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Performance Auditing on Tap for Next Audio Conference
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 a new audio conference addressing
Risk Assessments for Performance Auditing, set for 2-3:50 p.m. EDT Sept. 14,
2006. The audio conference, worth 2 CPE hours, is designed to help
participants understand how a risk-based audit approach can be an important
tool for evaluating program compliance, economy, efficiency and
effectiveness. Speakers are Beth Ashcroft, MBA, CIA,
Director of the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability
for the State of Maine, and Gerald Silva, CGFM, CPA, City
Auditor for the City of San Jose, CA. Cost is $249 per site if you
register before Sept. 8.
Register Now for AGA's Internal
Control & Fraud Conference
Join us in Atlanta for AGA’s First National Internal Controls &
Fraud Conference, to be held September 25-26, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency
Atlanta Hotel. The theme is, "Fraud Prevention and Detection: The Newest
Tools and Techniques." AGA has brought together the best in the
business: Matthew A. Jadacki, CGFM, CPA, Special
Inspector General for Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery, Comptroller General
of the United States David M. Walker, CPA, Arthur A. Hayes Jr.,
JD, MBA, CGFM, CPA, CFE, Director, Division of State Audit,
Comptroller of the Treasury, State of Tennessee; inspectors general from
several federal agencies and more.
Register now and secure your place at AGA’s newest
educational and networking event!
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August 7, 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's FMSB Weighs in on GASB Derivatives Proposal
AGA’s Financial Management Standards Board (FMSB)
has sent its comment letter to the Governmental Accounting Standards
Board (GASB) on its Preliminary Views document, Accounting and
Reporting for Derivatives. The letter is based on testimony
provided by FMSB Chair Russell Hinton, CGFM, at the June 21 GASB public
hearing held in conjunction with the AGA PDC in San Diego. Additional
points have been added to the comment letter, including the suggestion
that more education be made available to help local governments
understand how to use and account for derivatives effectively.
Click here to read the letter.
States Step in To Fill Feds' Roles
Statehouses afloat in budget surpluses in 2006
ventured into new projects, from the first-in-the-nation statewide
preschool for 3-year-olds in Illinois to a space pad in New Mexico, and
also made strides on issues that stymied Congress, including health
care, immigration and the minimum wage. A healthier U.S. economy in 2006
gave states a reprieve from several years of belt-tightening. States
increased overall spending to levels not seen since before the 2001
economic slump hammered their budgets. In fact, Wyoming, Utah and
Washington state grappled with what to do with projected $1 billion
surpluses.
Stateline.org has compiled a state-by-state synopsis of legislative
accomplishments in 40 states that have finished their regular
sessions or budgets. —Pamela Prah, Stateline.org.
AGA Today is Brought to You by the U.S.
Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General
 Supervisor
Auditor (Project Manager), GS-0511-14 or
Management & Program Analysis Officer, GS-0343-14,
Washington, DC – Salary Range $91,407 - $118,828
DOT OIG seeks a dynamic individual with excellent
skills in planning, conducting and communicating results of Federal
acquisition program audits. Download announcements I-06-71 or I-06-72 at
following Internet website:
www.usajobs.opm.gov or at
www.oig.dot.gov, or call 202-366-1490 to request a mail copy. All
applications must be received no later than c.o.b.
09-14-06.
Audit Finds U.S. Hid Actual Costs of Iraq
Projects
The State Department agency in charge of $1.4
billion in reconstruction money in Iraq used an accounting shell game to
hide ballooning cost overruns on its projects there and knowingly
withheld information on schedule delays from Congress, a federal audit
says. The agency hid construction overruns by listing them as overhead
or administrative costs, according to the audit, written by the Special
Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent office that
reports to Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department. Called the
United States Agency for International Development, or A.I.D., the
agency administers foreign aid projects around the world. It has been
working in Iraq on reconstruction since shortly after the 2003 invasion.
The report, released July 28 by the inspector general’s office, does not
give a full accounting of all projects financed by the agency’s $1.4
billion budget, but cites several examples. The findings appeared in an
audit of a children’s hospital in Basra, but they referred to the wider
reconstruction activities of the development agency in Iraq. American
and Iraqi officials reported this week that the State Department planned
to drop Bechtel, its contractor on that project, as signs of budget and
scheduling problems began to surface. —James Glanz, The New York
Times.
Read the entire article.
Federal Recruitment Drive
Steers Graduates to Public Sector
Scott Galla, a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin, was the
first to arrive—at 9 a.m. By the time the doors opened more than two
hours later, the line was wrapped around the building, nearly two blocks
long. Two thousand interns had descended on Washington's Warner Theater
to answer a simple call: "Uncle Sam needs you." The government has
joined the talent war, and sent representatives yesterday to a town hall
meeting for Washington interns. The goal was to persuade top graduates
to throw aside ambitions of high pay in the private sector, and think
instead of high power in the public sector. It is a much-needed
recruitment drive. "The federal workforce is graying at a very fast
rate—nearly half will be eligible to retire in five years, and there is
not sufficient interest or knowledge from top talent," said Max Stier,
president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service,
which organized the event. — Anushka Asthana, The Washington Post.
Read the entire article.
States Band Together to Lower
Medicaid Drug Costs
Iowa is joining with Maine and Vermont to negotiate lower prices for the
drugs they buy for Medicaid recipients, Gov. Tom Vilsack announced
Wednesday. Vilsack said Iowa and the federal government would save about
$11 million a year under the new pool. The governments spend about $391
million annually on medicine for Iowa's 300,000 Medicaid recipients,
with the state footing about a third of the bill. "Together, our group
of states will achieve pharmaceutical rebates that will far exceed the
amount that each state could provide on its own," the governor said in a
press release. The governor said other, unidentified states are talking
about joining the purchasing pool. —Tony Leys, The Des Moines
Register.
Read the entire story.
House Passes Financial
Transparency Act
The U.S. House of Representatives on July 25 passed H.R. 5024, the
Promoting Financial Transparency Act of 2006. The Act would require the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (PCAOB) and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
to give annual testimony updating the House Financial Services Committee
on their efforts to: reassess complex and outdated accounting standards;
improve the understandability, consistency and overall usability of the
existing accounting and auditing literature; develop principles-based
accounting standards; encourage the use and acceptance of interactive
data; and promote disclosures in plain English. The bill has been
referred to the Senate. —U.S. House of Representatives.
Read the press release.
FASAB Seeks Feedback on Proposed Interpretation
 The
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) is seeking comments
on an Exposure Draft for a proposed interpretation, Items Held for
Remanufacture, which would provide guidance for the classification,
valuation and reporting of items that are in the process of major
overhaul or remanufacture for sale or for internal use. The guidance was
requested by the Department of Defense, but would apply to other federal
entities. Comments are due by Oct. 16, 2006. Read the Exposure Draft and
questions raised about it on the
FASAB website.
FASAB Sponsors Extend Time to Review Proposals
The FASAB is operating under a revised Memorandum
of Understanding, which extends the current 90-day review period for
proposed concepts and standards for another 90 days if needed. The
Secretary of the Treasury, the director of the Office of Management and
Budget and the Comptroller General of the United States made the change,
which would extend the review period “to address unanticipated
circumstances,” FASAB announced on July 25, the day one 90-day review
period was to end. The OMB member “did not participate in the
development of the proposed statement and wishes to resolve certain
concerns prior to acting on it," FASAB announced.
Read the press release.
Attention State, Local Governments: Make Plans
for AGA’s PMC
Join us for AGA’s Second National Performance
Management Conference (PMC) – a-one-of-a kind event focusing on state
and local government performance reporting.
The PMC, set for Oct. 30-31 in Schaumburg, IL, will bring together state
and local government professionals to share in education, networking and
recognition of government entities that have been honored with AGA’s
Certificate of Achievement in SEA Reporting. The theme is, “Integrating
Measurement with Management: Making the Connection,” and it offers 14
CPE hours. Make a connection with SEA award winners!
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