Highlights
Training Opportunities
Audio Conference on Government
Transparency Set for Wednesday
AGA is pleased to announce a new audio conference,
Improving Government Transparency Through Citizen-Centric Reporting,
addressing the need for governments to improve how they report financial
information to taxpayers. The audio conference, worth 2 CPE hours, is
set for 2 – 3:50 EDT, April 23.
AGA’s Citizen Centric Government Reporting Program
encourages governments to publish an annual “state of the government”
report that is no more than four pages long. The reports, designed to be
visually appealing, provide understandable information to citizens about
the performance and financial condition of the government, as well as
demographics and future challenges. Hear what tools are available from
AGA to produce such a report and listen to three practitioners who have
recently published such reports: Mary Lechner, CGFM, CPA,
Chief, Internal Control Branch, U.S. Coast Guard; Sam McCall,
CGFM, CPA, City Auditor, Tallahassee, FL; Kim Wallin,
Controller, State of Nevada; and Relmond Van Daniker, DBA, CPA,
AGA Executive Director.
Government agencies and AGA Corporate Partner members
who register five or more offices will receive a 20 percent discount.
Also,
AGA chapters can register for $200 per site.
Register online, or
print the regular registration form, or the
special promotion registration form and fax it to 703.684.6933.
Make Plans Now to Attend AGA's
PDC
Join us July 27-30, 2008 in Atlanta, GA, for AGA’s Professional
Development Conference & Exposition (PDC) – the government
financial management education and networking event of the year!
AGA has been a leader in providing the best training for more than 57
years, and this is the place where it all comes together. With the theme
“Building on the Dream: Creating a Culture of Accountability,” and
offering valuable CPE hours, timely topics and an impressive lineup of
speakers, PDC 2008 promises to be one of the Association's best.
One of the best reasons to attend is the unprecedented
gathering of top-notch speakers and financial management experts. This
year’s dynamic, high-profile keynote speakers include:
Ernest A. Almonte, CGFM, CPA,
Auditor General, State of Rhode Island
David S. Broder, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and national
political correspondent, The Washington Post
Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor
Kurt Eichenwald, business journalist
and best-selling author, Conspiracy of Fools
Rev. Dr. Bernice King,
internationally acclaimed orator, ordained minister and daughter of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Andrew Young, pastor, civil rights
leader, former U.N. ambassador
Registration couldn’t be easier. You can register
online or print the registration form to register by fax or mail.
Advance registration discounts apply to all forms received before
June 27.
Build on the dream… show your commitment a more
accountable future—register today.
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April 21, 2008
• News from the Profession
AGA Today is Brought to You by AGA Corporate
Partner Clifton Gunderson
 Clifton
Gunderson offices in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, Harrisburg, PA, and
Arlington, VA, are looking for experienced professionals to join our public
sector practice. The ideal candidate will have 5+ yrs of Public Accounting
or equivalent audit experience along with your BA/BS in Accounting and CPA
or CGFM. Duties will include audits of Federal entities, State & Local
audits (GASB), A-133 audits, and compliance auditing. To apply please e-mail
Michael.Armstrong@cliftoncpa.com
FMSB Weighs in on HUD Proposal
AGA's Financial Management Standards Board (FMSB) sent a comment letter
April 7 to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on its
proposed rule to establish an Independent Public Accountant Roster. The
FMSB had some concerns about the proposal.
Read the comment letter.
States Tackle Foreclosure
in Absence of Federal Help
This month alone, Philadelphia's sheriff
delayed foreclosure auctions of 759 homes at the city council's urging.
Maryland extended the time it takes to complete a foreclosure. State
leaders in Ohio recruited more than 1,000 lawyers to aid distressed
borrowers. Frustrated by the slow pace of federal action on behalf of
struggling homeowners, some states and cities have struck out on their
own to stem an alarming rise in foreclosures that has depressed home
prices in most parts of the country and eroded local governments'
revenues as property taxes and utility bills go unpaid. Nine states have
committed more than $450 million to "loan funds" aimed at refinancing
the mortgages of at-risk borrowers, according to a study by the Pew
Charitable Trusts. A handful have brokered deals with major lenders who
have pledged to ease terms for some troubled loans. A few states have
lengthened the time it takes to complete a foreclosure. "What the states
are saying is: 'We can't wait any longer for the federal government. We
have to get ahead of this,' " said Tobi Walker, a senior officer at the
Pew Charitable Trusts. "The states are experiencing this pain more
directly than the federal government is." —Dina ElBoghdady and Renae
Merle, The Washington Post.
Read more.
AGA
Today is Brought to You by AGA Corporate Partner American Appraisal
Associates
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50 offices on 4 continents around the world. Our Federal Government Practice
can assist many government agencies with their inventory, valuation and
overall asset management reporting requirements for their Real, Personal and
Intellectual Property assets.
Contact Kevin J. McHugh at (202) 628-8800 or
kmchugh@american-appraisal.com.
