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Archive for October, 2011

What is the distinction between expenditures and expenses as the terms are used in governmental accounting?

Expenditures are concerned with governmental funds, while expenses are concerned with proprietary funds. Expenditures are decreases in net financial resources and expenses are decreases in net economic resources. When an asset is acquired, it is generally accepted as an expenditure. When an asset is consumed it is generally accepted as an expense.

A government expects to pay its electric bill relating to its current fiscal year sometime in the following year. An official of the government requests your advice as to whether the anticipated payment should be charged as an expenditure of the current or the following year. How would you respond?

The government should record its electric bill as an encumbrance to be paid in the following year. When the encumbrance is recorded, the budgeted amount for expenditures is reduced, while a portion of unreserved fund balance is reserved for the encumbrance.

Although many governments prepare budgets for both capital projects and debt service funds and integrate them into their accounts, budgetary control over these funds is not as essential as it is for other governmental funds. Do you agree? Explain. If budgets are prepared for capital projects funds, in what significant way may they differ from those prepared for other funds?

I disagree that budgetary control over capital projects and debt service funds in not as essential as it is for other governmental funds. While budgetary entries for projects and service funds are intended as an internal control mechanism, and do not affect year-end financial statements, it is still important to maintain budgetary control to prevent expenditures exceeding authorizations. Budgets prepared for these projects funds are significantly different from those prepared for other funds in the sense that capital project funds are stationary in nature and can often be preserved for a significantly greater number of years.

How should governments report their capital projects and debt service activities in their government-wide statements?

Governments should report their capital projects and debt service activities in their government-wide statements as long-term obligations as combined funds which includes all other governmental funds in the governmental activities column.

So here’s a simple question for you as a fantasy decision-maker in charge of a state’s finances. Let’s say you go to court against Big Tobacco and come out with a big win. Because the court finally agreed to accept the medical evidence, Big Tobacco was ordered to pay money into a massive settlement fund. Every year, this pays out a big chunk of change to your state. What do you want to spend it on? It could be education except you really want to fire all the bad teachers first. Then you can use the extra money to pay higher salaries to attract better people into teaching and raise education standards. Ah, but that’s going to provoke a fight with the unions, so we’d better look for something less controversial. What about health? This would be ideal politics. The tobacco industry has made so many ill, it’s only right its money should be used to improve health care for all. Except how is that going to be done? Even a big lump of change gets lost in the total cost of running health care in a state. . .

Pennsylvania decided to use part of the money to fund adultBasic. This was an outreach plan for adults who would otherwise fall through the cracks. Their income is too great to qualify for Medicaid, but they can’t afford the premium rates for a private plan. The way it worked was simplicity itself. The state funded its own health plan. The actual cost per person was $600 per month, but the state only charged each person $36. The total cost of this plan in 2010 was $166 million. To give you an idea of the popularity of the plan, the state was subsidizing some 40,000 people with half-million people on the waiting list. Remember, there are some 50 million people without any form of insurance across the country. It should not surprise you there were so many people who felt they met the entry requirements for adultBasic in one state.

However, in February, the Pennsylvanian government announced it was looking at a big deficit, so Governor Tom Corbett looked around for cuts. Presumably feeling the 40,000 enrolled in the plan were freeloaders, he ordered the plan shut down immediately. Big Tobacco’s money now flows directly into the state’s coffers and is mixed in with general revenue. Curiously, the state has now discovered it will have a surplus of more than $750 million in the current year. It’s remarkable how quickly the fortunes of a state can turn around. One of the immediate consequences has been a 30% increase in the number of people walking into ERs around the state. This adds significantly to the cost of running the health care services. Ironically, this additional cost alone may be more than the state was spending on adultBasic.

The Democrats have been frustrated at their failure to get adultBasic reinstated. It was one of the few state-funded health insurance plans for the low-income group. Yet a Republican governor will always get political traction out of cutting such a high-profile example of “big government”. Adult Americans should pay for cover out of their own pockets and not look to the state to provide cheap health insurance (even with money from the tobacco industry).

Taking out the right policy when you are buying auto insurance is vital, as otherwise you could end up wasting a lot of money by taking out the wrong level of cover that does not offer the protection that you need. Many people who take out auto insurance simply go for the first plan they come across but this can end up being a costly mistake that fails to benefit them in the long term, even if the initial policy is the cheapest they have come across.

The reason why you should always check the cost of the plans that you are considering before you make your auto insurance purchase is so that you know exactly what you are signing up to in terms of the level of cover that you are getting, the benefits that you will receive, and what you can and cannot claim for under your insurance plan.

