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Eleven Federal Agencies Receive Prestigious CEAR
Award
AGA is pleased to recognize the outstanding Fiscal Year
2006 Performance and Accountability Reports (PARs) of the following
federal agencies, which are the recipients of the Certificate of
Excellence in Accountability Reporting (CEAR)
- U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- U.S. Department of Labor
- U.S. General Services Administration
- U.S. Government Accountability Office
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- U.S. Small Business Administration
- U.S. Social Security Administration
Learn more about AGA's
CEAR Program.
PDC Early Registration Deadline
is May 25
The early registration deadline for PDC
2007 is quickly approaching. Don't miss your chance to save $100 by
registering by May 25, 2007. After that date, fees will increase to $900
for AGA members and $1,100 for nonmembers. 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 May 25, 2007.
In other PDC news:
Brochure Available Online
The preliminary program and registration brochure for AGA’s 2007 PDC are
available online. The brochure includes a list of featured speakers,
education sessions and networking events. You can also get information
about registration, hotel accommodations, travel discounts and more!
New Hotel Added
If you still need a room for the PDC in Nashville, we’ve got great news!
For your convenience, we have added a small block of rooms at the
Holiday Inn Express Nashville-Vanderbilt Hotel to accommodate PDC
attendees. To make reservations, please call Holiday Inn Select directly
at 800.633.4427. Please be sure to mention the “AGA” to receive the
conference rate.
Read more.
Case Challenge Effort Under Way
The AGA National Office will begin marketing its first-ever Government
Finance Case Challenge to colleges and universities from May through
October. AGA aims to educate colleges about career options in government
financial management; inform colleges about AGA; and invite them to
participate in this free event.
We need your assistance with this effort. If your
chapter has a connection with a local college or university, please consider
contacting the institution to introduce this competition. Find more
information on AGA's
website. |
May 14, 2007•
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 and Harrisburg, PA 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
Jennifer.Busse@cliftoncpa.com
Labor CFO Announces He is
Leaving Agency
Samuel T. Mok, CGFM, CIA, has announced he is leaving his position as
chief financial officer of the U.S. Department of Labor. Mok, who has
been Labor’s finance head for more than five years, said in a letter to
the CFO Council it was time to do something different. His last day is
May 15, he said. The Senate confirmed Mok in January 2002, and he became
the department’s longest-serving CFO. Mok led the department’s move to
green on the financial performance portion of the President’s Management
Agenda. He is also a member of AGA’s Washington, D.C. Chapter and will
become National President-Elect on July 1. “Under Sam's leadership, DOL
continued to receive clean audit opinions—now for 10 years in a row,”
Labor’s chief information officer, Patrick Pizzella, said. “And his
focus on eliminating improper payments made DOL one of the first
agencies to get to ‘green’ on that new initiative." —Jason Miller,
Federal Computer Week and AGA staff reports.
Read the entire article.
Civil Service Honored in Week
of Events
From patrolling the border to operating the space shuttle, the work of
the nation's federal, state and local civilian and military employees
were recognized across the country last week. The event, which has run
for the first full week of May every year since 1985, is designed to
educate citizens about the many ways in which government serves them.
Kevin Simpson, executive vice president of the nonprofit Partnership for
Public Service, said the goal is not only to recognize the achievements
of public servants, but also to generate interest in public service. "It
makes it more likely that when people think about a federal job, they
might consider the federal government as one possibility rather than
just rule it out as a result of a lack of knowledge," Simpson
said. —Brittany R. Ballenstedt, Government Executive.
Read the entire article.
AGA Today is Brought to You
by AGA Corporate Partner Graduate School, USDA
 Writing
for Auditors
Government auditors truly are change agents, and the extent to
which they can influence change depends on how well they communicate in
their reports. The Graduate School, USDA’s Government Audit Training
Institute offers a comprehensive program of writing courses that teach style
and organization skills, report writing, how to develop and present a
message, and more.
For information on our audit writing courses
and more, call (888) 744-GRAD or visit us at
www.grad.usda.gov/gati.
Federal
Accounting Corner
Revenue and the Statement of Financing
One of the most confusing external reports
is the Statement of Financing (SoF). Accounts are frequently assigned to
multiple lines, and it is not clear if these are mutually exclusive or
if their balances are to appear on each line. This column focuses on how
revenue is reported on the SoF. —by Simcha Kuritzky, CGFM, CPA.
Read the entire column.