Agencies Directed to Tighten Rules on Purchase Card Use
Employees purchasing small-ticket items
with their government-issued credit cards must get those purchases
either approved in advance or reviewed after the fact under a policy
change announced Tuesday by the Office of Management and Budget. The new
policy is one of several
outlined by OMB Director Jim Nussle in response to a recent audit
from the Government Accountability Office that found agencies aren’t
doing enough to ensure employees are using the cards properly. The GAO
report documented dozens of instances in which employees used the cards
for inappropriate purchases, including Internet dating services,
mortgage payments and a personally inscribed iPod. “This is a very
serious issue that breaches the trust of the taxpayers as well as
diminishes the significant benefits that are achieved through the
federal charge card program,” Nussle said in a memo to agency and
department heads. By June 30, agencies must report to OMB that they have
taken specific steps to increase their controls over purchase card
transactions. —Tim Kauffman, Federal Times.
Read more.
Federal Accounting Corner
Anticipating Recoveries
Recoveries of obligations, which can result from canceling
old-year orders or closing an order when processing a payment for an
invoice that is for less than the original obligation, are treated as
new funding authority by OMB. On the Statement of Budgetary Resources
(SBR), they are reported on line 2, and generally must be apportioned
before used. Collections of refunds against prior-year payments should
also be apportioned, but are reported on line 3D1a of the SBR. —Simcha
Kuritzky, CGFM, CPA.
Read more.
AGA Today is Brought to You by Becker CPA Review
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OMB to Agencies: Don't
Bother Submitting 2010 Budget Requests
The Bush administration will leave much for the next president, but its
legacy will not include a fiscal 2010 budget, according to a recent
memorandum Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle sent to
agency heads. Instead of readying a full federal budget, Nussle said OMB
"will prepare a budget database that includes a current services
baseline," or an estimate based on current spending that does not
include proposed increases and new policy proposals. In what some budget
analysts called a surprising departure from past practices during the
transition from one administration to another, Nussle also said agencies
this year need not submit budget requests and supporting documents in
September as they normally do. Instead, agencies should estimate their
baseline spending and submit budget requests only after a new
administration or transition team arrives. —Dan Friedman,
CongressDaily.
Read more.
This Week on the AGA Blog
Bookmark the AGA blog at
http://aga.typepad.com/aga. This week's guests are:
Monday: Lealan Miller, CPA,
Partner, Eide Bailly LLP, and a member of AGA's National Executive
Committee, on “Auditing in the 21st Century”
Tuesday: Dave Bennett, CGFM, CPA,
Deputy Mayor and Finance Director, Blount County, TN, and AGA National
Treasurer on “Openness Drives Accountability”
Wednesday: Eveanna Barry, MS,
director of Performance Reporting, on “AGA’s Certificate of Achievement
in Service Efforts and Accomplishments Reporting Program”
Thursday: Jeff Hart, CGFM, manager,
Denver Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and AGA Immediate
Past National President on the “AGA Community Service Project in New
Orleans”
Friday: Thad Juszczak, CGFM, Senior
Manager, Grant Thornton, retired federal budget officer and AGA National
Treasurer-Elect on “Accountability: The Budget’s New Clothes”
Questions about how to post a comment or how to
subscribe to the feed that sends blog entries straight to your e-mail
address?
Find out more. Want to spend a day as our guest on the blog? Contact
Marie Force, communications director.
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FASAB Seeks Input on
New Exposure Draft
The
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) is seeking comments
on a Concepts Statement Exposure Draft titled, Distinguishing Basic
Information, Required Supplementary Information, and Other Accompanying
Information. The Exposure Draft proposes providing conceptual
guidance for determining how information in financial reports should be
categorized. Comments are requested by June 26.
Read the Exposure Draft. —FASAB.
Anatomy of Ethical Slips in Government Topic of
May 14 Audio Conference
AGA, in conjunction with NASACT and ALGA,
is pleased to announce a new and increasingly important topic to our
audio conference schedule—cases of ethical lapses.
During this audio conference, the presenter will
recount recent ethical lapses in government and examine the causes
and effects. By examining a series of ethical lapses, we find that a
pattern emerges. That pattern allows us to think about this
question: What is it in the culture of an agency that allows obvious
ethical breaches to occur and continue? Once we understand the
culture, we can think about putting the detection methods, as well
as antidotes, in place.
To share her expertise in ethical behavior and its
ramifications is Marianne M. Jennings, JD,
professor in the Department of Management in the W.P. Carey School
of Business at Arizona State University (ASU).
Please join us for two hours of lively discussion
that includes 20 minutes for Q & A. Cost: $249 per site (UNLIMITED
ATTENDANCE) if you register by May 9 and $299
thereafter. SPECIAL PROMOTION: Register five or more offices from
your government agency or CPAG firm and receive a 20 percent
discount.
Register online,
print the registration form and fax it to 703.684.6933 or
print the Special Promotion Registration form and fax it to
703.684.6933.
AGA
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Today! Get maximum exposure and build your brand.
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