “annual comprehensive financial report”.
The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has also endorsed this change, and is encouraging the use of the new acronym “ACFR” to refer to this reporting package. Aside from this name change, no substantive changes will be made to the report as a result of Statement No. 98. The provisions of Statement No. 98 are effective for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2021. Earlier application is encouraged.
The full text of Statement No. 98 is available here:
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