Highlights
CPE
Opportunities
Looking for a Job?
Register Today for AGA's NLC
Join us in our nation’s capital
for the National Leadership Conference (NLC) set for February 2 –
3, 2006, in Washington, D.C., where the best minds from all levels of
government, the private sector and academia will discuss measuring
government performance. Learn how to best communicate your
program’s successes and shortfalls to citizens, policy-makers and
government leaders. Earn up to 14 CPE hours, share best practices,
connect with your peers and view the latest technologies, services and
products in the Exhibit Hall.
• Register online.
• Print registration form to send by fax/mail
(Adobe PDF).
• Visit the
conference website.
March 1 Audio Conference on SOX, Auditing
AGA, in conjunction with the
National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers
(NASACT), and the National Association of Local Government Auditors
(N.A.L.G.A.), is offering this audio conference, worth 2 CPE hours, at
2-3:50 p.m. EST March 1. Speakers will cover the
status of audit and internal control efforts for state and local
governments and the possible effects of additional requirements. NASACT
Executive Director Kinney Poynter and Nancy A. Valley, CGFM, Partner
and National Industry Leader, KPMG LLP, will discuss these issues and
the results of a joint AGA/NASACT research project on this topic.
Click here for more information. If you have any
questions regarding registration, please contact Julie Cupp Questions regarding the
program should be directed to Raymond Harris, CGFM.
Studying for the CGFM Exams?
The Study Guides for CGFM Exam 1, 2
& 3 are now available. Click here
to order your copies today!
AGA is
Accepting Independent National Officer Nominations
In accordance with the Association's bylaws, AGA will accept
independent nominations from AGA via petition until Feb. 1, 2006. At
that time, if no other nominations are received, the Bylaws and
Procedures Committee will conduct an election to determine the
officers. If no other candidates are received, the Nominating
Committee's slate will take office on July 1, 2006. Click
here to review the Nominating Committee's complete slate of candidates.
Contact
Rosanna Ortiz with questions.
|
January 17, 2006
• News from the Profession
AGA Today is Brought to You by AGA
Corporate Partner Clifton Gunderson
 Clifton
Gunderson's DC office is 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
AGA Member
Appointed FASAB Chairman
 Tom Allen,
a member of AGA’s Northern Utah Chapter, has been selected to
replace David Mosso as chairman of the Federal Accounting Standards
Advisory Board (FASAB) when Mosso’s term ends at the end of this
year. The appointment was made by FASAB sponsors, Treasury Secretary
John W. Snow, Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua B. Bolten
and Comptroller General of the United States David M. Walker. Allen is
serving as a member of the accounting department faculty at Weber State
University and retired in 2004 as chairman of the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board (GASB) after nine years. He also served as
the Utah state auditor for more than 10 years. Click here
for more information.
MD, VA Approach Surpluses
Gingerly
Lawmakers are returning to Annapolis and
Richmond, where they will enjoy the fruits of hot economies that have
turned shortfalls into surpluses. Even so, leaders in both states are
vowing to avoid a spending spree. Finances in Maryland and Virginia,
like states throughout the nation, have rebounded after tax revenue
plummeted when the high-tech industry collapsed. But the question
facing budget writers is: How long will the good times last? Although
Maryland's surplus is expected to top $1 billion, Gov. Robert L.
Ehrlich Jr. (R) will submit a budget wish list to the General Assembly
next week that promises to be more "measured" than the
feel-good figures would allow, Ehrlich said. "We don't want to go
pedal-to-the-metal. There's going to be another recession at some
point," he said in an interview. "It's a more measured
approach to a surplus year than maybe you have seen in the past.
There's less of a function of trying to buy votes than doing what needs
to be done." In Virginia, Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) is leaving a $1
billion surplus to his successor, Timothy M. Kaine (D), and the
Republican-controlled legislature. Kaine and the lawmakers have said
they intend to spend much of that money on one-time projects that will
not create permanent spending obligations that would be difficult to
fulfill should the economy falter. The hope in both states is to avoid
the roller-coaster ride that created a sense of crisis in the 1990s.
—Ann E. Marimow and Michael D. Shear, The Washington
Post. Click here to read the entire story.
AGA Today is Brought to You by
Microsoft Corporation
 Have you
heard? Everyone’s talking about Microsoft Dynamics™—a
suite of products including an affordable ERP solution that streamlines
financial management and provides better access to reporting, and a CRM
solution that works from with Microsoft® Outlook to helps improve
information sharing and constituent service. Click here
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today.
Into the
Oversight Void Step the Inspectors General
When a Chicago newspaper reported
in 2004 that Illinois ranked last in federal disability payments to
veterans, the secretary of veterans affairs—prodded by House
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and other influential
lawmakers—turned to his department's inspector general for an
explanation. After four months, 1,900 interviews and a review of 2,100
disability claims, a team of 36 auditors found reasons that veterans in
top-ranked New Mexico got an average of $12,004 in annual disability
payments while Illinois veterans received $6,961. Their 192-page report
made eight recommendations for addressing the inequity, and the
Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing many of them. "It's
a really big project," said Michael L. Staley, assistant inspector
general for auditing, who led the effort. "Our national reviews
generally take about 11 months, and we accomplished this from January
to April." For their labor, Staley and his team recently picked up
the Alexander Hamilton Award. The annual honor recognizes the foremost
effort by an inspector general to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of executive branch operations. —Christopher Lee,
The Washington Post. Click here to read the entire article.
