Highlights
CPE
Opportunities
Audio Conference Set
for Sept. 21 on Ethics
AGA, NASACT and N.A.L.G.A. present "Ethics—How It
Impacts an Organization" from 2 – 3:50 p.m. EDT Wednesday,
Sept. 21. Speakers will discuss the increased emphasis on ethics, the
reasons why technology may be contributing to ethical issues, how some
situations can be legal but unethical, how ethics can be a positive
challenge for practical people and a recent KPMG study on corporate
ethics. Speakers are Leon Young, Associate Professor, University of
Maryland, and Scott Avelino, Director of Forensic Services, KPMG LLP.
Earn 2 CPE hours. The cost is $249 before Sept. 16 and $299 afterward
for unlimited attendance. Questions regarding the program should be
directed to Raymond Harris,
CGFM. Click here to view the 2005-2006 audio conference
schedule.
AGA is also offering a special package
discount to AGA chapters and Advantage group membership agencies. Click here to learn more.
AGA Releases Executive Session White Paper
At the
recent PDC in Orlando, AGA continued its discussion on some of the
profession's most pressing issues: Human Capital, Education &
Research, Performance Reporting and Citizen-Centric Government. Click
here to read the White Paper generated from this year's session,
which was sponsored by AGA Professional Corporate Partner Grant
Thornton.
AGA Sets Preliminary Agenda for First National
Performance Management Conference
The conference is set for Nov. 14-15 at the Portland Marriott
Downtown in Portland, OR. The theme is, "Service Efforts &
Accomplishments Reporting: The Cornerstone for Building Trust and
Enhancing Management." Government entities that have participated
in AGA's Certificate of Excellence in SEA Reporting Program will
explain how the reports were prepared and how government performance
can be measured. The
preliminary agenda is now available online.
Click here to
register. Contact Julie V.
Bryant, CGFM, for more information.
Studying for the CGFM Examinations?
Study guides for all three CGFM Examinations are now
available. Click here
to learn more.
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August 29, 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
 From the
National President
Sam M. McCall, MPA, CGFM, CPA, CIA, CGAP
For those of you that attended this
year’s Annual Professional Development Conference in Orlando, I
hope that you enjoyed the Conference as much as I did. There were
timely and relevant topics for everyone. On my return to Tallahassee, I
asked staff which keynote speaker that they enjoyed the most.
Interestingly, we each had a different favorite. I believe this speaks
to the quality of the program.
In the weeks that have followed, I have
also had the opportunity to speak to members from across the country
about the PDC. They commented favorably on the conference and facility,
Importantly, many also mentioned the change they sense within AGA,
which is being viewed more and more as the leader in the government
accountability arena. Click here to read the entire article from National
President McCall.
FMSB Provides Additional Info on AICPA
Proposals
AGA’s Financial Management Standards
Board (FMSB) has commented on proposals by the AICPA’s Auditing
Standards Board (ASB). The board has reissued eight proposed Statements
on Auditing Standards, which, if adopted, would establish standards and
provide guidance for the auditor in assessing risks of material
misstatement in a financial statement audit. Comments were originally
taken in 2002, but the AICPA made significant revisions as a result of
those comments and is now reissuing the proposed statements.
Click
here to read the FMSB’s comments on the revisions.
San Diego Attorney Outlines Plan to Fix
Pension Mess
City Attorney Michael Aguirre said
Tuesday that he wants the city to settle with the federal government as
a first step to getting San Diego out of its billion-dollar financial
mess. Aguirre issued a 15-point plan that calls for reaching a consent
decree with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, recasting
the city's pension board, cutting off what he has described as illegal
pension benefits to some retired city workers, and seeking a settlement
with others. "We have to embrace the hard choices we will have to
make to bring about a solution to the financial, legal and accounting
crises that we face," he told reporters at a news conference. In
response, acting Mayor Toni Atkins branded Aguirre's plan
"premature and irresponsible" without knowing the SEC's
findings. "That would be the same as pleading guilty before you've
been charged," Atkins said. —Gregory Alan Gross, San
Diego Union-Tribune. Click here to read the entire
article.
Accounting Firms Vow
not to Kick Hobbled KPMG
The world's top three accounting firms—which
acted
like frenzied sharks when Arthur Andersen LLP was bleeding three years
ago—are taking a much more benign approach to their wounded rival
KPMG LLP.
Industry sources said yesterday that the three—Deloitte
& Touche LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, and PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP—have told their partners not to poach clients or personnel
from KPMG while it struggles with potentially crippling legal problems.
But don't mistake the unilateral cease fire for altruism.
The accounting firms worry that, if KPMG ceased to be a major
player in the industry, corporate clients who are already concerned
about a concentrated industry would demand that Washington intervene to
create some real competition. KPMG is the smallest of the Big 4
accounting firms worldwide, although it is second-largest in Canada. It
is facing a penalty of up to $500 million as it attempts to negotiate a
settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over its promotion of
questionable tax shelters. —By Shawn McCarthy, The Globe and
Mail. Click here to read the
entire article.
