Internal Service Fund
An Internal Service Fund (ISF) is a type of fund used in governmental accounting to account for the financing of goods or services provided by one department to other departments of the government, on a cost-reimbursement basis. It is essentially a way for different parts of the government to charge each other for services rendered.
For example, a city might have a fleet of vehicles that are used by various departments (like the police department, the parks department, and the utilities department). The city could set up an Internal Service Fund to account for the costs of maintaining these vehicles. Each department would then be charged for their usage of the vehicles, and these charges would be revenues in the Internal Service Fund.
Another example could be an IT department providing tech services to various other departments within a governmental entity. The IT department’s expenses (like salaries, equipment, software, etc.) are paid out of the Internal Service Fund, and then these costs are allocated to the other departments based on some measure of usage (like the number of computers, the amount of data used, or the number of support tickets).
The goal of an Internal Service Fund is to encourage efficiency by making departments aware of the cost of the services they use, and to ensure that the costs of providing these services are fully covered by those who use them. It’s also a way of consolidating certain types of expenses in one place, which can simplify budgeting and management.
It’s worth noting that in the financial statements of the government, Internal Service Funds are usually reported as part of governmental activities, not business-type activities, even though they operate in a manner similar to a business. This is because their customers are other parts of the government rather than the public.
Example of an Internal Service Fund
Imagine a city government that has multiple departments, including the Police Department, Parks and Recreation Department, Public Works Department, and others. Each of these departments uses vehicles in their day-to-day operations. Rather than having each department manage their own fleet of vehicles, the city decides to centralize the management of all vehicles into one department called the “Fleet Management Department.”
The Fleet Management Department is responsible for purchasing vehicles, regular maintenance, repairs, fueling, and managing the disposal and replacement of old vehicles. To account for these operations, the city establishes an Internal Service Fund (ISF).
Here’s how it works:
- Expenses: All the costs associated with maintaining and operating the fleet of vehicles are accounted for in the ISF. This includes costs for purchasing new vehicles, fuel, repairs, maintenance, and personnel costs for the employees of the Fleet Management Department.
- Revenues: The Fleet Management Department charges each department for their use of the vehicles. The amount could be based on the number of vehicles used, the mileage driven, or some other measure of use. These charges are accounted for as revenues in the ISF.
- Net Position: At the end of the year, the net position (revenues minus expenses) of the ISF should ideally be zero or close to zero, indicating that the costs of providing the services have been fully covered by the charges to the departments. If there’s a surplus, it could be used to fund future vehicle purchases or reduce charges in the following year. If there’s a deficit, the city might need to adjust the charges or look for ways to reduce costs.
This ISF allows the city to manage its fleet of vehicles efficiently, ensures that the costs are fairly allocated to the departments that use the vehicles, and provides a clear picture of the total cost of operating the fleet.
