Thank you for considering the ninth edition of Essentials of Accounting for Governmental and Not-for-Profit Organizations. Our purpose is to provide a text that may be adopted in a variety of government/not-for-profit (GNP) course formats. I have used this text with stand-alone, three semester-hour classes, with half-semester GNP courses, and as a module in advanced accounting classes. It is appropriate for accounting majors or as part of a public administration program. Concepts are well illustrated with journal entries and do not require specific accounting knowledge beyond that provided in most principles of accounting courses. The coverage is effective in preparing candidates for the CPA examination.

The focus of the text is on the preparation of external financial statements. Among the more challenging aspects of governmental reporting is the preparation of government wide financial statements. Our approach is to record governmental activities using the modified accrual basis of accounting, which facilitates preparation of fund-basis statements. These are illustrated in Chapters 2 through 7. In Chapter 8, the fund-basis statements are converted to the accrual basis used in the government-wide financial statements through the use of worksheet journal entries. This approach has two advantages: (1) it is the approach most commonly applied in practice, and (2) it is an approach familiar to students who have studied the process of consolidation in their advanced accounting classes.

Chapter 10 is devoted to accounting and reporting by private not-for-profit organizations. This chapter provides essential coverage of private-sector not-for-profits and may be all that is desired in courses taught in half a semester or as modules in advanced accounting. Alternatively, for full-semester courses, detailed applications of not-for-profit accounting for specific industries are provided in Chapters 9, 11, and 12. Chapters 9 and 11 illustrate transactions and reporting requirements unique to public and private colleges and universities. Similarly, Chapter 12 illustrates typical transactions and alternative financial statement formats common among health care organizations. Chapter 13 examines auditing and tax issues specific to governmental and not-for-profit organizations and concludes with a discussion of performance evaluation, including ratio analysis and service efforts and accomplishments reporting.

The text is updated for recent GASB statements including accounting for other postemployment benefits, pollution remediation, and the proposed FASB standard for mergers and acquisitions by not-for-profit organizations. The ninth edition reflects changes in standards issued by the GASB, FASB, AICPA, and GAO. Additional features of the text include:

• An ongoing example integrated throughout Chapters 2 through 8 and 13.
• A continuous homework problem throughout Chapters 2 through 8 and 13.
• Instructor's Guide.
• Suggested Quiz and Examination Questions and Problems.
• Powerpoint slides.
• A textbook Web site.
• Excel financial statement templates for the continuous problem.
• An additional practice set.

I am indebted to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for permission to use their materials. I thank James Groff, University of Texas at San Antonio; Bambi Hora, University of Central Oklahoma; Ericka Kranitz, North Carolina State University; Thomas Mellott, Franklin University; Annette Pridgen, University of Mississippi; and Carol Nemec Wirt, Southern Oregon University for reviewing the eighth edition and providing suggestions. I wish to thank my colleague Loretta Manktelow, coauthor of the Instructor's Guide and author of the Test Bank. Finally, I am indebted to the many users of the text for their comments. Additional comments and suggestions are welcome and may be addressed to: copleypa@jmu.edu.

Paul A. Copley