Highlights
CPE Opportunities
Take the CGFM Intensive Review Course and the CGFM Examinations at the PDC. Click here for more information.
PDC Hotel Update—Orlando World Center Marriott is Sold Out
The Orlando World Center Marriott is sold out of rooms at the AGA group rate. You may still reserve a room at the hotel. However, the room rate is now $197 per night (plus tax). To make reservations, please call 800.564.3181 or 800.228.9290 and mention that you are attending the AGA PDC. You may also make reservations at our overflow hotel, the SpringHill Suites Orlando Convention Center/International Drive, located at 8840 Universal Boulevard, just two miles from the conference location. The room rate is $149 per night (plus tax). Complimentary shuttle service will be provided to and from the Orlando World Center Marriott. To make reservations, please contact the SpringHill Suites directly at 866.811.6530 and mention that you are attending the AGA PDC.
AGA Audio Conference Planned for June 20: Government Contract Auditing Issues
Thousands of participants from hundreds of government agencies, private firms and colleges have been tuning into AGA’s audio conference series this spring. Don’t miss out as AGA, NASACT and N.A.L.G.A. presents this audio conference on Monday, June 20 from 2 – 3:50 p.m. EDT. Expert speakers will be John Brennan, CGFM, audit manager, New York State Comptroller’s Office and Thomas Goodfellow, CPA, TG Associates CPAs, PLLC, and former contract audit director, New York State Department of Transportation. Earn 2 CPE hours in the area of accounting and auditing. The cost is $249 per site (UNLIMITED ATTENDANCE) by June 15; $299 afterward. Questions regarding the program (click here to see the details) should be directed to Raymond Harris, CGFM.
Click here to register. If you have questions regarding registration, please contact Julie Cupp at 800.AGA.7211. Click here to view the 2005-2006 audio conference schedule.
Studying for the CGFM Examinations?
Be sure to order one of the study guides available for CGFM Exams 2 and 3 to help you prepare. Click here to learn more.
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. |
May 31, 2005 • 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
FMSB Comments on Auditing Standards
AGA’s Financial Management Standards Board (FMSB) has commented on a proposed American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Statement on Auditing Standards titled, Audit Documentation. In a May 13 letter, Chair Russell W. Hinton, CGFM, wrote, “We would like to state that we approve of the overall clarity that paragraphs 18-21 bring to the issue of audit documentation in specific instances.” The FMSB also made several more specific comments on file retention, revisions to audit documentation, confidentiality issues and more. Click here to read the entire letter.
FMSB Says AICPA Proposal ‘Promotes Consistency’
AGA’s FMSB has also commented on the AICPA’s Exposure Draft of the proposed Statement on Auditing Standards: Defining Professional Requirements in Statements on Auditing Standards, and the proposed Statement on Auditing Standards for Attestation Engagements: Defining Professional Requirements in Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements. “The FMSB agrees with the content of the proposed statements and supports their issuance,” Chair Russell W. Hinton, CGFM, wrote in a May 13 letter. “They promote consistent understanding and application of professional requirements. Footnotes clarifying the relationship of professional requirements in SASs and SSAEs to interpretive guidance published by the AICPA Auditing Standards Board enhances the document. The FMSB thinks that the Auditing Standards Board’s effort to bring congruity to use of terms common with PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) and IAASB (International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board) is laudable.” Click here to read the entire letter.
Patriotism Not Enough for ‘Class of 9/11’ to Seek Public Service
The first survey of the "Class of 9/11"—the first college class to have gone through four years of college affected by the events of that day—reveals that it will take more than an appeal to patriotism to inspire their generation to government service. The survey, commissioned by the Partnership for Public Service and administered to 805 graduating college seniors from May 2-5, 2005, finds that 83 percent of the members of the Class of 2005 describe themselves as patriotic and nearly half—43 percent—of them say that the events of 9/11 made them more so. However, while 84 percent of those made more patriotic were instilled with a greater love of country and 50 percent were inspired to display the flag, only 20 percent of students said 9/11 made them more interested in government service. —Partnership for Public Service. Click here to read more.
New York Lawsuit Accuses AIG of Defrauding Investors
American International Group (AIG) used "deception and fraud" to make its financial health appear better to investors than it was, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and state Insurance Superintendent Howard Mills contended in a lawsuit filed Thursday. The litigation names AIG, the nation's largest business insurance company, and the New York City-based company's one-time top managers, including former Chief Executive Maurice R. Greenberg. The New York state officials said AIG propped up the price of stock by engaging in fraudulent business transactions that made the company appear stronger financially than it was. The lawsuit lays much of the blame on Greenberg, accusing him of negotiating some of the questionable transactions or directing other AIG staffers to engage in underhanded activities. The insurer said it is cooperating with the New York investigation and believes a civil settlement is possible. —Joel Stashenko, The Business Review. Click here to read the entire article.
