Highlights
CPE Opportunities
Organized by Region
Journal to Cover "Beyond A Clean Audit Opinion" in Winter Issue
Submit your work for consideration by AGA's Journal
Editorial Board. The writing deadline is September 1. Click here to review article submission
guidelines. Submit your work to Journal Editor Marie Force.
AGA Newsletter Summer
Schedule
AGA newsletters will follow the schedule
below in August:
August 30: Resume normal weekly
schedule, beginning with TOPICS.
Input for TOPICS is due the Wednesday before each issue date.
Please contact Marie Force, director of
communications, with any questions you may have. Have a safe and enjoyable
summer!
AGA Advertising Opportunities! Advertise in AGA's electronic newsletters—TOPICS
and AGA Today! Get maximum exposure and build your brand. Click here for all the information
you need to run your ad! Or you can contact AGA's
Director of Communications,
Marie Force
CGFM Exam 3 Study Guide Now Available!
Be sure to order the new Study Guide for CGFM Exam 3:
Governmental Financial Management and Control to help in your
preparation for the examination.
Click here to learn more.
 ORDER NOW!
A Primer on Internal Controls and Auditing: Crucial to Government and the
Economy
By: Wanda A. Wallace, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, CIA
Internal control has never been optional, and now an easy-to-read resource
directed to a wide audience is available to understand both what is meant
by "internal control" and how an “audit” is conducted. Click here to
order your copy.
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August 16, 2004 • News from
the Profession
AGA’s FMSB Comments on FASAB Proposal
AGA’s Financial Management Standards Board (FMSB) has
provided comments to the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB)
on its Exposure Draft, “Inter-Entity Cost Implementation: Amending SFFAS
4, Managerial Cost Accounting Standards and Concepts.” In a July 30 letter, FMSB Chair Russell W. Hinton, CGFM,
wrote, “The amendment would ensure that all material costs are included
in full cost measures. Inter-entity costs need to be accounted for, and
their inclusion results in a truer picture of the actual costs of
services being provided by federal departments. It also allows for
comparability between federal services and private providers. However,
one also needs to consider the costs associated with compiling and
reporting this information, and whether it simply adds another layer of
bureaucracy to the process.” Click here to read the complete letter.
Your Comments Are Needed On A Proposal That Could Affect
Grants Managers at all Government Levels
Attention, all AGA members, especially if you have ANYTHING to do
with grants! AGA, together with NASACT, is a member of the Uniform
Guidelines Coalition whose Technical Advisory Group has just issued an
Exposure Draft, “Uniform Data Elements and Definitions for Grant
Budgeting and Financial Reporting.” This is important reading for all who
work in the grants community. It is likely to affect grants managers at
all levels: federal agencies, state departments, foundations, local
government subrecipients, even not-for-profit organizations that receive
only one or two grants. We need your feedback. The exposure draft (ED)
has a 60-day comment period, ending on Sept. 30, 2004. Please read the
document on the AGA website, and send your comments to Anna Miller, AGA technical manager no
later than Sept. 15. Click here to read the Exposure Draft. Click here for more information.
USAID IG Helps Agency Recover An Estimated
$164 Million
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has collected
$164 million out of a potential total of about $182 million in back
payments to reimburse the agency for extra costs for shipping food aid.
The Office of the Inspector General (IG) discovered four years ago that
USAID had been paying top dollar—required by law—to ship U.S. food aid on
U.S. ships, but it had not been repaid for the added costs—also required
by law—for nearly a decade by the U.S. Maritime Administration.
The funds were collected in April and May of 2004 as a humanitarian
crisis unfolded in Sudan, and were used to provide food aid in Darfur, a
region suffering armed conflict and in need of food aid. Click here to read more. The audit
report is available on the USAID website.
