A financial specialist oversees fiscal management for the government or security agency. He or she performs audits and maintains compliance.

STEP 1: Imagine you are a financial specialist in your home state of (CALIFORNIA) criminal justice agency. Your agency director has received an audit report discrepancy that identified the agency was using a mixture of cash basis and accrual accounting methods. Your director wants to implement only one method and has asked you to develop a recommendation.

STEP 2: Write a 525- to 700-word recommendation in which you:

• -Summarize each accounting method, including the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
• -Identify which accounting method you recommend the agency should implement—cash-basis, accrual, or modified accrual—and explain why you selected that method.
• -Explain how your chosen accounting method aligns with fiscal management strategies.