About Our Accounting and Reporting Services
The Office of Comptroller Operations' Bureau of Accounting and Financial Management (BAFM) provides quality governmental accounting and financial reporting services that enable Commonwealth agencies to better manage their diverse financial operations. BAFM leads the Commonwealth’s efforts to assess and implement new accounting standards. Additionally, it ensures the Commonwealth’s accounting system properly reflects each agency’s financial activities, and that those activities are performed within the parameters of the authorized budget and applicable state and federal statutes, regulations, and policies.
The General Accounting Division provides dedicated agency support and expertise on a broad range of accounting and financial management matters. The General Accounting Division ensures that agency transactions adhere to authorized budgets and financial records, and that accounting transactions comply with generally accepted accounting principles. The division also oversees the accounting, monitoring, cash management, and reporting functions for federal grants awarded and federal contracts and agreements entered into by the Commonwealth. Services include:
- federal grant accounting, monitoring, cash management and reporting;
- commitment, revenue, and expenditure analyses;
- cash management analysis and funds forecasting;
- revenue and expenditure reconciliations to Treasury and bank balances;
- preparation of accounting entries for operations and financial reporting; and
- preparation and issuance of agency financial statements and reports.
The Financial Accounting Division oversees Commonwealth-wide financial business processes and accounting, such as revenue management, electronic payments, loan accounting, cost allocations, purchasing cards, and investment in fixed assets. The division also serves as the Office of the Budget's business process owner for Finance in SAP, maintaining SAP master data and supporting monthly and fiscal-year-end close. The division reviews and provides guidance on finance system process design and change requests.
The Financial Reporting Division oversees the preparation, audit, and issuance of the Commonwealth's public financial reports, including Pennsylvania’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR), the annual Statewide Single Audit report, and the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) financial statements. The division monitors developments in governmental accounting and reporting standards, assesses the impact of new standards on Commonwealth accounting and reporting practices, ensures conformance to applicable standards through monitoring and action plans, and provides consultative services to Commonwealth agencies and entities regarding the application of such standards. The division also provides centralized review services to the agencies over the Commonwealth’s subrecipient’s single audits and Local Education Agencies’ financial statements, as well as providing accounting and reporting support for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) and Pennsylvania’s Insurance Liquidator.
