The Accounting and Budgeting divisions of the Finance Department analyzes, records and communicates the city's economic events. Financial records management and general financial administrative services are provided for the benefit of the public, other city departments, and the governmental body as a whole. High quality and low cost are its primary objective by providing information to facilitate the decision making process.

Most department operations are guided and mandated by federal, state and city laws and various agencies, such as Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and the Washington State Auditor's Office.

The Finance Department operates under two different divisions: