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Last Week to Register Early for the Nov.
8 Yellow Book Audio Conference
AGA, in conjunction with NASACT and
ALGA, is pleased to announce its next audio conference will address the
upcoming revisions to the Government
Auditing Standards, commonly known as the Yellow Book, set for
November 8 from 2 – 3:50 p.m. EST. To discuss the major changes
and interpretation of
the Government Auditing Standards is AGA Past National
President Jeffrey
C. Steinhoff, CGFM, CPA, Managing Director, Financial
Management and Assurance,
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO); Jeanette M. Franzel,
CGFM, CPA, Director, Financial Management and Assurance, GAO; Marcia B.
Buchanan, CGFM, CPA, Assistant Director, Financial Management and
Assurance, GAO: and Stephen L. Morgan, CGFM, CIA, City Auditor, City of
Austin, Texas. Cost is $249 per site if you register by November 3; $299 thereafter.
Attendance is unlimited.
Need CPE Hours?
AGA's partnership with MicroMash offers
you high-quality courses in auditing, accounting and more.
See the
full listing.
eC3 Announces Annual
Conference
The National Electronic Commerce
Coordinating Council (eC3) is hosting its 10th Annual Conference,
“Managing Change in a Connected World: Globalization and
Government,” December 4-6, 2006, in Sacramento, CA. The
conference will explore best practices and identify strategic change
within government through presentations, case studies, and interactive
discussions. This year’s event will feature some of the top
thought leaders in the industry and will feature sessions on various
topics such as Real ID, achieving cost reductions through IT
consolidations and shared services. Register before Nov. 11 to receive discounted
rates.
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October 30, 2006 • News from the Profession
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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
State to Study Hevesi Removal;
Ex-Prosecutor to Review Case
New York Gov. George Pataki on Friday
took the first step to what could be an unprecedented Senate proceeding
to remove Comptroller Alan Hevesi. A new poll suggested the race for
Hevesi's seat continues to narrow. "This is an extraordinary act
for officials to overturn an election of a statewide " Pataki
said, stressing that he would move slowly and cautiously. Even if
Pataki, a Republican, asks the Senate to remove the Democratic
incumbent, it will not happen before the Nov. 7 election, the governor
acknowledged. Hevesi remains on the ballot and so far has resisted
quitting, despite widespread calls for his resignation for using a
state employee to chauffeur his wife and new poll results showing his
once-solid lead over Republican J. Christopher Callaghan is crumbling.
Hevesi said Pataki's actions mean that the voters will decide whether
he stays or goes. "As a result of this decision, 5 million voters
will choose their next comptroller, and that's as it should be,"
Hevesi said. —Rick Karlin, Albany Times-Union. Read the entire article.
Fostering A Facebook
For the Feds
MySpace. Friendster. Facebook. YoungFeds? A nonprofit public
service group launches YoungFeds.org today—featuring blogs,
message boards, video clips and, yes, some old-fashioned career advice.
"The goal is to get people in the young feds community to provide
content or give direction to the content," David Robert, 26, a
leader and organizer of the online clubhouse, said as he loaded
material onto the new Web site from a laptop computer Friday. Roberts
and other organizers hope the Web site will connect under-35
professionals across government and, with the help of a little buzz,
grow into an online networking place for the federal sector. The
organizers of YoungFeds envision the site becoming a destination for
young government workers where they, not the organizers, will create a
sense of community. —Stephen Barr, The Washington Post.
Read the entire article.
Learn about
AGA’s young professionals.
Federal Accounting
Corner
Reporting Cancellations
Congress passed the "M Account" legislation (Public Law
101-510) in 1991, ending the practice of moving unspent funds to a
merged fund or "M" account after they were expired for two
years. The new law required that the funds stay in place as expired for
five years, then be permanently cancelled. The U.S. Standard General
Ledger (SGL) Board created account 4350 Canceled Authority to show the
cancellation. Now the SGL Board has also added memorandum accounts 8101
Partial Authority Cancellation and 8102 Offset for Partial Authority
Cancellation for the same purpose. —Simcha Kuritzky, CGFM, CPA.
Read the entire column.
Devilish Employees:
They’re a Year-Round Threat
Managers say the ghouls and goblins who traditionally show up on
Halloween can strike at any time in the workplace. In fact, some spend
about one-fifth of their time untangling personality conflicts among
co-workers. Certain problem behaviors haunt executives throughout the
year. A poll of 150 senior executives from the nation’s 1,000
largest companies revealed that 18 percent of their time is wasted
resolving staff conflicts. Read about
some common workplace goblins (the ghost employee, the witch’s
brewer and more) and tips on managing them.
—AcccountingWEB.
Report Urges
Consolidation of Financial Management Rules
The myriad statutes, circulars and bulletins that govern federal
financial management should be consolidated to clarify officials'
duties, according to a new assessment from the National Academy of
Public Administration. The report, developed from
interviews with federal and industry officials, made 16 recommendations
on federal financial management. A single, integrated statute should be
developed to unify rules, NAPA said. By the authors' count, 25
different laws and circulars govern how agencies should manage their
finances. "A collection of bits and pieces of statutes, circulars,
bulletins and memoranda form the guidance for federal financial
management," the report said. "There is no sense of the
relative importance of any of these components," the authors
wrote, saying the fragmentation makes it particularly difficult for new
government financial executives to set policies and carry out
day-to-day financial management operations. —Jenny Mandel,
Government Executive. Read the entire article.
FASAB Considers New
Way to Account for Social Insurance
 The Federal
Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) is seeeking comments on a
Preliminary Views document, Accounting for Social Insurance,
Revised. The board is split on the issue, and two differing views
are presented. Chairman David Mosso said all 10 board members support
the aim of improving financial reporting of social insurance programs;
members differ as to the point in time that a liability for social
insurance benefits and related expense are recognized. Read the FASAB's
press release on the issue. Read the Preliminary Views document. —FASAB. Read an Associated
Press story on this proposal.
GASB Publishes
Possible Changes to Fund Balance
 The GASB
has published an Invitation to Comment (ITC) to seek public feedback on
possible approaches to improving the usefulness of fund balance
information and correcting shortcomings in how the current standards
are applied. The ITC, Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund
Type Definitions, is a preliminary staff document and is issued
before the GASB members reach a consensus view. The ITC poses questions
regarding preferences among the alternative approaches; the questions
can be answered through an Internet-based form or via mail or email.
The deadline for public comment is January 31, 2007. A public hearing
will be held on February 2 in New York City. Download
the ITC. Read a plain-language article about the ITC.
—GASB.
GASAC Ranks Projects
for GASB's Technical Plan
The Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC),
which offers feedback to GASB, met Oct. 27 in Atlanta, GA. The council
heard reports from GASB staff on its projects related to Service
Efforts and Accomplishments research, derivatives and more. GASAC
members also offered suggested priorities on for GASB's technical plan.
The projects ranked the highest included: the Conceptual
Framework – Recognition and Measurement Attributes,
Public/Private Partnerships, Lease Accounting, Reporting Unit
Reporting/Statement 14 Reexamination, Electronic Financial Reporting
and Popular Reporting. Read meeting highlights by AGA's GASAC
representative Sharon R. Russell, CGFM.
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