3/24/2006: GASB White Paper: Why Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Is -- and Should Be -- Different (Governmental Accounting Standards Board [GASB])

"Although state and local governments in the United States have had separate standards for over 100 years, occasionally the question is raised: Why can't general purpose governments (cities and counties, for example) simply apply the standards established for business enterprises?1 The following questions and answers briefly address that issue, and the accompanying paper and its appendixes provide an expanded discussion."