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a) State agencies shall prepare and maintain financial and accounting data for inclusion in the Governor’s Budget, Budget Act and related documents, and the budgetary-legal basis annual report described in

Section 12460, according to the methods and bases provided in regulations, budget letters, and other directives of the Department of Finance. The adoption, amendment, or repeal of these regulations, budget letters, or other directives consistent with this

section are exempted from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with

Section 11340) of Part of Division of Title 2). The Department of Finance shall consult with the Controller concerning significant changes to these financial and accounting methods, unless those changes are otherwise specified in law. The Department of Finance shall implement procedures, consistent with this section, that facilitate annual reconciliations of General Fund and special fund balances between those provided by a state agency to the Department of Finance and to the Controller.

In the Governor’s Budget documents, appendices thereof, or other directives, the Department of Finance shall ensure that adjustments of prior-year fund balances and accounting methods are clearly noted in some fashion in order to ensure the closest possible comparability of these documents with past and future budgetary-legal basis annual reports. (

b) For purposes of this section, “state agency” means every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission.