Annual State Audit & Financial Statements

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report is the City’s official annual financial report. The report is audited annually by the Washington State Auditor’s Office and conforms to national accounting and reporting standards. The report includes all financial activities of the City.

Annual Audit

The City of Bainbridge Island is audited annually by the Washington State Auditor’s Office. According the State Auditor’s Office, the audit’s purpose is to “assure users of governmental financial statements that those statements are fairly presented," and to provide users with “an independent basis for relying upon management’s assertions concerning the government’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows.” The audit is a thorough process in which a State Auditor spends six to eight weeks at City Hall inspecting records, interviewing staff, and observing and evaluating the City’s financial processes.

The mission of the Washington State Auditor’s Office is to work in cooperation with their audit clients and citizens as an advocate for government accountability. As an elected agency, the State Auditor’s Office has the necessary objective independence to perform audits and investigations. Audits comply with professional standards and federal, state, and local requirements.

Reports

View the following financial statements and reports:

Resources:

For a primer on interpreting financial statements, read Stephen J. Gauthier’s article from Government Finance Review (June 2007). The primer is a clear explanation on how to better understand local government’s financial position and how that information is reported. Stephen J. Gauthier is the former director of the Government Finance Officers Association’s Technical Services Center.