Conference Schedule

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday

8:15 - 9:05 a.m.

Audience: All
Field of Study: M

David M. Walker, CPA, Comptroller General of the United States

Convener: Jeffrey Steinhoff, CGFM, Managing Director, Financial Management and Assurance, GAO

9:05 - 9:55 a.m.

Audience: All
Field of Study: M

Corporate Governance and AccountabilityMajor accountability breakdowns in recent years have contributed to the decline in investor confidence in U.S. capital markets. This session focuses on strengthening the four interrelated areas of corporate governance, the financial reporting model, the accounting profession, and regulation and enforcement to effectively implement the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and rebuild investor confidence.

David M. Walker, CPA, Comptroller General of the United States

John R. Miller (Jack), Vice Chairman, Health Care & Public Sector, KPMG LLP

Nell Minnow, Co-Founder, The Corporate Library.

Convener: Jeffrey C. Steinhoff, CGFM, CPA, Managing Director, Financial Management and Assurance, GAO

10:40 - 11:30 a.m.

Audience: All
Field of Study: M

Getting to Results: How Do We Succeed?

This session "sets the stage" for what it really means to have a outcome, results-oriented organization and to integrate performance with the budget. The session discusses how agencies identify measurable results, actually measure accomplishments, relate results to resources, evaluate actual accomplishments, and revise plans and resources to better achieve the desired results. This session provides the vision of a true outcome-based, citizen-centric government in which the citizens know what to expect from government.

Carl D. DeMaio, President, The Performance Institute, and Senior Fellow, The Reason Foundation

Maurice P. McTigue, Distinguished Visiting Scholar, George Mason University<

Convener: Irwin T. David, CGFM, CPA, Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer, NOAA's National Weather Service

10:40 - 11:30 a.m.

Audience: All
Field of Study: M

What Can We Expect From the Budget Battles?

This session presets the issues and challenges facing federal and state budgets and budgeting and offers suggestions for improving the processes. The session also examines major challenges and conflicts associated with the formulation and execution of budgets and the measurement of results versus the accounting for monies spent and the appropriateness of those expenditures. A theme of the session is the importance of collaboration between the budget and finance communities to improve performance of the organization and use of financial resources to carry out organizational mission.

Stan Collender, Senior Vice President and Partner, Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.

Convener: C. Morgan Kinghorn, Jr., CGFM, Partner, IBM Business Consulting Services

Plenary Session - Aligning with a Continuum of Change

Join futurist Ed Barlow as he takes us on a journey into the uncharted territory of the 21st century. Explore with him the rapid and dramatic economic scientific, technological and demographic changes which will influence our future. Consider the implications of these changes for our work in government accounting. You don’t want to miss this most insightful and entertaining look at what's ahead.

Irwin T. David, CPA, CGFM, Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer, NOAA’s National Weather Service

Carl D. DeMaio, President, The Performance Institute, and Senior Fellow, The Reason Foundation

William G. Holland, State Auditor, State of Illinois

Convener: Jonathan D. Breul, MPA, Senior Fellow, IBM Endowment for The Business of Government, IBM Business Consulting Services

Town Hall 2: Integrating the Budget "World" and the Finance "World"

As someone once said about the U.S. and England--budget and accounting are "separated by a common language." The same words don't mean the same things. One looks forward and one back. And for a long time managers could and did treat budget and accounting like separate worlds. That time is gone. Today they must be seen as two faces of the same coin--like the Roman God Janus. The problem is to find ways to bring the perspectives, insights & information together to improve accountability and monitor results. How? Will legislators use this?

Stan Collender, Senior Vice President and Partner, Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.

C. Morgan Kinghorn Jr., CGFM, Partner, IBM Business Consulting Services

Carl Moravitz, Former Budget Director, Department of Treasury, Department of Homeland Security

Convener: Susan J. Irving, CGFM, Director for Federal Budget Issues, GAO

Town Hall 3: Experiences in Building Future Leaders

This session focuses on strategies for developing our next generation of leaders. Experts in leadership development share their perspectives on the leadership issue and their experiences in addressing it in both the civilian and military arenas.  They engage the audience in discussion on tactics for identifying and growing our future leaders.

