Highlights
Onsite Registration Available for PMC
AGA's Fourth Annual Performance Management Conference begins today at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. Onsite registration is available. The conference, which runs today and tomorrow, will include sessions for both the state and local government officials as well as federal government employees. For more information, visit our website.
Training Opportunities
Soft Controls Audio Conference Set for Nov. 12
AGA, in conjunction with the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT) and the Association of Local Government Auditors (ALGA) is pleased to announce an audio conference, Understanding the Importance of Soft Controls in Improving Operations.
Register online
Print the registration form or
Special Promotion Registration and fax it to 703.684.6933.
Upcoming Audio Conferences
Dec. 10—21st Century Financial Managers: New Mix of Skills and Education Levels
See the schedule for next year.
AGA Announces Four New Courses
Four new AGA-sponsored courses are designed to help financial managers and auditors add value to government performance. The courses are presented in cooperation with The Auditor Roles in Performance Measurement Project Team of The Institute of Internal Auditors, which developed the courses under a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. These courses can be customized to an organization’s needs, to immerse participants in high-value audit skills and provide additional ways to apply them. The four courses include:
A New Service Model: Auditor Roles in Government Performance Measurement
Assessing the Reliability and Relevance of Performance Information
Assessing the Quality of Performance Information and Performance Reports
Auditing Performance Management Systems
Read more details about these and other AGA-sponsored training courses, or contact AGA Director of Education Joe Jozefczyk at 800.AGA.7211, ext. 307.
Seventeen Universities Participate in AGA's Second Government Finance Case Challenge
 AGA received a great deal of interest in the 2008-2009 case challenge. New schools are registered to participate in this year's challenge while other schools will be using the case as a teaching example in accounting classes. View the list of participating teams. We believe that this case challenge serves as a tangible way to introduce undergraduate students to the challenges and the possibilities that are connected to a career in the government financial management profession. This year’s case requires the student teams to construct a citizen-centric report for Cloverdale, NC. The two finalist teams will be announced on Monday, Nov. 24. If you have any questions about the challenge, contact jcurtin@agacgfm.org. Stay tuned!
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October 27, 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 Comments on Two GASB Exposure Drafts
AGA's Financial Management Standards Board (FMSB) has issued a comment letter on two Exposure Drafts of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB): Codification of Accounting and Financial Reporting Guidance Contained in the AICPA Statements on Auditing Standards and The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for State and Local Government. The FMSB believes that moving the hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles from the auditing literature to a GASB statement is a wise decision and one that is especially appropriate in light of the Financial Accounting Standards Board codification project and the convergence of international with national standards. Including in GASB guidance the three issues discussed in the codification Exposure Draft—related party transactions, subsequent events and going concern considerations—would help to more appropriately place presentation of principles used in the preparation of financial statements in accounting and financial reporting standards, the FMSB stated. Read the letter.
Watchdog Unveils Government Reform Priorities for Next Administration
The next presidential administration should focus on making the government operate more effectively and with greater accountability, openness and honesty, a Washington watchdog group said in a set of recommendations published last week. The seven-page priority list was the first of its kind issued by the Project on Government Oversight. The nonprofit has sent a copy to the transition teams of Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. The recommendations center on beefing up the size and scope of the civilian workforce and improving the operational and management capacities of agencies. For example, the watchdog group said oversight offices throughout the government have been underfunded and co-opted by political appointees with a partisan agenda. The report recommended that all organizations with oversight responsibilities—from inspectors general offices to the Defense Contract Audit Agency—be "afforded the resources, authority and incentives" to complete their missions. —Robert Brodsky, Government Executive. Read more.
AGA Today is Brought to You by AGA Corporate Partner American Appraisal Associates
 American Appraisal—with over 50 offices in the U.S. and overseas—provides critical solutions designed to track, manage and enhance financial and mission performance of a single asset, or a diversified portfolio of land, buildings, leases and personal property (barcode/RFID tagging). For all your federal real and personal property valuation, advisory and transaction consulting needs, contact Kevin McHugh at (202) 628-8800 or kmchugh@american-appraisal.com.
