Meeting Minutes
Department of Financial Services
Charts of Account Project
Meeting Name:
Date:
Time:
Location:
Requestor:
DFS Charts of Account Project – Legislature Briefing
May 29, 2013
10:00 A.M – 11:00 A.M
Plaza
Christina Smith
Attendees:
Adam Keith
Tim Elwell;
Gino Betta;
Bruce D. Topp;
Logan McFaddin;
Elizabeth Boyd
Lisa Vickers
Jamie DeLoach
Christina Smith;
Rick Sweet;
Danielle Kosberg;
Asheema Vemuri;
Meeting Notes:
I.
Updates on the project, upcoming deadlines and events
 Christina mentioned that we are circling back to get feedback on the progress on the
Chart of Accounts (COA) and also mentioned the upcoming statutory deadline on
July 1 to publish the Draft Chart of Accounts.
 Christina mentioned the Advisory Group that was formed with one representative
from each reporting group. There were several meetings held with the Advisory
Group however in the last meeting the feedback received was not very positive,
especially from the universities and colleges representatives.
 Christina explained that the purpose of the transparency site is not to present
Financial Statements but to provide financial information more regularly and at a
level that is meaningful to the public. Policy makers should verify financial
information based on the audited Financial Statements before making decisions. She
is considering performing some high level audits once a year based on the reporting



II.
entities’ financial statements in order to verify the completeness/reliability of the
information being reported for Assets, Liabilities, and Equity. .
Christina went over the power point presentation on the project activities, timelines,
and COA reporting frequency. She mentioned that based on the impact statements
received from reporting entities and the cost estimates received, we would probably
want to meet again in November to give the group an update.
Christina mentioned that the final report in January will include the recommended
COA with definitions, approach for reporting, and appendix with the fiscal impacts
collected by the vendor. She will also provide a draft of legislation to address the
reporting requirements. It will be CFO and Legislator’s decision on whether or not to
proceed with a legislative bill at that time.
The word document will be sent electronically to the attendees for their review and
feedback. The draft document will then be updated based on the feedback.
Discuss Draft Master Chart of Accounts
 The draft Chart of Accounts was discussed.
 There was discussion on the level of detail and frequency of reporting.
 Christina proposed that since Balance Sheet accounts are not actually updated during
the year, annual reporting would be beneficial. She mentioned that we could propose
two options – quarterly or annual. It appeared that some favored quarterly and some
annual.
 For Revenues and Expenditures everyone agreed that the reporting should be done
monthly.
 The level of reporting was also discussed. Christina explained that the Balance Sheet
Accounts can be reported at the entity level and Revenues and Expenditures at the
lower operational level.
 Going down the list of COA, Christina had the following questions to the group.
o Revenues
 Christina asked if Estate Tax should be on the COA. Lisa Vickers
said that we save a placeholder for Estate Tax.
 Christina explained the unique detailed taxes for the different reporting
groups (i.e., counties, cities, state) can be rolled into higher level
buckets for State Taxes and Local Taxes for Transparency purposes.
 Bruce Topp mentioned Pari-Mutuel Wagering Tax has a portion that is
fees deposited in General Revenue and a portion that is deposited in
the trust fund. Christina explained that globally there are some
concerns on the proper use of “fees”, “licenses”, and “permits”
categories. We will do our best to clearly define the categories.
However, the definitions do not focus on where the money will be
deposited because this may defer across the reporting entities.
Christina asked the group to review the COA and indicate if there is a
need for a bucket that is specific to tracking for general revenue. If so,
we can discuss it further.
 Christina mentioned that Non-Governmental Grants being used by the
Universities and Colleges should be part of Gifts, Donations and
Pledges. The group tended to agree however, validation is needed
from Universities/Colleges since they are the only ones currently using
this account.
 Hospital Revenues was also discussed to clarify if it should be part of
Sale of Goods and Services.
 The group requested that the lottery sales account be separated out and
not reported as “other miscellaneous revenue.”
 Christina asked a question on Service charge used by Local
Government to report service charge by program. She asked if it
should be under County Officer Fees. Lisa Vickers raised a point that
maybe the different service charges for utilities should be under utility
taxes and not under service charges? Christina will request that EDR
review at a minimum the COA for revenues to see if we need new
buckets or changes to the crosswalk and definitions.
 Christina also mentioned that if the group can review the document
and provide feedback as to any other buckets of revenue that they
would like to see isolated.
o Expenditures
 Christina mentioned that currently Compensated Leave types and
Retirement type contributions are reported under Employee Salaries
and Benefits. She asked the group to let her know if these should be
reported separately.
 Christina asked if the group had a preference on how Entertainment
expenditures should be reported. Christina will verify with the
Colleges/Universities for classification into “advertising.”
 Christina asked the group to consider consolidating the current travel
accounts. The group preferred the current break out so travel will
continue to be reported by In-State, Out-of-State and Foreign Travel
with each group comprised of Per Diem, Meals, Mileage, Hotels and
Airfare.
 Christina asked if the group felt we needed to keep the level of
granularity that Training expenditures are currently being reported.
Christina would prefer to create one bucket for training cost and not
segregate out IT, Travel, Supplies, etc.
 Travel Non-Resident Alien is reported by universities and probably
needs clarification if it should be separated or can be included in
Training.

