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Last Chance to Register for Audio Conference on
Performance Auditing
AGA, in conjunction with the National Association of State
Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT) and the Association of
Local Government Auditors (ALGA), announces a new audio conference,
worth 2 CPE hours, addressing Risk Assessments for Performance
Auditing, set for 2-3:50 p.m. EDT Sept. 14, 2006. 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.
 Don't Miss AGA's Internal Control & Fraud
Conference — Register Today
Join us at the Hyatt Regency
Atlanta to earn 14 CPE hours at outstanding educational sessions. This
year's program is not to be missed! AGA’s fraud conference
promises to be an excellent learning and networking opportunity. With
the theme “Fraud Prevention and Detection: The Newest Tools and
Techniques,” this conference will focus on management’s
responsibility for ensuring a good internal control system and the role
of accountability professionals in minimizing the risk of fraud, waste
and abuse.
Learn about the $67 billion Iraq Oil-for-Food fraud;
Medicare/Medicaid fraud; A-123 implementation; internal controls and
fraud in not-for-profit organizations and cities; school district fraud
in the state of New York; and the use of fraud hotlines in cities
across the country.
View the complete schedule of dynamic
speakers.
Monday,
Sept. 25
Tuesday, Sept.
26
Register today and show your commitment to a
more accountable government!
Now Accepting
Nominations for Distinguised Federal Leadership Award
Which elected federal official (Senator or Representative) or
presidential appointee do you know who has demonstrated outstanding
leadership in enhancing sound financial management legislation,
regulations, practices, policies and systems? Nominate your candidate
for AGA’s Distinguished Federal
Leadership Award today. All leadership award nominations must be
submitted electronically to Rosanna
Ortiz by Friday, October 27, 2006.
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September 5, 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 Comments on FASAB, GAO
Proposals
AGA’s Financial Management
Standards Board (FMSB) on Aug. 28 sent a comment letter to the Federal
Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) regarding the recent
exposure draft of a proposed Concepts Statement on Definition and
Recognition of Elements of Accrual-Based Financial Statements.
This draft is from the phase of the FASAB conceptual framework project
to define the elements critical to meeting financial reporting
objectives. Read the entire letter.
Also, the FMSB sent a comment letter to the GAO regarding the
proposed revisions to Government Auditing Standards. The FMSB applauded
the GAO’s efforts to “harmonize” the standards for
financial audits in these chapters of the Yellow Book and strongly
supports the update of the reporting standards to conform with the
AICPA’s and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s
(PCAOB) definitions of material weakness and significant deficiency in
internal controls. Read
the entire letter.
DoD Financial Management Improves,
but Hindrances Remain
With an operating budget in excess of $400
billion, and assets and liabilities that exceed those of Exxon, IBM,
Ford and Wal-Mart combined, the sheer size of the Defense Department
has created massive challenges for attempts to improve financial
management.
But as Congress continues to apply pressure for reform, DOD has made
significant strides in several areas, department officials say.
For example, more than 200 business systems have now been certified as
effectively modernized, with each modernization saving DOD at least $1
million.
“I believe we’re making real progress,” said Theresa
McKay, DOD’s deputy chief financial officer, at a Senate Homeland
Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial
Management, Government Information, and International Security hearing
on DOD financial management earlier this month.
Electronic bill-paying
Systems modernization has resulted in other cost-savings efficiencies
as well. Currently, 95 percent of DOD’s vendor payments now are
done electronically, up from 86 percent in 2001, resulting in more than
$6 million in savings, according to agency statistics.
And in the area of audit readiness—a long-running weakness for
the department—the agency recently completed an accurate and
auditable valuation of all of its military equipment.
—Mark Tarallo, Government Computer News. Read the entire
article.
AGA Today is Brought to You by AGA
Corporate Partner
 Improving your
performance to improve your organization’s
results.
Increase your return on instruction with
Graduate School, USDA courses. Our financial management curriculum and
Government Audit Training Institute provide high-quality courses that
keep you on the cutting edge and prepare you for success in
today’s government environment.
For more information, call (888) 744-GRAD or
visit www.grad.usda.gov.
On Tracking of Pensions, No
Consensus
The disclosure that New York City uses
two different methods to gauge its pension funds—one showing they
are fully funded, and another showing a $49 billion deficit—has
heaped fuel on a long-running debate over how to value pensions. The
debate, being waged among actuaries, accountants and economists, is
more than theoretical. Last week The New York Times reported
that while officials usually describe New York City’s pension
plans as close to fully funded, an alternate calculation in the back of
the plans’ annual reports shows a $49 billion shortfall. If the
alternate calculation has merit, the city will probably be forced to
raise taxes or cut services at some point, to provide all the money
promised to its retirees. The question of which method is more reliable
has nationwide implications. New York City’s chief actuary,
Robert C. North, is thought to be the only public pension official in
the country to have done the second pension calculation—which is
more like the way a bank might account for its money. If actuaries for
the many other towns and states with pension plans were to follow suit,
big deficits would probably start popping up from coast to coast.
—Mary Williams Walsh and Michael Cooper, The New York Times.
Read the entire story.
U.S. Entities Lose Estimated $652
Billion to Fraud
According to the 2006 Report to the
Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, Certified Fraud Examiners
(CFEs) estimate that the typical organization loses 5 percent of its
annual revenues to fraud. When applied to the estimated 2006 U.S. Gross
Domestic Product, that translates to $652 billion lost to fraud. Frauds
in the study caused a median loss of $159,000 and took 18 months to
detect. Most of the frauds in the study involved either the accounting
department (30 percent) or upper management (20 percent). The study
also discussed the effectiveness of confidential fraud hotlines:
“Occupational frauds are more likely to be detected by a tip than
by other means such as internal audits, external audits or internal
controls.” —Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Download the 2006
Report to the Nation.
Despite Steps, Disaster Planning Still
Shows Gaps
As Tropical Storm Beryl whipped up the
seas along the mid-Atlantic coast this summer, officials monitoring the
storm inside the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters could
watch both sides of the action. On one computer monitor was the
National Weather Service image of the storm, spinning slowly toward New
England. Nearby was FEMA’s high-tech counterpunch: a digital map
of the United States with a swarm of Pac-Man-like dots representing
FEMA trucks moving disaster relief supplies toward the expected impact
zone. The tracking system is a concrete sign of progress for an agency
that, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, became an international
symbol of dysfunction and incompetence. But the system is set up for
only a sliver of the country and includes just a fraction of the aid
sent to the field. It is emblematic of how inconsistent progress has
been in preparing the nation for disasters, one year after the
hurricane and five years after the 2001 terrorist attacks. — Eric
Lipton, The New York Times. Read the entire story.
Make the Connection: Attend AGA’s
PMC in October
 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 16 CPE hours. Make a connection with
SEA award winners!
SAS No. 112: Impact on
Auditors and Preparers
NASACT, in conjunction with AGA and ALGA, is pleased to announce an
audio conference on AICPA Statement on Auditing Standards No. 112,
which establishes standards and provides guidance on communicating
matters related to an entity’s internal control over financial
reporting identified in an audit of financial statements. The audio
conference, worth 2 CPE hours, is set for 2 – 3:50 p.m. EDT on
Oct. 19. Speakers are Randy Roberts, Director of
Professional Practices, Office of the Auditor General, state of
Arizona, and Arizona State Comptroller Clark
Partridge. Cost is $249 if you
register before Oct. 13.
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