Valuing Massachusetts' Fixed Assets: A Contemporary Solution To An Historical Problem |
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Authors: | Richard L. Keith Joseph A. McHugh |
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Affiliation: | Associate professor of accounting in the Department of Accounting/Finance, University of Massachusetts/Boston, Boston, MA 02125.;Professor of accountancy, Department of Accountancy, Bentley College, 175 Forest Street, Waltham, MA 02154. |
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Abstract: | The "Miracle of Massachusetts" is a slogan of the past. The FY 1992 deficit was projected to be over one billion dollars. In this article the authors describe the efforts of a dedicated group of government employees who created innovative solutions to long-standing problems. Massachusetts' financial statements could not obtain a "clean" audit opinion because the state's fixed asset records were unauditable. The group developed and implemented an acceptable method for valuation of those assets. This required inventorying all the fixed assets of the state, then valuing each of these items in accordance with either an historical cost or an acceptable surrogate. |
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