Understanding State and Local Government Accounting

This ten-week course will focus on understanding state and local accounting through the perspective of a policy student, not an MBA student. It will address questions regarding where to find financial information detailing government activities and how to interpret data. 

Students will be introduced to fundamental concepts of accounting with a particular focus on the practical meaning of financial data. 

Students will become familiar with commonly utilized public documents to analyze and understand state and local government finance and be encouraged to seek additional sources of information. Using class discussion as a primer, students will be required to study individual public sector organizations and present an opinion on financial health based on terms learned throughout the course and class discussion.