Checking different insurance plans these days is far easier than it used to be in the past, which means that you won’t have to go out of your way in order to make sure that you are choosing the right policy. Remember, when you sign up to a particular insurance plan you may end up tied into it unless you are prepared to pay out money to get out of it early. It therefore pays to take the time to check any auto insurance plan you are considering taking out before you rush into signing up for the cover.

The Internet makes it easy to check any insurance plan that you are considering signing up to, as you will be able to see for yourself what the cover does and doesn’t include. This will enable you to quickly determine whether the plan it suited to your needs before you make any commitment, which reduces the risk of ending up with the wrong plan for your needs.

Make sure when you are looking at the various auto insurance plans that you do not simply focus on the cost of the cover, as although price is important it is not the only thing that should help you to make your decision. You also need to look at the level of cover that you get and work out whether it is adequate for your needs so that you are certain that any cover that you take out is going to be suited to your requirements.

By checking auto insurance plans before you make any commitment you will have the peace of mind that your cover is suited to your requirements and offers the level of protection that you need.

Hospitality industry is one of the major service sectors and employer across many economies in the world. The hospitality industry consists of various fields such as lodging, restaurants, cruise line, and some fields within the tourism industry. It is more vulnerable to economic fluctuations when compared to other industries, as there are various risks involved in running a hospitality business. However, as with any other industry, the risk of losses from unforeseen events such as hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, fire, etc., clearly remains.

So, it is very important for hospitality operations to take reasonable steps to protect their property, employees and financial circumstances. Many businesses in this industry are aware of such widespread losses and would never consider opening a business without buying property and liability insurance policies. But many of them, particularly small businesses, fail to think about how they would manage if any interruption occurs to their business for many days.

Importance of business interruption insurance

Let us consider this example to better understand the importance of business interruption insurance. Suppose an unforeseen event such as fire or floods makes your business place temporarily unusable, relocate your business or shut it down for a while. What would be the impact on the business? A regular commercial property insurance policy covers only the physical damage to your business. What about the profits which could have been earned during this period? How to pay rent, employees’ salaries and other important payments while your business is being rebuilt? This would definitely result in substantial financial loss.

Business interruption insurance (also known as business income coverage) helps businesses in situations like this. Many businesses without the business income coverage, shut down their business operations after their business is completely shuttered due to some unforeseen event. It covers the loss of income and helps a business return to the financial position as it was in prior to the disaster. Hence, a business in hospitality industry should understand the importance of business interruption insurance and should go for this insurance.

Critical aspects of business interruption insurance

Business owners from hospitality industry should be aware of some of the critical aspects of business interruption insurance. Here, we will take a look at some critical aspects of hotel business interruption coverage and understand why it is very useful for businesses in hospitality sector.

Business interruption period

The business interruption period is the length of period for which the benefits are payable under an insurance policy. This period is the most critical part of quantifying the business interruption loss. It covers a business from loss of income for a specified period till the damaged business property is repaired or reopened. Some hotels being aware of the losses that may persist even after repairs are done; opt for “extended period of indemnity”. As it may take some time for the hotel to regain bookings and rebuild market share.

Loss of rooms revenues

The business in the hospitality or the lodging industry may suffer financial performance as two of its main functions, occupancy percentage and average daily rate (ADR) may get affected. In simpler terms, a hotel damaged by a hurricane or fire or stuck in a deep local recession will not be able to generate any revenues because of closed rooms, especially in hotels and lodges. Business interruption insurance compensates you for lost income due to loss of rooms. It covers the profits you would have earned, based on your financial records.

Other lost revenues

Revenues from food and beverage, conferences, golf, spa, etc., can constitute a significant portion of a hotel’s income. When a business is interrupted, not only revenues through rooms are affected, some or all of these sources of income are typically interrupted. The business interruption insurance covers all the profits that would have been earned.

Ordinary payroll

Even if the business activities are temporarily stalled, operating expenses, and other costs such as rent, electricity bill, taxes, interest payable on bank loans, payroll costs etc., cannot be ignored. The business still needs to retain some employees such as accountants, front office executives etc. The business owner needs to pay salaries to them. In this kind of situations business interruption insurance is very helpful as ordinary payroll coverage is a common endorsement in many policies.

Extra expenses

Business interruption policies generally allow an Insured hotel to claim extra expenses incurred during the period of indemnity. It reimburses for reasonable expenses that allow the business to continue operation while the property is being rebuilt. Some policies also cover the extra costs required for moving the business to a different (temporary) location.