States’ Rebellion at Real ID
Echoes in Congress
Two states leading a revolt against the Real ID Act have picked up new
firepower in the U.S. Senate in their fight to roll back an
unprecedented federal overhaul of state driver's licenses. Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is now spearheading an
effort in Congress to undo the 2005 law that will require states to
verify the identity of all 245 million licensed drivers and impose a
common set of security features on license cards. Leahy, who can use his
post to push legislation to the Democratic-controlled Senate, has signed
on to a bill to repeal the Real ID law and revive a previous
state-federal partnership effort to make driver’s licenses more secure.
A bill in the U.S. House, also now in Democratic hands since the 2006
election, has attracted the support of 25 co-sponsors. "While the
federal government dictates responsibilities for what has traditionally
been a state function—and adding layers of bureaucracy and regulation to
effectively create a national identification card—there is no help in
footing these hefty bills," Leahy said at a May 8 Judiciary Committee
hearing. —Eric Kelderman, Stateline.org.
Read the entire article.
AGA Today is Brought to You by AGA Corporate
Partner MorganFranklin
 MorganFranklin
is growing tremendously in the commercial and government marketplace. We
are seeking professionals with expertise in finance and accounting to
assist business and government leaders with high-stakes financial,
operational and IT issues. If this describes you, contact Kelly Hoadley
at 703.564.7525, ext. 270, or visit us online at
www.morganfranklin.com.
Study: Financial-Statement Fraud not a Solo Job
Rather than being the solo work of a rogue executive,
financial-statement fraud is a product of collaboration, involving an
average of seven people, according to a new study conducted by the
Institute for Fraud Prevention (IFP). In an examination of 834 companies
that filed financial restatements between 1997 and 2002, the study,
“Control Overrides in Financial Statement Fraud,” found that 374 (45
percent) were accused of securities fraud and subject to shareholder
suits, Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action or both. In
those cases, seven individuals on average were implicated. They occupied
a variety of positions. The study found that in cases of fraud, the
board of directors often was driven by senior management and the CEO
also served as chairman. “Far from being a solitary act, securities
fraud necessarily requires complicity,” said William Black, Executive
Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention. “In situations where the
CEO is chair of the board of directors, a body that is supposed to
oversee management, independence can be compromised. When independence
falls by the wayside, fraud is the consequence.” —Institute for
Fraud Prevention.
Read more.
Giuliani Plan to Slash
Federal Work Force Draws Fire
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s pledge to eliminate one-fifth of
federal jobs over the next decade through attrition drew quick criticism
last Tuesday from government observers. Giuliani said May 7 that, if
elected president, he would plan to replace just half of the estimated
42 percent of federal employees expected to retire by 2017. Giuliani, a
Republican, spoke at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Though he did not say how he would decide which jobs to cut, according
to news reports, he claimed the measure would save $70 billion annually.
Officials from federal employee groups and a nonprofit organization,
however, said it makes little sense to suggest cutting government jobs
without considering programs and services. Jonathan Breul, executive
director of the IBM Center for the Business of Government and a member
of AGA's Washington, D.C. Chapter, said technology can reduce personnel
and associated expenses, but such change takes careful planning. “One
size fits all usually doesn’t work in these sorts of situations. … These
things are not overnight problems, and they’re not going to be fixed
overnight,” Breul said. —Daniel Freedman, The Federal Times.
Read the entire article.
GAO Analysts Launch
Effort to Unionize
It wasn’t quite a scene out of Norma Rae. About two dozen
analysts in smart suits and sensible shoes—one, holding a box full of
petitions — filed calmly down a Washington street and into the office
lobby of the Personnel Appeals Board. That’s how about 1,500 analysts
and auditors at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) may get the
vote they’re seeking to join a union. A union trying to organize the
agency claims it filed enough petitions with the appeals board last
Tuesday to force a union vote. If the appeals board confirms the count,
the GAO analysts will get their vote by the end of July. It may seem a
bit odd that such labor strife is hitting an agency that even its own
employees say is the second best place to work in government. “We
believe GAO is one of the best places to work in government and we want
it to continue to be a model place to work,” said Scott McNulty, a GAO
auditor for 20 years. “This is not a reaction against change. This is a
way to manage change in the way it’s most effective.” —M.Z. Hemingway,
The Federal Times.
Read the entire article.
Tell Us What You're
Interested In!
AGA is running a brief survey to gauge member buying patterns, so we can
improve our efforts to get you the information you want to have. The
survey will take just a few minutes and will ask your preferences about
things such as which hotels and rental car companies you prefer. If you
wish to give us your e-mail address at the end, we'll enter you into a
drawing for a $50 American Express Gift Card to thank you for taking the
time to reply.
Take the survey.
AGA Advertising Opportunities!
Advertise in AGA's electronic newsletters—TOPICS and AGA
Today! Get maximum exposure and build your brand.
Find out what's available in an upcoming issue.
Click here for all the information you need to run your ad. Or, you
can contact April Pardoe.
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