NHMA's government finance specialist has extensive experience in municipal government and finance. She is available to assist NHMA members with government-finance inquiries and provides educational programming. The available services are described below, and members can contact her at legalinquiries@nhmunicipal.org or by calling 603.224.7447 and choosing option 1.
Any of the topics listed below are also available as On Demand programs for your town or city. Please visit our On Demand Training page.
Services
- Audit
- What is my auditor asking for and why?
- Need help understanding your audit adjusting entries?
- What is a MD&A, why do we have to do it, and what is required to be in it?
- Why does our audit have our financial reports multiple times, but they are all different and they don't match our books?
- Who is GASB and do I need to care about their statements?
- Are there alternatives to an audit?
- MS-60A, MS-60W & MS-60 Audit Option and Schedule, Audit Waiver and Report of Locally Elected Auditor(s) (duplicated in Understanding your MS forms below)
- Budgets
- How do I budget for that?
- Where do I budget for that?
- A department is going over budget, what do we do?
- Internal Controls
- Internal controls - what are they and how do I implement them?
- Discussions on financial policies
- Our employees are trustworthy. Why do we need to worry about fraud?
- Reconciliations
- Reconciliations - What, why and how?
- Reconciliations - It doesn't balance, what now?
- Tax rates
- Tax rate estimates
- Understanding what goes into them
- Where do the numbers come from?
- Fund Balances
- Understanding your fund balance
- Our Fund Balance is high, what can we use it for?
- What is GASB 54 and what do the fund balance categories mean?
- Accounting
- Modified Accrual - what is it and why do we use it?
- Understanding a balance sheet and what goes on it
- Debits and Credits - why do they no match my bank statement? Why do some accounts have a debit balance and others have a credit?
- Chart of Accounts
- A department is going over budget, what do we do?
- Cash flow statements - Do we really need one and what should we put on it?
- Interfund activity -
- What are they?
- Due To/From vs Transfer To/From - When to use which one
- Yearend
- What is an encumbrance, when do I use them, and what can I encumber?
- How long can I keep my yearend books open?
- Which year do I post this entry to?
- We need a TAN; how do we get one and how do we record it on our books? What about when we pay it down or pay it off?
- Oops, I posted that wrong. How do I fix it?
- Taxes
- What do you mean the whole tax commitment isn't town revenue?
- Our Tax Collector perfected a lien; how do I record that on the town books?
- Our Tax Collector took a property by tax deed, what do I do on the town books?
- We sold a tax deeded property; how do I record that?
- How do we remove this balance from the tax books?
- What is the MS-61, how do I fill it out, and why do I even need to do it?
- Calculating and recording a Land Use Change Tax bond, before and after the cut
- We owe interest on an abatement. How do we calculate the amount owed and where do we post it?
- Agency payments
- What are they?
- How does my school district come up with their payment schedule and is it correct?
- When do precinct taxes get paid?
- My tax bills went out late and I don't have enough money to pay the County. What do I do?
- Treasurer
- What is a delegation of authority and what belongs on it?
- Who is responsible for what?
- Investment policy
- Payroll
- Is my payroll calculating correctly?
- Why are some deductions tax-exempt and can I make more tax exempt?
- Where do I get the numbers for our 941?
- Why are the wages different in all three boxes on the W-2?
- My employee lives in another state; do I need to withhold state taxes?
- My employee works in another state; do I need to withhold state taxes?
- Can I pay reimbursements through payroll? Do they affect the employee's taxes?
- Understanding your MS forms
- MS-636 - Budget of the Town
- MS-737 - Budget of a Town with a Municipal Budget Committee
- MS-DT - Default Budget
- MS-232 - Report of Appropriations Actually Voted
- MS-535 - Financial Report of the Budget
- MS-434 - Revised Estimated Revenues
- MS-61 - Tax Collector Report
- MS-60A, MS-60W & MS-60 Audit Option and Schedule, Audit Waiver and Report of Locally Elected Auditor(s) (duplicated in the budget section)
- MS-9 & MS-10 - Report of Trust and Capital Reserve Funds, Report of Common Trust Fund Investments
- MS-50 - Treasurer's Report of Borrowing
- Funds other than the general fund
- Capital Reserve Funds / Expendable Trust Funds - how to create, maintain, use, and discontinue them
- Can I combine the town Expendable Trust Fund (ETF) with a bequeath (ETF)?
- Funds other than the general fund - how can they help us?
- Who maintains them and who can approve expenses from them?
- Do we they need to be part of the budget?
- Business-Type / enterprise funds - why are these books different?
- Business-Type / enterprise funds - my auditor and DRA treat them differently, why?
- Grants
- What is this grant asking for?
- How do I account for them?