Joseph R. Riddle, Acting Director, Federal Executives Institute (FEI)

COL CR David B Berg, Director Army Programs, Syracuse University

Convener: A.W. “Pete” Smith Jr., President and CEO, Private Sector Council

1:30 - 2:45 p.m.

Audience: All
Field of Study: M

Town Hall 4: Lessons Learned as Business Partners

Several agencies that recently shifted financial operations to private sector companies, or to other agencies, explain successes and problems they encountered in the process.  The discussion focuses on strategic considerations before the move is made, and on preparatory actions needed to ensure success.

Ralph Campbell Jr., State Auditor, State of North Carolina

Russell George, Inspector General, Corporation for National Service

Tim Vigotsky, Director, National Business Center, U.S. Department of Interior

Convener: Thomas R. Bloom, CGFM, CPA, Director, Defense Accounting Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), DoD

Results of Annual CFO Survey

This session discusses the candid views of CFOs and others on the changing paradigm for financial operations, moving to consolidation or outsourcing, as disclosed in the annual AGA/Grant Thornton survey of the CFO community. The survey examines recent changes in the model for financial operations, and how those changes are likely to affect future organizational structures.

Gwendolyn Brown, CGFM, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Cynthia Schwimer, CJP

Convener: Larry Goode, CGFM, CPA, Partner, Financial and Technology Solutions,  Global Public Services, Grant Thornton LLP

Automated Tools to Support the Entire Budget Cycle

This session highlights the use of software tools that have been developed specifically to help state and federal organizations better manage and control the budget process.  These techniques and tools combine what traditionally have been separate operations to deliver the elements needed for budget formulation, analysis, reporting and monitoring in one integrated system. This approach results in an efficient solution that allows management to access key business information seamlessly and swiftly.

Terry Ouverson, CGFM, Director, Systems Planning and Integration Staff (SPIS), Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Convener: Bill Topolewski, Senior Principal, American Management Systems (AMS)

1:30 - 2:45p.m.

Audience: F
Field of Study: M

Meeting the Challenge of Accelerated Annual Audits

The requirement to accelerate annual performance and accountability reports, including audited agency wide financial statements, to November 15 for fiscal year 2004 reports poses major challenges for management and auditors alike. The U.S. Department of the Treasury accomplished this feat two years early by reducing the time required to issue its fiscal year 2002 report from five months to 45 days after year-end. This required new processes for developing and reporting financial information, revised audit approaches, and a close working relationship between management and the auditors. A panel comprised of Treasury management and auditors discuss how this acceleration was successfully achieved and offer insights to other agencies facing this challenge.

James R. Lingebach, CGFM, CPA, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Steven J. Sebastian, CGFM, CPA, Director, Financial Management and Assurance, GAO

W. Todd Grams, Chief Information Officer (CIO), IRS

Convener: William H. Pugh, CGFM, Deputy Inspector General for  Audit, U.S. Department of the Treasury

1:30 - 2:45 p.m.

Audience: All
Field of Study: M

Future Financial Workforce Competencies

Transitioning from transaction processing to a decision support environment is critical for organizations to succeed. What are the competencies needed for the financial work force to perform these critical functions? Both technical and behavioral competencies will be discussed. Share your views with experts from both public and private sectors.

Kenneth M. Bresnahan, IBM Business Consulting Services

William H. Campbell, Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer, VA

Michael G. Kramer, Director of Finance, World Headquarters, The Boeing Company

Charles J. Maloney Jr., CGFM, Executive Director, Government Financial Management Solutions, Management Concepts

Convener: Doris A. Chew, CGFM, CPA, Assistant Executive Director, Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP)

OPM Investigations Service

This panel will present the experience of 2 federal agencies in partnering with the private sector to achieve mission. They will discuss the initial  privatization of OPM investigations through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) company (USIS); the history, oversight procedures and management of OPM's USIS contract; OPM's new relationship w/ DSS and current plans to promote growth and competition in the background investigations business; and the "lessons learned" by OPM and DSS in their fieldwork contracting experiences."

