Question

A number of the functional areas of Roseburg's governmental activities, including General Government, Support Services, and Administration, include expenses that actually benefit other functions. For example, the Finance Department not only collects business taxes that benefit governmental activities, it handles the billings of the Water Enterprise Fund. Roseburg has developed a detailed cost allocation scheme that reallocates some of these expenses to the other governmental and business-like functions that benefit. These allocated, indirect expenses should be reported on the statement of activities:
A. combined with the direct operating expenses of benefiting function.

B. separately at the bottom of the statement of activities.

C. as a transfer from function to function.

D. in a column separate from the direct expenses.

Answer 1

Answer:

D. in a column separate from the direct expenses.

Explanation:

• Governments that have chosen to allocate indirect costs should report in a separate column for direct expenditure compared with other governments that do not allocate them.
• Therefore, direct and indirect costs should not be compounded for reporting purposes. Special and exceptional expenses are reported separately at the bottom of the statement of operations.
• Transfers between government funds are appropriate or performance transactions, not expenditure allocations, between government activities and government business activities.