VPRS 16463 Balance Books

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 Fund* Undertakings such as abattoirs, electricity supply etc* Street 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 maintained.LegislationThe various Water Acts have required that books of account be kept. Further, they were to be kept up to date and ready for inspection and audit at all times during the year. An annual statement of accounts was to be prepared containing the amount of all moneys received and expended by it, all rates made, contracts entered into, and works begun, continued or completed during the year. The annual statement was to include also an account of all the assets and liabilities of the trust/board at the end of the reporting period. Where a municipal council was appointed in the place of a Waterworks Trust, it was required to keep separate books and accounts of such waterworks district.

本数据集收录了市政会计系统的档案记录。下文将对市政当局管理的基金类型，以及会计系统内的档案记录类型进行说明。

### 市政会计基金
市政会计工作需遵循《1874年地方政府法》及后续地方政府相关立法，同时需符合《市政会计条例》的规定。依据上述规定，维多利亚州市政委员会的收支被划分为市政基金、贷款基金以及乡村道路委员会基金三类。

市政基金可进一步划分为以下三类：
1. 普通基金
2. 市政事业基金（如屠宰场、供电项目等）
3. 道路建设、单独税率及专项改良收费基金

市政当局需将普通收入计入市政基金。普通收入包括税率收入、通行费及通行费租金、拨款，以及所有非贷款所得的其他款项。普通基金是市政委员会的核心基金，其账目记录了市政收支的主要项目。《市政会计条例》要求为这三类市政基金分别建立会计档案。

### 会计档案
会计系统由一系列结构化的档案记录组成，共同记录各类金融交易。在最基础的层面，系统内各核心组件（或档案）之间的信息流可通过以下图示说明：但实际的信息流并非始终如此简单直接。

#### 原始凭证
原始凭证包括收据簿、支票存根、凭单等。经办人员需从这些凭证中提取信息，并按时间顺序以完整或汇总形式录入现金日记账或普通日记账，该流程称为日记账登记。

#### 现金日记账
现金日记账兼具原始分录账簿（即日记账）与现金总账账户（通常包含银行账户）的功能。作为原始分录账簿，它用于按时间顺序记录收款与付款交易。按照标准格式，现金（及支票）收款记录在账簿左侧，现金（及支票）付款记录在右侧。随后，这些金额将被过账至对应的总账账户，对应账户可通过账页编号或账户编号识别。由于现金日记账同时替代了现金总账账户，因此需定期进行余额结算。

#### 日记账（专用日记账与普通日记账）
日记账的核心功能是便于将借贷交易过账至对应的总账账户。与现金日记账相同，普通日记账也是按时间顺序记录交易的原始分录账簿。专用日记账通常用于汇总同类交易的信息，其中包括现金交易，例如现金收款日记账、工资与物料日记账。而普通日记账则用于便捷记录其他交易，包括总账账户调整（例如更正差错）以及资产的买卖业务。

日记账也可用于记录金额从一个账户过账至另一账户的操作（该操作在财年末尤为常见），对应账户可通过账页编号或账户编号识别。

#### 分类账（明细分类账与总分类账）
分类账用于记录单个或多个账户的变动（即借贷交易）。账户的构成（即分类方式）并无统一标准，通常取决于机构的职能以及其财务报告相关监管规定。交易从现金日记账和普通日记账过账至分类账账户，过账来源通常通过账页编号与源档案缩写组合标识，例如`C`或`CB`代表现金日记账，`J`代表普通日记账，`PC`代表零用现金日记账等。

明细分类账通常用于在大型账户中实现职责分工，或为特定账户单独建立档案记录。而总分类账则包含了机构编制财务报表所需的全部账户。若使用明细分类账，总分类账通常会设置一个统驭账户，用于汇总各明细分类账账户的交易总额，该账户即为“统驭账户”。

#### 财务报表
财务报表示例包括运营报表、资产负债表以及损益表。财务报表可汇总展示机构在特定时点的财务状况。此类报表通常每年编制一次，并随年度报告一同发布，但也可按更短的周期编制。报表的类型与格式通常由法律法规要求决定，而这又进一步明确了机构需维护的账户类型。

### 立法监管
各项《水务法》均要求建立会计账簿，且账簿需保持更新，全年随时可供检查与审计。同时需编制年度会计报表，内容包括机构全年的所有收支金额、征收的各项税费、签订的合同，以及年内启动、推进或完成的工程。年度报表还需包含报告期末水务信托/委员会的全部资产与负债情况。若市政委员会被指定接替水务信托，则需为该水务区域单独建立会计账簿与档案。