Big Rise in Corporate
Taxes Is Predicted to Reduce Deficit
The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the federal
budget deficit would decline 20 percent this year because of an
unexpected surge in corporate income tax payments, but it discerned no
improvement in the long-term fiscal outlook for the next decade. The
office, a nonpartisan budget agency, predicted Aug. 15 that the deficit
would fall by $81 billion, to $331 billion, in the current fiscal year,
from a record $412 billion last year. In March, the agency projected a
14 percent increase in corporate income tax payments this year, but it
now foresees an increase of 42 percent, or $80 billion, to $269 billion
this year. Douglas J. Holtz-Eakin, director of the budget office, said,
"The budget outlook has improved noticeably for this year, fiscal
year 2005, but is largely unchanged for the decade past that, and the
economy remains in very good shape." U.S. Rep. John M. Spratt Jr.
of South Carolina, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee,
said the projection for this year might "seem better by comparison
with the deficits of 2003 and 2004, which were the worst in
history." But, Spratt said, "at $331 billion, the deficit for
2005 still ranks as one of the top three." —Robert Pear,
The New York Times. Click
here to read the entire article.
Recruiters Romance
Number Crunchers
Accounting students graduate today to some of the highest paying
jobs. They are courted by firms that offer a challenging work
environment replete with office happy hours and corporate perks.
Accounting is cool ... and young accountants say it's even fun.
"It's much more dynamic than it used to be, said Seamus Bresnahan,
24, an audit senior accountant at Deloitte & Touche LLP's McLean
office. "It used to be you showed up and counted what was there.
Businesses are more complex now." Bresnahan has enjoyed the
puzzles of complex business arrangements, access to chief financial
officers and coveted experience. There is more than just a fulfilling
workload. Recruiters are selling a renewed image of an accounting firm.
Jennifer Busse, a corporate recruiter at Clifton Gunderson LLP,
highlights her office's "fun group," which puts together
happy hours, bowling events and baseball outings, when she pitches
potential recruits on colleges campuses. —SmartPros. Click here to read
the entire article.
OMB Not Deterred by
DHS
Personnel Reform Setback
The push for governmentwide personnel reform will not be
affected
by the recent court ruling that parts of the Homeland Security
Department's similar plan are illegal, according to Office of
Management and Budget officials. Judge Rosemary Collyer of the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia found that the DHS plan did
not provide adequate collective bargaining capacity for employees.
Collyer also ruled Aug. 12 that the agency illegally altered the role
of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, instead creating its own
Homeland Security Labor Relations Board for handling labor disputes and
using the FLRA primarily as an appeals body. Additionally, the judge
found the agency's proposed standard--to be used by the Merit Systems
Protection Board in deciding whether or not to mitigate employee
penalties--to be too harsh. However, while DHS officials now must
either redesign the labor relations portion of their proposal or appeal
the decision, Clay Johnson, OMB's deputy director for management, said
his plan for domestic agencies, called the Working for America Act,
won't need the same adjustments. "We're still studying the ruling,
but it largely deals with collective bargaining issues, which the
Working for America Act does not impact to any degree," Johnson
said. OMB says its new system would not require bargaining with unions
if it becomes necessary to "act quickly to prepare for or prevent
an emergency.” —Karen Rutzick, Government
Executive. Click here to read the entire article.
 FASAB
Issues Standard on Inter-Entity Cost Implementation
The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) has
issued Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) 30,
Inter-Entity Cost Implementation: Amending SFFAS 4, Managerial Cost
Accounting Standards and Concepts. SFFAS 4 requires that reporting
entities report the full costs of outputs in general purpose financial
reports. The full cost of an output should include the costs covered by
other reporting entities. These costs are referred to as
“inter-entity costs.” SFFAS 4 recognized the difficulties
in attaining this goal and provided for gradual implementation.The
standard is effective for reporting periods beginning after September
30, 2008 with earlier implementation encouraged. —FASAB. Click here to read the
statement.
AGA Career Opportunity —Director
of Education
AGA, the premiere educational
Association
for government accountability professionals, seeks hands-on Director
of Education. Responsibilities include planning, organizing, directing,
implementing and marketing the Association’s education program.
Develop and maintain education policies and procedures to enhance the
Association’s role as a leader in government financial management
training. Assist local chapters with their educational programs. Serve
as liaison to the Academy for Government Accountability Board. Send
resume to sfritzlen@agacgfm.org.
Call for Nominations for AGA’s National and
Regional Leadership Team
Deadline: October 28, 2005
If you're interested in shaping Association
programs, advancing your profession, and representing members’
interests in the government accountability community then submit your
nomination TODAY for these National Board of Directors positions:
• National President-Elect
• National Treasurer-Elect
• Senior Vice President for Regional Services - Section I and
IV
• Regional Vice Presidents-Elect
*Those elected will take office on July 1,
2006 and serve for three years.
Contact Rosanna Ortiz for more
information. 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.
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