GASB 34 is a

financial accounting Financial accounting is a branch of accounting concerned with the summary, analysis and reporting of financial transactions related to a business. This involves the preparation of Financial statement audit, financial statements available for pu ...

standard issued by the

Governmental Accounting Standards Board The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the source of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) used by state and local governments in the United States. As with most of the entities involved in creating GAAP in the United Sta ...

in the United States GASB 34 provides a comprehensive framework for

financial reporting Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to un ...

with the objective of making

annual reports An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company's activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company's activities and financial performance. ...

easier to understand and more useful to the people who rely upon the financial condition contained therein. The most significant aspect of Statement 34 was that for the first time general infrastructure assets (such as roads, bridges and dams) were to be reported together with related

depreciation In accountancy, depreciation refers to two aspects of the same concept: first, an actual reduction in the fair value of an asset, such as the decrease in value of factory equipment each year as it is used and wears, and second, the allocation i ...

or preservation costs. In June 1999, GASB Statement 34 (or GASB 34) was published. The GASB Chairman characterized the statement as "the most significant change to occur in the history of government financial reporting." For the valuation of infrastructure assets, the Statement authorized both a standard depreciation approach and a modified approach that relied upon asset management analysis and systems as acceptable methods. That action also authorized a combination of the two if, in the judgment of the agency, depreciation was appropriate for some asset classes while the modified approach was appropriate for others.

References

Summary of GASB No. 34Full text of GASB No. 34
United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles {{US-poli-stub