Accounting for Water Utilities
Explore the accounting and financial management practices used by water utilities. The course covers operating environments, reporting frameworks, charts of accounts, water sales, nonrevenue water, expenses, inventory, capital assets, construction, contributed assets, grants, rate setting, regulatory accounting, budgeting, internal controls, and much more through practical examples across governmental and nongovernmental utilities.
Format
PDF Course
Course Lists
Duration
10 Hours
Course Information
Author: Steven Bragg
Course number: AC1186
Not Acceptable for: Enrolled Agents
Not Acceptable for: Enrolled Agents
Learning Objectives
- Recognize why utilities use different tracking systems for different types of water.
- Recall the basis of accounting used by most water utilities.
- Recognize the financial exposures associated with different types of water utilities.
- Specify the terms associated with different types of water billings.
- Recall why some utility accounts have restrictions associated with them.
- Recognize the names and types of subledgers that feed into a utility’s general ledger.
- Recall how account coding is conducted for purchases.
- Recognize the accounting used for work orders in a utility.
- Specify the account designation for different types of customer deposits.
- Recall the process for estimating customer bills.
- Recognize the different classifications of unbilled water consumption.
- Recall the various inputs to a water balance calculation, and the accuracy of those inputs.
- Recognize the ways to measure leakage performance.
- Specify how to account for a purchased-water invoice.
- Recall the accounting for regulatory fees.
- Recognize the accounting for inventory in a water utility.
- Recall the characteristics of capital spares.
- Recognize the costs that are included in a land asset.
- Specify the accounting for easements.
- Recall the accounting for water rights.
- Recognize why asset componentizing is a useful technique in a utility.
- Recall the events that can trigger an impairment analysis.
- Recognize the accounting for retired assets.
- Specify the accounting for construction work in progress.
- Recall the accounting for contractor retainages.
- Recognize the sources of information for the acquisition value of contributed assets.
- Recall the fees associated with expanding system capacity.
- Recognize the accounting for developer deposits.
- Specify the accounting for government grants to a utility.
- Recall the issues that small utilities have with government grants.
- Recognize the accounting for different types of utility loans.
- Recall the accounting issues associated with issuing bonds.
- Recognize the issues that can cause long-term debt to be reported as short-term debt.
- Specify the steps followed to conduct a cost-of-service study.
- Recall the rates used to drive different types of financial performance.
- Recognize the situations in which regulatory assets and liabilities are recognized.
- Recall the process used to derive a water utility’s budget.
- Recall the ratios that may be used to view the performance of a utility.
Level: Overview
Instructional Method: QAS Self-Study
NASBA Category: Accounting
Prerequisites: None
Advance Preparation: Knowledge of governmental accounting
Latest Review Date: July 2026
Program Registration Requirements: Click on the Enroll button to pay for and access the course. You will then be able to download the course as a PDF file, then take an on-line examination, and then download a certificate of completion if you pass the examination.
Program Refund Policy: For more information regarding administrative policies concerning complaints, refunds, and other matters, see our policies page.