Students Flocking to Accounting Programs
Can accounting be viewed as a ‘sexy’ career choice? Maybe
so, if the number of new accounting majors among college freshmen is any
indication. Academics say the corporate scandals over the last few years
has piqued the interest of today’s students. According to the AICPA, the
number of accounting degrees awarded nationwide in 2003 jumped 11 percent
from the year before. "What this tells us is there's no such thing as bad
publicity," says Ira Solomon, head of the department of accountancy at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "All the focus on
accounting created a perception to students that accounting matters and
is perhaps even sexy." The growing interest in accounting is giving
educators a new sense of optimism. "People are now going in understanding
that this is a high-risk profession that requires a lot of integrity and
courage, but is an important part of the economy," says David Wright,
head of the masters in accounting program at the University of Michigan,
where master's enrollment has jumped to 60 from 34 students since 2001.
"We are finding people who are truly passionate about accounting."
—AccountingWEB.
Click here to read
more.
Federal Accounting Corner by Simcha Kuritzky, CGFM, CPA
Writing Off Public Expenditure Receivables and Advances
The SGL Board back in 1997 recognized the importance of
segregating funded and unfunded expenses. This distinction is critical
for preparing the Statement of Financing. Accounts such as 6100 Operating
Expenses/Program Costs and 6330 Other Interest Expenses now are only used
in conjunction with an expenditure, and unfunded expenses have been given
accounts such as 6710 Depreciation, 6720 Bad Debts, 6730 Imputed Costs
and 6790 Other Unfunded Expenses. Agencies have to be careful, though,
how they use account 6720 Bad Debt Expense. It can be very easy to
accidentally turn it into a funded expense for a particular transaction,
which will cause headaches when trying to prepare the Statement of
Financing. Click here to read more.
OMB Aims to Capture Savings from Management Agenda
Government could save taxpayers up to $35 billion a year
if agencies lived up to President Bush's expectations in following his
five-part Management Agenda, an Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
official said last Monday. Agencies are showing significant progress.
During the third quarter of fiscal 2004, the administration's
traffic-light-style score card boasted 27 improved marks. As Bush's
targeted plan for improving the management of the federal government
moves into its fourth year, attention will turn to harnessing its full
potential and documenting the resulting savings, said OMB Deputy Director
for Management Clay Johnson. — Amelia Gruber, Government Executive. Click here
and here to read more.
IRS Announces New Round of Layoffs
The Bush administration's competitive sourcing program
again took a toll on Internal Revenue Service employees, with 218 slated
to lose jobs as a result of a public-private contest for information
technology work. Employees from the tax agency's Modernization and
Information Technology Services branch competed against contractors for
278 technology positions at 10 offices across the country and prevailed.
But to maintain an edge over private-sector bidders, the in-house workers
proposed cuts of 218 jobs. The employees with jobs on the line help
produce and distribute information to aid processing of tax returns.
—Amelia Gruber, Government Executive.
Click here to read
more.
Michigan Named the Most Digitally Advanced State
The top-10 most digitally advanced state governments in the nation
have been identified in the 2004 Digital States Survey, a comprehensive
study by the Center for Digital Government. The center studied best
practices, policies and progress made by state governments in using
technology to serve their citizens and streamline operations. Michigan,
after years of continuous progress, has emerged as the leader, capturing
first-place in the survey, followed by Washington, Virginia, Indiana,
Arizona, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Arkansas, Colorado and North
Carolina (tied for 10th). Cathilea Robinett, executive director of the
Center, said information technology is one of the most powerful tools
state governments can use to serve their citizens. "In the hands of some
incredibly talented and knowledgeable leaders, states have advanced to an
entirely new level of digital government.”
—Rhonda Wilson, The Center for Digital Government. Click here to read more.
Computer-Based Auditing Tools & Techniques—A Special
Supplement to the Summer 2005 Journal
Auditors everywhere rely on a variety of computer-based
tools and techniques to get their jobs done. The supplement will be
bagged and mailed along with the Summer 2005 Annual Technology issue of
the Journal of Government Financial Management. Click here for more information. |