NEWBERRY – The City of Newberry’s Finance Department has received a “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting” for the 30th consecutive year. The award is presented annually by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States to governments that have achieved the highest standards of perfection in their accounting procedures.

The GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (COA) in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare annual comprehensive financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal.

The goal of the program is not to assess the financial health of participating governments, but rather to ensure that users of their financial statements have the information they need to do so themselves.

The city’s audit for fiscal year 2022-2023 was presented to City Council on Tuesday, December 12 by a representative of McKinley, Cooper, & Co. The most recent audit states that the city has once again received this certificate for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022.

“In order to be awarded a Certificate of Achievement, a government must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized annual comprehensive financial report. This report must satisfy both generally accepted accounting principles and applicable legal requirements,” the audit states.

A Certificate of Achievement is only valid for one year.

“We are incredibly proud of our finance department team for again being recognized as a top tier city for excellence in financial reporting,” said Interim City Manager Ed Driggers. “The City of Newberry is committed to financial transparency and keeping our community informed about our financial position. The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report is a tool to help us exceed in that commitment.”