Charles Overend, Special Assistant for Management, Human Resources, U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Keith Kuczka, Assistant Deputy Director for Augmentation, Defense Security System

Fred Chatterton, Chief, Contracting Branch, Office of Personnel Management

Convener: Pamela Cannavan, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Financial Systems Architecture

Enterprise architectures and enterprise wide resource programs (ERP) are playing a greater role in governmental planning for information technology initiatives. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is championing the cause, and the Department of Defense (DoD) has undertaken an ambitious program to use enterprise architecture to surmount its long-standing problems in financial management. This session enables participants to gauge the progress made by DoD, and to learn OMB’s plans for the future.

JoAnn R. Boutelle, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Office of the Under Secretary (Comptroller/CFO), DoD

Norm Lorentz, Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Convener: Jerry Williams, CGFM, Chief, Federal Financial Systems Branch, OMB

3:25 - 4:15 p.m.

Audience: All
Field of Study: M

CFOs and IGs Partnering for Results

This session highlights ways IGs and CFOs can work together to promote achievement of results. The EPA CFO and IG highlight ways their offices have partnered with others in EPA, including the CIO and program offices. They share tools that have been successful in improving business processes and systems.

Linda Combs, Chief Financial Officer, EPA

Nikki L. Tinsley, CPA, Inspector General, EPA

Convener: Melissa Heist, CGFM, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, EPA

3:25 - 4:15 p.m.

Audience: F
Field of Study: M

The New A-76

OMB Circular A-76 is the seminal document guiding how competitive sourcing efforts are to be carried out by the federal government. It has been the source of continuing controversy since its issuance 37 years ago. To facilitate the President’s Management Agenda initiative on Competitive Sourcing, A-76 is being revised. This session presents the revised guidance with focus on the roles of the accounting and auditing communities.

Thomas R. Bloom, CGFM, CPA, Director, DFAS, DoD

Jack Kalavritinos, Associate Administrator for Competitive Sourcing, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, OMB

Convener: Dennis Fischer, CGFM, Vice President, VISA USA

3:25 - 4:15 p.m.
Audience: F
Field of Study: M

Governmentwide Accounting Modernization Project: FAQ from A to Z

A panel discussion on the governmentwide changes to systems and processes, presented by way of our customers’ questions.

Nancy Fleetwood, CGFM, CPA, Assistant Commissioner, Information Resources, FMS, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Della Gottesman, FMS, U.S. Department of the Treasury

John Benoit, CPA, Project Director, U.S. Department of the Treasury, FMS

Convener: Judith Comeau, Governmentwide Accounting Modernization Project, Information Resources, FMS, U.S. Department of the Treasury

3:25 - 4:15 p.m.

Audience: F
Field of Study: M

Status of the Federal E-Payroll Project

This panel updates the participants on the status of this e-government project. The chair is OPM’s e-government project director and panel members are the manager of the e-payroll project and representatives from each of the payroll providers. They talk about the process, the challenges and the timetables for consolidating the government’s payroll processing.

Janet Dubbert, Manager, e-Payroll Project, OPM

Dennis R. Locke, National Business Center, U.S. Department of the Interior

Convener: Norman Enger, Director, e-Government Program, OPM

International Roundtable

You are invited to join AGA's International Development Committee for an informal roundtable discussion of international issues. Committee members will share their views, discuss AGA's long-term goals and offer attendees the opportunity to raise questions or suggest approaches for AGA in the international arena. Both international attendees as well as U.S. nationals living abroad are encouraged to attend. Or, if you just have an interest in this area, you are more than welcome to attend!