Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)

The City’s Finance Department, in cooperation with other City Departments and the outside auditors, prepares the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).  The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is a publication that provides in-depth information about the operations and financial position of the City of Livingston.  The CAFR is prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (USGAAP) and is audited by a firm of licensed certified public accountants. 

A Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is a set of government financial statements, which goes beyond the minimums established for Annual Financial Reports completed by public sector companies by the National Council on Governmental Accounting (NCGA) statement 1.  The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is a thorough and detailed presentation of the city's financial condition.  It reports on the city's activities and balances for each fiscal year.

The Government Finance Officers’ Association (GFOA) established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (CAFR Program) to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal.  Fiscal year 2010 represents the first year the City of Livingston has prepared a CAFR.   

Reports submitted to the CAFR program are reviewed by selected members of the GFOA professional staff and the GFOA Special Review Committee (SRC), which comprises individuals with expertise in public-sector financial reporting and includes financial statement preparers, independent auditors, academics, and other finance professionals.  The City of Livingston has submitted its fiscal year 2010 CAFR to the GFOA for consideration for its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting certificate. 

What's in the CAFR? 

At a minimum, every CAFR comprises three basic sections: 

•              Introductory section - includes transmittal letter. 

•              Financial section - includes the independent auditor's report and contains management's discussion and analysis, government-wide financial statements, fund financial statements, notes to the financial statements, required supplementary information, combining financial statements, and schedules. 

•              Statistical section - includes additional financial, economic, and demographic information. The statistical section provides a broad range of trend data covering key financial indicators from the past 10 fiscal years (for instance, general government revenues and expenditures, property tax collections, debt burden). It also contains demographic and miscellaneous data useful in assessing a government's financial condition. 

For additional information, please contact Ms. Jessie Hogg, Assistant Finance Director, who is primarily responsible for preparation of the city’s CAFR.  Contact information:  Phone  406-823-6003 or jhogg@livingstonmontana.org