VPRS 4690 Municipal Fund/General Account Cash Expenditure

This series comprises records which belonged to a municipal accounting system. An explanation of the types of funds managed by municipalities and the types of records found within accounting systems follows.Municipal Accounting FundsMunicipal accounting has been subject to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1874 and subsequent local government legislation and to the Municipal Accounting Regulations. Under these provisions the income and expenditure of Victorian municipal councils is segregated into Municipal Funds, Loan Funds and a Country Roads Board Fund.The Municipal Funds are further broken down into the following three types of funds:General FundUndertakings such as abattoirs, electricity supply etcStreet Construction, Separate Rate and Special Improvement Charges.Municipalities are required to credit ordinary revenue to the Municipal Funds. Ordinary revenue is comprised of rates, tolls and rent of tolls, grants and all other moneys not being the proceeds of a loan. The General Fund is the principal fund of the council and its accounts show the main items of municipal income and expenditure.The Municipal Accounting Regulations require separate accounting records to be kept for the three types of Municipal Funds.Accounting RecordsAccounting systems comprise a structured collection of records which together document financial transactions. At the most basic level the flow of information between the integral components, or records, within the system is indicated by the following diagram:The flow of information, however, is not always this straightforward.Source DocumentsExamples include receipt books, cheque butts, vouchers etc. Information is extracted from these documents and entered chronologically, in full or summary form, into cash books or journals. This process is called journalizing.Cash BooksA cash book is a combination of a book of original entry (ie. a journal) and the ledger account for cash (often including the bank account). As a book of original entry it is used to record receipt and payment transactions in chronological order. Following a standard format, cash (and cheque) receipts are entered on the lefthand side of the book, and cash (and cheque) payments are recorded on the righthand side. These amounts are then 'posted' to the relevant ledger accounts which are identified either by ledger folio numbers or account numbers. As the cash book is also a replacement of the ledger account for cash, it is balanced at regular intervals.Journals (Specific and General)The prime function of a journal is to facilitate the 'posting' of credit and debit transactions into the appropriate ledger accounts. Like the cash book the journal is a book of original entry which records transactions in chronological order. Specific journals are often maintained to summarise information about similar types of transactions, including cash transactions, eg. cash receipts journal, wages and stores journal. General journals, on the other hand, provide a convenient record of other transactions, including adjustments to ledger accounts (to correct errors for example) and the sale or purchase of assets.Journals may also be used to record the posting of amounts from one account to another (particularly common at the end of a financial year). The relevant accounts are identified either by the ledger folio number or an account number.Ledgers (Subsidiary and General)Ledgers comprise a record of changes (debit and credit transactions) concerning one or more accounts. The makeup (classification) of accounts is arbitrary and usually depends on the functions of the agency and the regulations governing its financial reporting requirements. Transactions are posted to the ledger accounts from the cash books and journals. The source of the posting is usually indicated by a combination of folio numbers and an abbreviation of the source record eg. 'C' or 'CB'=Cash Book, 'J'=Journal, 'PC'=Petty Cash Book etc.Subsidiary ledgers are often maintained to facilitate a division of responsibilities within a large account, or to provide a separate record of a particular account.A general ledger, however, comprises all accounts necessary for the compilation of the finance statements required by the agency. If subsidiary ledgers are used it is common for a general ledger to include a single account which represents the totals of the transactions of the accounts in each of the subsidiary ledgers. This device is called a 'control account'.Finance StatementsExamples include Statements of Operations, Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Statements.Finance statements provide the final summary of the agency's financial situation at a particular point in time. They are usually compiled once a year and published with an annual report, although they may be compiled at more regular intervals. The types of statements and their format are generally determined by legislative requirements, and these in turn determine the nature of the accounts required to be maint

本系列包含属于市政会计系统（municipal accounting system）的记录。下文将阐述市政当局管理的基金类型及会计系统中包含的记录类型。

### 市政会计基金
市政会计（municipal accounting）需遵守《1874年地方政府法案》（Local Government Act 1874）及后续地方政府立法，同时需符合《市政会计条例》（Municipal Accounting Regulations）。根据这些规定，维多利亚市政议会（Victorian municipal councils）的收支被划分为市政基金（Municipal Funds）、贷款基金（Loan Funds）及乡村道路委员会基金（Country Roads Board Fund）。

市政基金进一步细分为以下三类：
1. 一般基金（General Fund）
2. 屠宰场、电力供应等事业
3. 街道建设、单独税率及特别改善收费

市政当局需将普通收入计入市政基金。普通收入包括税率、通行费及通行费租金、拨款及所有非贷款收益的款项。一般基金是议会的主要基金，其账户反映市政收支的主要项目。《市政会计条例》要求为三类市政基金分别保留会计记录。

### 会计记录
会计系统由结构化的记录集合组成，共同记录财务交易。系统内各组成部分（或记录）之间的信息流向在最基础层面如下图表所示：

然而，信息流向并非总是如此简单直接。

#### 源文件
例如收据簿、支票存根、凭证等。从这些文件中提取信息，并按时间顺序以完整或摘要形式录入现金账簿或日记账，此过程称为记账（journalizing）。

#### 现金账簿
现金账簿（Cash Books）是原始分录簿（即日记账）与现金分类账（通常包含银行账户）的结合体。作为原始分录簿，它按时间顺序记录收支交易。遵循标准格式，现金（及支票）收入记入账簿左侧，现金（及支票）支出记入右侧。这些金额随后“过账”到相关分类账账户，账户通过分类账页码或账号标识。由于现金账簿亦可替代现金分类账，因此需定期结账。

#### 日记账（特种与普通）
日记账的主要功能是便于将借贷交易“过账”到相应分类账账户。与现金账簿类似，日记账是按时间顺序记录交易的原始分录簿。特种日记账通常用于汇总同类交易信息（含现金交易），例如现金收入日记账、工资及库存日记账。而普通日记账则用于记录其他交易，包括分类账账户调整（如纠错）及资产买卖。日记账也可用于记录金额从一个账户到另一个账户的过账（在财政年末尤为常见）。相关账户通过分类账页码或账号标识。

#### 分类账（明细与总）
分类账包含一个或多个账户的变动记录（借贷交易）。账户的构成（分类）具有任意性，通常取决于机构职能及规范其财务报告要求的法规。交易从现金账簿和日记账过账到分类账账户。过账来源通常通过页码组合及来源记录缩写标识，例如“C”或“CB”=现金账簿、“J”=日记账、“PC”=零用现金账簿等。

明细分类账常被用于大型账户内的职责分工，或提供特定账户的单独记录。而总分类账包含机构编制所需财务报表的所有必要账户。若使用明细分类账，总分类账通常会包含一个代表各明细分类账账户交易总额的单一账户，此工具称为“控制账户”（control account）。

#### 财务报表
例如运营报表、资产负债表、损益表。财务报表（Finance Statements）提供机构在特定时间点财务状况的最终汇总。它们通常每年编制一次并随年度报告发布，尽管也可能更频繁编制。报表类型及其格式通常由立法要求决定，而这些要求反过来又决定了需维护账户的性质。