Business interruption insurance is one of the most important insurance policies that help in minimizing the adverse consequences of some unwanted events for the businesses in the hospitality industry. A well-thought out risk strategy by hotel owners or operators can make a significant difference at the most crucial times.

This year has shown many people who live inland just what it’s like when a hurricane or tropical storm comes their way. Up to now, it’s mostly been the folk living on the coasts that have had the joy of watching a hurricane dismantle their towns and cities. Now the folk who live up in the hills of Vermont are learning to live with the consequences. These range from the simple jobs of repairing roads and those picturesque wooden bridges, to the grisly tasks of trying to find the dead bodies that have been washed out of cemeteries. Following Katrina, there was considerable hysteria, and not only among people living on the coasts who were finally forced to confront the reality of angry nature. There was also panic in the boardrooms of the insurers. Although there had been regular hurricanes and storms, these companies had managed to remain profitable. But if claims on the scale seen in Mississippi were to become more common, they could all be wiped out. The result was seen in two very distinct changes. The first was to fight a higher percentage of claims. Indeed, many have criticized the ethics shown by some insurers who pay claims adjusters bonuses for avoiding payment of claims or agreeing very low settlements.

The second set of changes has been seen in the policies where many terms have been completely rewritten to exclude or limit the claims that can be made. The first obvious signs have been in the definition of the deductible. The majority of insurers used to rely on a fixed amount. This has changed over to requiring policyholders to pay a percentage of the home’s insured value as the deductible. The percentages range from 1 to 5%. So, if you have a home with a low value, you could find yourself required to pay a higher percentage. High-value home owners might “only” have to pay 1 or 2% for every claim. Obviously, insurers have not agreed standard terms so, as you drive down a street, every home might have a different deductible depending on which insurer writes their policy.

Did you know eighteen states allow the insurers to change the deductible depending on the definition of the weather event? This leads to a higher deductible for hurricanes than for other storms. So the big question is how to define a hurricane. Sadly, there’s no agreement. Some insurers wait until a storm is named by the National Hurricane Center, others have different guidelines depending on the amount of rain that falls and/or the strength of the wind. In the same neighborhood, this can lead to different deductibles and different approaches to deciding whether to accept the claims. To deal with this problem, some of the Insurance Commissioners have introduced new regulations. In Connecticut, no insurer will be allowed to impose a higher deductible if the winds consistently exceed 74 mph over a set period of time. In states where similar rules have been introduced, the insurers retaliated by requiring policyholders to pay out-of-pocket expenses. As home insurance companies find their profits under pressure, they turn to other means to recover their profit. It’s a vicious circle and unless Insurance Commissioners step in more forcefully, home insurance policies will become unaffordable when hurricanes are in the wind.

In the past comparing and buying auto insurance plans could be a very time consuming and frustrating process, which goes some towards explaining why many people used to simply sign up to the first policy that they came across without even comparing the differences in features and prices before they made any commitment.

These days, however, it has become far easier to compare auto insurance from a wide range of providers thanks the power of the Internet. Using the Internet provides a great tool for people who want to get the best deal on their auto insurance, as it provides so many benefits that people in the past never had access to. There are many reasons why it can be so beneficial to compare your auto insurance online and some of these include:

• Saving a lot of time and hassle: When you compare your auto insurance online you can do so from the comfort and privacy of your own home and at a time that suits you, whether it is night or day. This is great for people who work or have other commitments that make it difficult to contact insurance firms in office hours. It also gives you plenty of time to think about what you want without having to feel pressured into making a quick decision
• Having a great choice of providers: With so many insurance firms operating online you will have no shortage of choice when it comes to finding a suitable provider and plan for your needs. The Internet provides a huge amount of choice for those who want to find the ideal auto insurance plan for their needs at a price that they can afford
• Great value for money: You will find some great deals on the cost of your auto insurance cover when you use the Internet, which means that you will be able to get cover at a very affordable price that is within your budget without having to compromise on the level of cover that you take out
• Being able to check policies with ease: In addition to comparing the cost of cover it is also very important to compare the different plans and work out just what you will get for your money with each of the insurance plans that you are considering. Using the internet makes this a very fast and simple process, as you can check the details of all the policies you are considering with ease
• Being able to shop around: Comparing cover is an important part of finding the right auto insurance plan, and when you go online you can shop around with speed and ease, making it easier to find the best plan for your needs and budget