| Course | ACC 460 Government and Non-Profit Accounting (ACC/460) |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Budgetary accounting and control paper |
| Length | about 1,012 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Accounting |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for ACC 460 Week 2
Recording a County's Budget, Encumbering a Sheriff's Vehicle Order, Amending Appropriations After a Flood and Comparing the Final Budget With Actual Results
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
ACC/460: Government and Non-Profit Accounting
Week 2 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The county, its budget and all figures are composites written for a model paper; standards and research findings come from the sources listed.
A composite county of about 60,000 residents funds its sheriff, courts, roads, elections and public health from a general fund of about $48 million. The county commissioners adopt the budget each December by resolution, and state law makes it illegal for any department to spend more than its appropriation. In a government, the budget is not a forecast that the accountant compares with results at year end; it is a legal limit that the accounting system must enforce every day. This paper records the county's budget and follows budgetary control through the year.
Recording the Budget
On January 1, the county records its adopted general fund budget: estimated revenues of $48.0 million from property taxes, sales taxes, state shared revenue, fees and fines, and appropriations of $47.2 million. The entry debits estimated revenues control for $48.0 million, credits appropriations control for $47.2 million and credits budgetary fund balance for the $800,000 difference, the planned addition to fund balance. Detailed amounts by revenue source and by department are recorded in subsidiary ledgers. These budgetary accounts do not represent real revenues or spending; they record expectations and legal authority so that actual results can be compared with them throughout the year (Governmental Accounting Standards Board, 1999).
The Budget Calendar and Format
The budget for this year began the previous July, when department heads submitted requests based on instructions from the county administrator. The administrator's staff reviewed requests against revenue forecasts, the commissioners held public hearings in November and the budget was adopted in December. The county uses a line-item budget, with appropriations by department and by object, such as salaries, supplies and capital outlay. Line-item budgets make control easy, since each purchase can be checked against a specific line, but they say little about what the spending achieves. The county has begun adding performance measures, such as response times and miles of road resurfaced, to its budget document so that commissioners can see results alongside dollars.
Encumbering a Purchase Order
In February, the sheriff's office ordered four patrol vehicles on a state contract for $420,000. When the purchase order was issued, the county recorded an encumbrance: encumbrances debited and encumbrances outstanding credited for $420,000. The encumbrance reduces the sheriff's available appropriation immediately, so the department cannot commit the same money twice. Available appropriation is appropriation less expenditures less outstanding encumbrances.
In May, the vehicles arrived with an invoice of $426,000, because the dealer added required emergency lighting. The county reversed the encumbrance for the original $420,000 and recorded an expenditure of $426,000, debiting expenditures and crediting vouchers payable. The $6,000 difference used additional appropriation, which the sheriff had available.
Amending the Budget After a Flood
In April, heavy rains washed out three county road crossings. Emergency repairs would cost $1.1 million, more than the road department's remaining appropriation. The commissioners adopted a supplemental appropriation, financed by an expected state emergency reimbursement of $700,000 and a planned $400,000 reduction in fund balance. The county recorded an increase in estimated revenues of $700,000 and appropriations of $1.1 million, with the difference reducing budgetary fund balance by $400,000. Without the amendment, road department spending on the repairs would have exceeded its legal authority.
The Budgetary Comparison
At year end, the county prepares a budgetary comparison schedule for the general fund. It shows four columns: the original budget, the final budget after amendments, actual amounts on the budgetary basis and the variance between final budget and actual. Showing the original budget alongside the final budget lets readers see how much the plan changed during the year (Governmental Accounting Standards Board, 2003).
Final estimated revenues were $48.7 million; actual revenues were $48.3 million, a $400,000 unfavorable variance because the state reimbursed only $500,000 of flood costs by year end and fine revenue fell. Final appropriations were $48.3 million; actual expenditures and encumbrances were $47.6 million, a $700,000 favorable variance, mostly because the sheriff's office had four unfilled deputy positions for part of the year.
Budgetary Basis Versus GAAP
The county's budget treats outstanding encumbrances at year end as if they were expenditures, since the commitment has used the authority. GAAP does not; encumbrances are not expenditures until goods or services are received. At year end, $280,000 of purchase orders were outstanding. The reconciliation between the budgetary comparison and the fund's GAAP operating statement for the fund subtracts these encumbrances from budgetary expenditures. The outstanding encumbrances are reported as part of restricted, committed or assigned fund balance, depending on their purpose.
Control Built Into the System
The county's financial system enforces the budget automatically. When a department enters a purchase requisition, the system checks the available appropriation for that line and blocks the order if the balance is insufficient, routing it to the finance director for a transfer between lines or a request to the commissioners. Transfers within a department up to a set amount can be approved by the administrator; transfers between departments and increases in total appropriations require a commission vote. This layered authority mirrors the legal budget: the commissioners control totals, and management controls details within them.
