Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting

The City of Bedford received the 25th Consecutive Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.

The Certificate of Achievement (COA) is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting. Its attainment represents a significant accomplishment and a standard of excellence in financial reporting. In order to be awarded a COA, a government must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). This report must satisfy both generally accepted accounting principles and applicable legal requirements.

The Award of Financial Reporting Achievement (AFRA) has also been presented to the Finance Department as the primary Department responsible for earning the COA.

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) established the COA Program in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of the generally accepted accounting principles to prepare annual comprehensive financial reports that exemplify the spirit of transparency and full disclosure, and then recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal. 

Reports submitted to the COA program are reviewed by selected members of the GFOA professional staff and the GFOA Special Review Committee (SRC), which comprises individuals with expertise in public sector financial reporting and includes financial statement preparers, independent auditors, academics, and other finance professionals. Members of the SRC review the reports based on specific criteria outlined in the program and provide the scoring of each award applicant.

To this day, the City of Bedford has met the specified criteria and received the COA recognition for the last 25 years in a row.