Overview:

The U.S. Constitution mandates that "a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time" by the federal government (Article I, Section 9, Clause 7).

Two centuries after the publication of the U.S. Constitution, it is still difficult for the federal government to issue financial statements. In this assignment, you examine the U.S. federal government's financial statements to explore the differences in these statements from other governmental financial statements and the reasons that necessitate these differences.

Instructions:

Discuss three unique characteristics of the federal government that necessitate special accounting and reporting practices, presenting one example for each characteristic.