What the Comparison Tells Readers
Rubin (2019) describes public budgets as political documents that allocate scarce resources among competing claims and hold officials to their choices. The budgetary comparison shows commissioners that the county stayed within its legal limits, that the flood required a visible change in plans and that revenue fell short where the state reimbursement lagged. Voters can see where money went compared with what was promised, and bond analysts can see whether the county manages close to its budget or regularly relies on amendments.
Conclusion
The county recorded its budget as legal authority, encumbered a vehicle order so the same money could not be committed twice, amended its appropriations when a flood made the original plan impossible and compared the final budget with actual results at year end. Budgetary accounting enforces the budget during the year, while the comparison and reconciliation report on it afterward.
References
Governmental Accounting Standards Board. (1999). Basic financial statements, and management's discussion and analysis, for state and local governments (Statement No. 34).
Governmental Accounting Standards Board. (2003). Budgetary comparison schedules, perspective differences: An amendment of GASB Statement No. 34 (Statement No. 41).
Rubin, I. S. (2019). The politics of public budgeting: Getting and spending, borrowing and balancing (9th ed.). CQ Press.
What the ACC 460 Week 2 instructions ask
ACC 460 Week 2 centers on the budget's place in government and on the entries that bring it into the accounts. Typical requirements include the budgetary entry for estimated revenues, appropriations and budgetary fund balance, encumbrance entries when orders are placed and their reversal when goods arrive, budget amendments and the budgetary comparison schedule or statement required for the general fund and major special revenue funds. Many prompts also ask students to explain differences between the budgetary basis and GAAP or to discuss types of budgets such as line-item and performance budgets. The paper should show entries, explain their purpose and cite GASB standards and budgeting sources in APA style.
How this ACC 460 Week 2 example is built
A county general fund is a clear setting because its budget is adopted by elected commissioners, spending beyond appropriations is illegal and a natural disaster forces a mid-year amendment. The paper shows the budgetary entry and explains why a government records a plan in its books. The patrol vehicle order, the largest single purchase of the year, demonstrates encumbrance accounting from purchase order to invoice, including a price difference. The flood shows how appropriations are amended and why the original budget is still reported. The year-end comparison is described in prose with its four columns, and a reconciliation explains why the budgetary actual differs from the GAAP figures in the fund statements.
ACC 460 Week 2 grading rubric: where the points go
The rubric for budgetary accounting tends to reward correct entries, correct treatment of encumbrances and a correct budgetary comparison. Faculty check that estimated revenues and appropriations are recorded with the difference to budgetary fund balance, that encumbrances are recorded when orders are placed and reversed for the encumbered amount when expenditures are recognized and that amendments are reflected in the final budget while the original budget is still presented. The comparison must show variances between final budget and actual. Explaining budgetary versus GAAP differences shows depth. Accurate figures, a clear structure that follows the budget year and cited standards complete the grade, and a short discussion of what the variances mean earns more than a table alone.
ACC 460 Week 2 help: mistakes to avoid
A common ACC 460 Week 2 error is reversing the encumbrance for the invoice amount instead of the amount originally encumbered. Reverse what was encumbered, then record the expenditure at the actual cost. Another is treating budgetary entries as if they recorded real revenue or spending; they record authority and expectations, not transactions. Students also report only the final budget; the original budget must appear too. When a variance is unfavorable, say why. If the county budgets encumbrances as expenditures, explain the reconciliation to GAAP. Do not confuse appropriations with cash available, since a fund can have authority it lacks the cash to use. Finally, connect the budget to accountability, since that is its purpose in government.
Related ACC 460 sample papers
Other ACC 460 week samples
- ACC 460 Week 1: Funds and the Reporting Entity
- ACC 460 Week 3: Fund Revenues and Expenditures
- ACC 460 Week 4: Government-Wide and Fund Statements
- ACC 460 Week 5: Nonprofit Accounting and Reporting
More BS in Accounting sample papers
- ACC 423 Week 2: Investments and Revenue Recognition
- ACC 455 Week 2: Computing Corporate Taxable Income
- ACC 456 Week 2: Gross Income and Exclusions
- ACC 491 Week 2: Audit Evidence and Documentation
ACC 460 Week 2 questions, answered
What does ACC/460 Week 2 usually cover?
It usually covers budgets and budgetary control in governments: recording the budget, encumbrances, amendments and the budgetary comparison schedule, and sometimes budgetary versus GAAP differences.
Where can I find a free ACC 460 Week 2 sample paper?
The county general fund example, with the budget entry, an encumbrance, a flood amendment and the year-end comparison, is open here with margin notes. Let us know the government in your assignment and the first draft is free.
What is an encumbrance?
An encumbrance records a commitment, such as a purchase order, against an appropriation, so that the same authority is not spent twice before the goods or services arrive.
Why do governments record their budgets in the accounts?
Because the adopted budget is a legal limit on spending, recording it lets the accounting system compare authority with actual revenues and expenditures and prevent overspending.
What does the budgetary comparison schedule show?
It shows the original budget, the final amended budget, actual amounts on the budgetary basis and the variance between the final budget and actual.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official University of Phoenix document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
Request this one custom, free · All ACC 460 week samples · All courses