Textbook - this is available from the UD Bookstore, the publisher, and other sources. Be sure to use the 8th edition (2026) only.
Textbook - this is available from the UD Bookstore, the publisher, and other sources. Be sure to use the 8th edition (2026) only.
Understanding Government Financial Statements - this series of short videos explains the logic of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for state and local governments and walks viewers through the parts of an annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR). This is an excellent supplement to the textbook's treatment of the necessarily complex financial-reporting model introduced by GASB Statement 34 (and frequently updated since then).
Spreadsheets! - this page provides some advice and resources for using spreadsheets in this course and afterwards. If you are new to spreadsheets, you will need to commit some study time early in the semester to learn how to use them to organize numeric information and perform simple calculations. This investment will pay for itself many times over, in this class and beyond. During the semester, you will need to:
build simple spreadsheets and multi-sheet workbooks using arithmetic formulas, basic financial and logical functions, and a mix of absolute and relative cell references within and across worksheets and linked workbooks;Â
cut, copy, paste (including "paste special"), and sort data within and between documents; and
format cells and worksheets in order to generate professional-quality reports and presentations.