Highlights
CPE
Opportunities
Registration Still
Available for PMC
Don't miss AGA's First National Performance
Management Conference, November 14-15, 2005, in Portland, OR. You can register
online or print the
registration form to send by fax or mail.
The conference will feature
presentations by state and local government officials who have been
recognized for preparing top-quality Service Efforts &
Accomplishments (SEA) Reports. Click here to
view the conference program.
Register Now
for Dec. 7 Identity Theft Audio Conference
AGA, in
conjunction with NASACT and N.A.L.G.A., will host an audio conference
on identity theft, one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S.
Speakers are Kathy Buller, chief counsel to the Inspector General, U.S.
Social Security Administration, who will discuss how to protect your
Social Security number, and a high-level official of the Attorney
General's Office in Ohio, who will cover Ohio's victims assistance
program. The session runs from 2 – 3:50 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time and offers 2 CPE hours. Click here for information!
NASACT, in conjunction with AGA and
N.A.L.G.A., is offering a new audio conference on Nov. 30, on
Payroll—What You Need to Know for Year-End. Click here to find
out more.
Register
Today for AGA's NLC
Make plans now to attend AGA’s
National Leadership Conference (NLC) to be held February 2 – 3,
2006, in Washington, D.C. Join us in our nation’s capital for NLC
2006, where the best minds from all levels of government, the private
sector and academia will discuss measuring government performance.
Learn how to best communicate your program’s successes and
shortfalls to citizens, policy-makers and government leaders. Earn up
to 14 CPE hours, share best practices, connect with your peers and view
the latest technologies, services and products in the Exhibit Hall.
• Register online.
• Print registration form to send by fax/mail
(Adobe PDF).
• Visit the
conference website.
• Exhibit at NLC
2006.
Interested in the CGFM Designation?
Sign up for AGA's special Intensive Review Course and
take the CGFM Examinations this February in Washington, D.C. Don't miss
this opportunity to earn your CGFM! Click here 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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November 7, 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
Contractor
Accused of Overbilling U.S.
Federal auditors say the prime
contractor
on a $1 billion technology contract to improve the nation's
transportation security system overbilled taxpayers for as much as
171,000 hours' worth of labor and overtime by charging up to $131 an
hour for employees who were paid less than half that amount. Three
years ago, the Transportation Security Administration hired Unisys
Corp. to create a state-of-the-art computer network linking thousands
of federal employees at hundreds of airports to the TSA's high-tech
security centers. The project is costing more than double the
anticipated amount per month, and the network is far from complete --
nearly half of the nation's airports have yet to be upgraded.
Government officials said last week that the initial $1 billion
contract ceiling was only a starting point for the project, which they
recently said could end up costing $3 billion. Procurement specialists
said the Unisys contract illustrates the pitfalls of relying on
corporations to manage ambitious homeland security contracts with
little oversight from a thinly stretched federal procurement force.
—Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Scott Higham, The Washington
Post. Click here to read the entire article.
Agencies Pitch
Vacancies to the College Crowd
The government needs an infusion of young employees to fill
slots
that will be created by a wave of federal retirements in the coming
years, according to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Linda
Springer. Speaking at an OPM-sponsored federal career fair at the
campus of George Mason University, Springer encouraged students to look
into job opportunities in the civil service. Federal careers bring
"a sense of purpose and public service you don't find in the
private sector," Springer said. Twenty-three agencies hosted
booths at the fair, including the Labor and Energy departments, the
office of the secretary of Defense, the Government Accountability
Office and the General Services Administration. The fair featured a
computer station with tutorials on how to navigate the USAJOBS website.
Willie Harrison, OPM's team leader for the online employment site, said
there are about 18,000 vacancies listed on USAJOBS right now, some of
which are harder to fill than others, engineering and information
technology for example. Alfredia Brooks, a representative of the
Federal Aviation Administration, suggested that students format their
resumes for government, not the private sector. They should include
vital information such as veteran status, citizenship, salary at last
employment, and so on. —Karen Rutzick, Government
Executive. Click here to read the entire article.
Ethical Lapses Go
Unreported
Nearly a third of U.S. workers have witnessed co-workers engage
in ethical misconduct, according to a Hudson survey on workplace
ethics. However, only half (52 percent) of those witnessing unethical
or illegal acts reported it to anyone in authority. The survey said
government workers are more likely than their entrepreneurial and
private enterprise counterparts to report that they have seen coworkers
engage in unethical or illegal behavior (38 percent compared to 29
percent and 31 percent, respectively). When it comes to their own
day-to-day jobs, the survey said, 53 percent say they rarely or never
encounter ethical gray areas, although 14 percent of workers do at
least once a month and 28 percent do occasionally. The survey indicated
that senior leaders of companies generally behave with honesty and
integrity, with 74 percent expressing confidence in their leadership.
However, among those who have witnessed their colleagues'
transgressions, the percentage of those believing that their leaders
are honest drops to 61 percent. In addition, 78 percent state that
their companies clearly communicate what they consider unethical and
ethical behavior in the workplace. —SmartPros. Click here to read
the entire article.