San Diego Officials
Indicted for Pension Fraud
Federal fraud indictments were unveiled Jan. 6 against five San
Diego
officials who allegedly plundered the city's financially ailing pension
fund for personal benefit. The indictments, announced by U.S. Attorney
Carol Lam, are the second set of criminal cases to spring from the
city's $2-billion pension deficit. State charges were filed last year.
Lam said the five by their actions deprived "the citizens of San
Diego of their right to honest services." She alleged that the
defendants concealed their own roles as they benefited from the
administration of public pension business. In one case, a defendant
allegedly traded a vote for a higher personal pension. —Tony
Perry, The Los Angeles Times. Click here
to read the entire article.
Federal Accounting
Corner—Two Types of Budgetary Accounts
Budgetary Account Structure
In order to account for budgets in a double-entry system, the
Standard General Ledger (SGL) splits them into two types: sources
(generally a debit balance) and status (generally a credit). Budgetary
entries thus fall into three main categories: reclassifying a source,
reclassifying a status, or change in budget authority (increasing or
decreasing both source and status). —Simcha Kuritzky, CGFM, CPA.
Click here to read the entire column.
AGA Today is Brought to You by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission
 ACCOUNTANT—Choosing to join
the NRC is a conscious decision to contribute to our world at large.
And, a conscious decision to work for a Federal Government agency
recognized for its excellence as an employer. The U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission is currently seeking an Accountant to support
efforts in our Rockville, Maryland headquarters facility. In this role,
you will responsible for performing a variety of accounting duties.
Applicants must possess a Bachelor's degree in Accounting or related
field and accounting experience, OR an equivalent combination of
college-level education and training that provides professional
accounting knowledge and experience. Salary range for this position is
$36,671 – $100,554. For a detailed job description and to apply
on-line, please visit our website and
refer to Vacancy Announcement #OCFO/DFM-2006-0006, referencing Dept.
A-2727. Only on-line applications will be accepted through 1/30/06.
EOE, M/F/D/V. U.S. citizenship required.
Advocate: IRS Froze Refunds of Low-Income
Taxpayers
Criminal investigators at the Internal Revenue Service froze
more than 120,000 taxpayers' refunds last year on suspicion of fraud
without notifying the taxpayers or giving them a chance to respond, the
federal national taxpayer advocate said in a report released Tuesday.
Based on data from fiscal 2004, the advocate estimated that as many as
1.6 million refunds have been frozen by the IRS's Criminal
Investigation division over five years without letting taxpayers know
that they were under "suspicion of criminality or giving the
taxpayers an opportunity to provide documentation to support their
refund claims," said Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson in her annual
report to lawmakers on problem areas in tax administration. “At a
minimum, this procedure constitutes an extraordinary violation of
fundamental taxpayer rights and fairness. In our view, it may also
constitute a violation of due process of law.” Many taxpayers
whose refunds were hung up in the process were low-income taxpayers
claiming the earned-income tax credit, and in a sample examined by the
Taxpayer Advocate Service, nearly two-thirds of them were entitled to
receive a refund. —Albert Crenshaw, The Washington Post.
Click here to read
the entire article.
GASB Plans Public
Opinion Survey
 The
Financial Accounting Foundation has hired National Research Center,
Inc. (NRC), to conduct a public opinion survey regarding constituent
impressions about the GASB. This study is an important element of the
GASB’s constituent outreach efforts that were identified in the
most recent strategic plan. The survey is scheduled to be distributed
by NRC in the first quarter of 2006. GASB strongly encourages
recipients to participate in this important survey. GASB also reminds
state and local government officials that the Implementation Guide is
available on Statement No 44, Economic Condition Reporting: The
Statistical Section, which updates the statistical section to
encompass the new information resulting from Statement 34 and other
developments in government finance. The Implementation Guide contains
over 120 questions and answers on important aspects of Statement 44
developed by the GASB staff. Go to www.gasb.org for more information.
Join Us in San Diego! Make Plans Now to
Attend AGA’s 55th Annual Professional Development Conference
& Exposition (PDC)
 With the
theme “Navigating the Way to Citizen-Centered Government,”
the PDC promises to be an excellent learning and networking opportunity
for government financial managers and accountability professionals.
Education sessions will provide technical training, emerging trend
snapshots and leadership secrets from the best in the business.
Speakers will explain current regulations, describe future challenges,
and share lessons learned in disaster recovery and finance, among many
other topics. In addition to an outstanding technical program,
AGA’s PDC provides unparalleled opportunities to network,
exchange ideas with your peers and meet new friends. The Exhibit Hall
connects you with the industry’s leading suppliers, eager to
showcase cutting-edge technologies, products and services to help you
to become more effective.
Register today and secure your place at the
government financial management education event of the year!
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. |
