What do the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards ensure?

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards are designed to enhance the transparency and uniformity of financial reporting among governmental entities. These standards set the guidelines for how state and local governments should prepare and present their financial statements, ensuring that financial reports are consistent, reliable, and comparable across different jurisdictions. This uniformity is critical as it allows stakeholders, including taxpayers, investors, and policymakers, to have a clear understanding of a government's financial health and operations.

By establishing a common framework for accounting practices, GASB standards help to improve the quality of financial information reported, facilitating better decision-making and accountability within government entities. This importance of transparency and uniformity is underscored by their role in promoting trust and confidence in the financial reporting of public funds.