AGA Today is Brought to You by
Microsoft
 Have you
heard? Everyone’s talking about Microsoft Dynamics™—a
suite of products including an affordable ERP solution that streamlines
financial management and provides better access to reporting, and a CRM
solution that works from with Microsoft® Outlook to helps improve
information sharing and constituent service. Click here
to find out why government agencies are using Microsoft Dynamics™
today.
Program Reviews Strain OMB, Agency
Staff
Formal evaluations of federal programs
completed by the White House each budget cycle are labor-intensive and
fail to provide specific enough suggestions for management
improvements, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a
report published last Monday. Examiners at the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) are having a hard time keeping up as more programs are
added each year to the list of those reviewed using a questionnaire
called the Program Assessment Rating Tool, or PART, GAO said. Agencies
also are devoting significant time to the evaluation process, and while
it has made managers pay more attention to performance, there is
"limited evidence to date" that the PART has influenced
program results, the report (GAO-06-28) stated. Managers also expressed
concern about the quality of OMB's reviews, given how little time was
devoted to some of them. —Amelia Gruber, Government
Executive. Click here to read the entire article.
Homeland Security Grants Questions
Answered
The AGA audio conference on
Homeland
Security Grants and Audit Coordination on August 3 certainly generated
a score of follow-up questions for the
panelists. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
has had several inquiries regarding property (equipment) awarded under
sub-grant awards to local governments under DHS state grants,
including 97.004 State Domestic Preparedness Equipment Support
Program (State Homeland Security Program State), 97.008 Urban Area
Security Initiative, and 97.067 Homeland Security Grant Program. In
reference to the applicability of OMB Circular A-133 Audit requirements
and property grant/sub-grants awards, the DHS has determined the
following:
• If a sub-grantee receives only a property (e.g.
equipment purchased by the state under the DHS programs) sub-grant
award and no other federal assistance, the subgrantee can elect to
perform a program specific audit instead of a single audit.
• If a sub-grantee receives a property (e.g. equipment
purchased by the state under DHS programs) sub-grant award and
assistance (funding or property) from other federal agencies, the
property is subject to the single audit requirements of OMB Circular
A-133 Audit.
• If a sub-grantee received a combination If a
sub-grantee receives only a property (e.g. equipment purchased by
the state under award that includes both federal funds and property
(equipment) purchased by the state in behalf of the sub-grantee, and
the total amount of federal funding and the value of the property
exceeds the $500,000 threshold, then a single audit is required.
• If a sub-grantee received both federal
funds and property (equipment) from only one federal program
(e.g., State Homeland Security Program), the subgrantee can elect to
perform a program specific audit instead of a single
audit.
Direct questions to Van Pace, director, DHS Grant Policy and
Oversight, at 202.205.3608 or Van.Pace@dhs.gov.
Accounting Enrollment,
New Hires Increase
A new report says enrollment in accounting programs
continues to climb, as do the number of new hires. The AICPA report,
Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting
Recruits, was based on a survey conducted of U.S. colleges and
universities that offer accounting degrees at the bachelor’s,
master’s or Ph.D. level, and a survey of public accounting firms
and sole practitioners affiliated with the AICPA. Highlights of this
year's report:
• For the four-year period 2000 to 2004, enrollments in accounting
programs are up 19 percent (to 171,000 in 2004.)
• Since 2000, accounting graduates are also up 19 percent.
• The increase in enrollments from 2003 to 2004 was 1.5
percent.
• The number of bachelor's degree recipients (40,400) increased 9
percent compared to 2003.
• The number of master's degrees awarded in 2004 (13,350)
increased 5.4 percent for the same period.
•
In 2004, there was a 17 percent increase in the number of new
accounting graduate hires by the firms compared to 2003.
—AICPA. To read the entire article, click here.
To see the actual study, click here.
AGA Today is Brought to you by
the City of Detroit, Michigan
 The City of
Detroit seeks applicants for the position of Auditor General. The
successful candidate will be appointed by the Detroit City Council for
one 10-year term. Salary range is $67,860 – $150,629.
Completed applications are due by 4 p.m. on November 17. For additional
information, including minimum requirements and application procedures,
contact Peggy
Robinson.
EPA Produces Guide on Grants
The Inspector General’s Office of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is distributing copies
of the Guide to Opportunities for Improving Grant
Accountability, which offers suggestions on accounting for how
grants funds are used. Click here to read the
guide. Hard copies can be obtained by clicking here
FASAB Publishes ED on Consolidated
Financial Report
The Federal Accounting Standards
Advisory
Board (FASAB) has issued an Exposure Draft (ED) called, Consolidated
Financial Report of the United States Government Requirements:
Implementing Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Concepts 4
‘Intended Audience and Qualitative Characteristics for the
Consolidated Financial Report of the United States Government.’
The proposal would add requirements related to assets such as inventory
and related property, direct loans, and property, plant and equipment
and liabilities such as loan guarantees, liabilities covered by
budgetary resources, cleanup costs and liabilities related to whole
life insurance. In addition, certain disclosure requirements, such as
those relating to pricing policies, would be rescinded. The changes
relate primarily to standards issued prior to the January 2003 issuance
of SFFAC 4. One FASAB member, Robert Dacey, opposes the proposed
standards. FASAB is soliciting general comments and answers to specific
questions by March 1, 2006. Click here to read the ED.
—FASAB.
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