Which statement is true regarding the required disclosure of budgetary information?

• A. The GASB requires reconciling the budgetary comparison actual column to the amounts on the statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balances.
• B. The budgetary comparison schedule must be prepared only if a legally adopted budget exists.
• C. Budgetary information is optional for all funds.
• D. Reconciliation is not required for capital projects funds.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that when a government provides budgetary information, it must connect what was budgeted to what was actually reported in the financial statements. GASB requires a budgetary comparison schedule that includes a reconciliation between the budgetary actual column and the GAAP-based amounts in the fund statements (revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balances). This reconciliation explains how the budget results translate into the amounts reported under GAAP, so users can see the relationship between the two measurement bases. The budgetary comparison schedule is prepared for funds with legally adopted budgets, and the reconciliation is the mechanism that ties the two perspectives together, making the presentation complete and comparable.