States Face New Budget Shortfalls
The moribund economy is drying up tax revenues more dramatically than expected, forcing 22 states, including California, to confront growing budget gaps. Some states have already eliminated jobs and services—and more cuts are likely. The new shortfalls -- totaling at least $11.2 billion—come just months after numerous states enacted belt-tightening measures while writing their yearly budgets. Officials also adjusted their revenue projections downward to account for the slowing economy. But in many cases, the actual revenue for the first quarter of the fiscal year, which began July 1, has proven to be even lower. The gaps "will almost certainly widen" as tax revenues continue to disappoint, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank that compiled the state data in a report this month. Economists and other observers fear the numbers may signal the onset of a historic fiscal crisis for state governments. —Richard Fausset and Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times. Read more.
Experts: Reorganize Financial Regulatory Agencies
Reducing the number of government regulators overseeing the financial industry while better defining their responsibilities may help strengthen marketplace oversight, scholars told House lawmakers last Tuesday. “The number of regulators could be less than we have now; there’s a lot of duplication,” said Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution and Georgetown University, and former director of the Congressional Budget Office at a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. “We need a regulator of the financial behemoths, making sure they adequately understand and are monitoring their own risk. We’ve not had that in this crisis.” U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., agreed. “We need to consolidate regulation in fewer agencies, but maximize the number of cops on the beat to make sure that market participants follow the rules. We must additionally ensure that these agencies cooperate with one another, rather than engage in turf battles.” Manuel Johnson of financial advisory firm JohnsonSmick International said there must be coordination between overseers and industry. Better communication among regulators can help alert the government to any possible crises. —Rebecca Neal, Federal Times. Read more.
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This Week on AGA's Blog
Visit the AGA Blog at http://aga.typepad.com/aga/.
Monday: John M. Kamensky, Senior Fellow and Associate Partner, IBM Center for The Business of Government
Tuesday: Christina Camara, AGA Publications Manager, Reports from the Fourth Annual Performance Management Conference in Seattle
Wednesday: Christina Camara, AGA Publications Manager, Reports from the Fourth Annual Performance Management Conference in Seattle
Friday: William Morehead, Ph.D., CGFM, on "Think Big! Act Courageously! Make a Difference!"
If you have questions about how to post a comment or subscribe to the feed that sends blog entries straight to your e-mail address, you can find out more. Want to spend a day as our guest on the blog? Contact Marie Force, communications director.
RI State Auditor and AGA Member Leading AICPA
Rhode Island Auditor General Ernest A. Almonte, CGFM, has been elected as chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Almonte, a member of AGA's Boston Chapter, was sworn in last Tuesday in a ceremony in Tuscon, AZ. He is the first government official to serve in this volunteer position since the organization’s founding in 1887. His term is one year. Almonte is responsible for auditing the $6-billion Rhode Island comprehensive annual financial report, the $30-billion federal single audit, municipal oversight, performance audits, fraud audits and oversight of quasi-public agencies. He also manages a staff of 46 and has more than 29 years of experience in the accounting profession. As chairman of the AICPA, Almonte said one of his top priorities will be continuing to advance the professional’s role in promoting financial literacy in the country. Almonte also announced the establishment of the AICPA Leadership Academy to groom members between 25 and 35 to become stewards of the profession, serving on Institute committees and acting as mentors. —AICPA and wire reports. Read more.
Comment Deadline Friday for GASB's SEA Suggested Guidelines
 Friday, Oct. 31 is the deadline for commenting on the Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s (GASB) Request for Response on suggested guidelines for voluntary reporting of service efforts and accomplishments (SEA) performance information. The Request for Response can be downloaded free from the GASB website. The document lays out a proposed framework of suggested guidelines that are intended to help state and local governments communicate their SEA performance information effectively.
FASAB Issues New Statement of Federal Financial Accounting
 The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) has issued Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) 33, Pensions, Other Retirement Benefits, and Other Post-employment benefits: Reporting Gains and Losses from Changes in Assumptions and Selecting Discount Rates and Valuation Dates. The standards in SFFAS 33 require:
- Gains and losses from changes in long-term assumptions used to estimate liabilities for federal employee pension and other retirement benefits, and other post-employment benefits to be displayed as discrete line items on the governmentwide entity’s and the component entities’ statements of net cost; and
- Components of the expense associated with such liabilities to be disclosed in notes to the financial statements. SFFAS 33 also provides standards for selecting the discount rate assumption and the valuation date for such liabilities.
Practices have varied regarding the discount rate for such liabilities and SFFAS 33 establishes one consistent approach for such rates for these liabilities The standards prescribed in SFFAS 33 are effective for periods beginning after Sept. 30, 2009. The statement is available on the FASAB website.
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