Confirmed the Lottery Prizes and Commissions will be reported
separately.
 Christina asked if there should be a separate group for Awards and
Bonuses. Currently the COA has them under Other Miscellaneous
Expenses.
 Christina explained that we are considering moving the Construction
in Progress to a separate account and not reporting it in Buildings and
Fixed Equipment because the work is not complete yet.
 Christina asked if there were any concerns with the Investment cost
being reported as “other expenses.” Christina felt the cost would be
minimal on the Stateside. Lisa Vickers mentioned that Local
investments are with SBA and may be incurring a cost. Christina will
research this further with the Advisory group.
o Other Sources and Uses
 Christina mentioned Other Sources and Uses to the group and asked if
it added any value to the public since these are not true revenues or
expenditures to the state but just transfers between funds. It will
probably be included in the reporting so that the financial information
is complete but not displayed on a transparency page.
 Christina mentioned that for Transparency, a note will be included to
contact the reporting entity for additional information on the financial
information being reported
III.
Introductions of the new Project Team
 The new members of the Project team were introduced and meeting was adjourned.
1
215.89, Florida Statute requires DFS to propose a Draft
Chart of Accounts (COA) to establish uniform reporting
requirements for all units of government. The statutory
timeline to be followed is as follows:
◦ July 1, 2013 - Publish Draft Chart of Accounts
◦ November 1, 2013 - Comments on COA are due from
reporting entities
◦ January 15, 2014 - Submit recommended COA and
estimated costs of adopting and implementing to Governor
and Legislature
2

Activities to Date:
◦ Established Project website:
http://www.myfloridacfo.com/aadir/COA/
◦ Project concept and timelines presented to Cities,
Counties, Universities, and Colleges.
 Presented at 18 meetings/conferences since October 2011
◦ Met with Legislative and Auditor General staff
◦ Established an Advisory Work Group to develop a draft
Chart of Accounts
3

Upcoming Activities:
◦ June: Contract with a Vendor to collect and report on cost
estimates for implementation
◦ July: Publish a Draft Chart of Accounts
◦ July-Sept: Conduct workshops and webinars to review the
COA with reporting entities
◦ Sept-Oct: Accept Impact Statements from reporting
entities
◦ Nov: Finalize cost estimates
4

Upcoming Activities:
◦ Jan 2014: Submit recommended Chart of Accounts and
estimated cost of adopting and implementing to Governor
and Legislature
◦ Feb 2014: Seek legislation to implement Chart of Accounts
5
Account Type
Reporting Level
Reporting Frequency
Assets
Entity or Fund Level
Annual
Liabilities
Entity or Fund Level
Annual
Equities
Entity or Fund Level
Annual
Revenues
Lowest operational
level
Monthly
Expenditures
Lowest operational
level
Monthly
6