Drinking water – Full cost accounting

About the program

The Alberta government has developed a Full Cost Accounting Program to promote fiscal planning amongst municipal waterworks systems.

One of the factors contributing to the sustainability of a waterworks system is a sound financial plan that addresses the system's assets and operations. This in turn requires the costs associated with the provision of safe, secure supplies of drinking water to be readily available and determined in a consistent manner across the province.

Municipalities are encouraged to participate in this voluntary program that provides waterworks owners with the tools necessary to report and track infrastructure, operational and administrative costs.

Click on the links below to access Full Cost Accounting presentations delivered to municipalities over the last 2 years through a workshop format. Additional detail is also provided on the 2 generally accepted full cost accounting methods, the 'utility approach' and 'cash needs approach'. These documents were developed by the department specifically for the use of municipal water systems owners in the reporting of all costs related to providing safe drinking water.

To view the documents, see A Guide to Alberta Environment's Full Cost Accounting Program.

Documents included on the Portal are:

• A Guide to Alberta Environment's Full Cost Accounting Program
• Full Cost Accounting - Cash Needs Approach Checklist
• Full Cost Accounting - Frequently Asked Questions
• Full Cost Accounting - Reporting Instructions
• Full Cost Accounting - Utility Approach Checklist

A presentation is also available: Stakeholder Workshop Presentation with Template Examples.

Registration

Municipalities wishing to participate in this voluntary program can Register online for Full Cost Accounting.