Federal Accounting Corner
Alphabet Soup for Federal Accountants —Simcha Kuritzky, CGFM, CPA. Click here to read the list of acronyms.
AGA Members Promoted to Partners at Clifton Gunderson
Clifton Gunderson LLP has announced that AGA members Thomas Heseltine, CPA, and Amelia S. Leswing, CGFM, CPA, CISA, will become partners in the firm on June 1. Leswing, a member of AGA’s Northern Virginia Chapter and Capital Region Vice President-Elect, specializes in auditing, accounting and consulting with an emphasis on federal, state and local government agencies. She has worked for eight years as a senior manager in Clifton Gunderson’s Washington, D.C. office. Heseltine, currently a senior manager in the Baltimore office, coordinates the firm’s mid-Atlantic commercial assurance practices, specializing in auditing and accounting.
Oregon Tests New Mileage Tax to Fund Road Work
In 1919, Oregon was the first state to tax gasoline. This fall, the state will launch the nation's first high-tech experiment to tax drivers for the miles they travel rather than the gas they buy. The program is the first step in a long-term plan to replace the state's gasoline tax, which pays for about 40 percent of Oregon's road projects. As in many states, Oregon officials are worried gas tax revenues won’t be able to keep up with the rising costs of road building, especially with improved mileage from both traditional and hybrid cars. Driver advocates and environmentalists said they will be watching the new program to make sure that it charges drivers fairly and that it does not give consumers an excuse to keep driving gas-guzzling cars. Testing will start in September when the state transportation department plans to equip 20 privately owned cars with electronic odometers to record their mileage at gas stations. When drivers fill up, specially equipped gas pumps will read the mileage and charge 1.2 cents for every mile driven instead of the state's tax of 24 cents per gallon of gas. —Eric Kelderman, Stateline.org. Click here to read the entire article.
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FAF Names New GASAC Chair
The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) has announced that Keith L. Johnson, CPA, controller for the State of Idaho and member of AGA’s Idaho Centennial Chapter, has been named as chair of the FAF’s Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC), for a two-year term, effective July 1. Johnson will replace Harvey C. Eckert, a member of AGA’s Central Pennsylvania Chapter, whose term as GASAC chair ends June 30. GASAC consults with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) on technical issues, project priorities and other matters of concern to the GASB. The FAF also announced that Marcia L. Taylor, CGFM, CPA, assistant manager of Mt. Lebanon, PA, and a member of AGA’s Central Pennsylvania Chapter, was named to a five-year term as a member of the GASB, effective July 1. She will replace AGA member Paul R. Reilly, who is completing 10 years on the board. The FAF also reappointed board member William W. Holder, CPA, an AGA member, for a second five-year term.
Report: States Face Long-term Budget Gaps
States' failure to modernize their tax systems to reflect the shift from a manufacturing to a service-based economy puts many at risk for chronic budget gaps, according to a May 17 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C., think tank that focuses on policies that affect the poor. Unless states alter their basic tax structures, they will face the hard choice each year of raising taxes or cutting government services, said Robert Zahradnik, a senior policy analyst at the center and co-author of the report. The report said Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming face the greatest risk of a "structural deficit," which the center defines as a chronic inability to grow state revenues in tandem with growth in state government expenses or the state’s economy. The states rated as best-positioned financially are Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin, where expenditures are reportedly least likely to annually outpace revenues. —Kathleen Hunter, Stateline.org. Click here to read the entire article.
Survey Reflects ‘Anemic’ Federal Reward System
Slightly more than one-fourth of federal employees think their managers adequately deal with low-performing workers, and fewer than half say their agencies properly recognize high achievers, according to a comprehensive survey of the federal work force. The Federal Human Capital Survey, a poll of 147, 914 workers conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), also found that only 42 percent of employees said awards are tied to how well workers do their jobs, and about a third said promotions are based on merit. Doris Hausser, a senior adviser at the OPM, cited the survey in pressing the Bush administration's case for government-wide changes in federal personnel rules—changes that officials say will more strongly link pay to performance rather than to longevity in a job. Hausser said the survey findings reflect a civil service system that is "anemic" with respect to rewarding good workers and "cumbersome" when it comes to disciplining or motivating bad ones."Our system, particularly in the reward area, tends to be very flat—the same thing happens to everybody, no matter what," Hausser said. —Christopher Lee, The Washington Post. Click here to read the entire article.
Rockefeller Institute Launches New Fiscal Information Website
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government announced the launch of its new fiscal information website, Rockefeller Fiscal Studies (RFS). This comprehensive new site replaces the Gateway to State and Local Government Information and houses a much more extensive collection of state and local government finance data and analyses. Click here for more information.
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