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PARs Due Wednesday for CEAR Program Review
Submit your agency's Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) by Dec.
15 to participate in AGA's CEAR Program. The program helps federal agencies
greatly improve the quality and usefulness of performance information.
AGA offers training for PAR preparers and program reviewers, and provides
an in-depth peer review of each PAR. AGA also compiles an annual list
of commendable practices, examples of creativity and practices in need
of improvement. Interested in participating? Click
here to learn more or contact Craig
Galloway.
Computer-Based
Auditing Tools & Techniques - A Special Supplement to the Summer 2005
Journal
Auditors everywhere rely on a variety of computer-based tools and techniques to get their jobs done. The supplement will be bagged and mailed along with the Summer 2005 Annual Technology issue of the Journal of Government Financial Management. Click here for more information.
CGFM Exam 3 Study Guide Now Available!
Be sure to order the new Study Guide for CGFM Exam 3: Governmental Financial Management and Control to help in your preparation for the examination. Click here to learn more.
 ORDER NOW!
A Primer on Internal Controls and Auditing: Crucial to Government and the Economy
By: Wanda A. Wallace, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, CIA
Internal control has never been optional, and now an easy-to-read resource
directed to a wide audience is available to understand both what is meant
by "internal control" and how an "audit" is conducted.
Click
here to order your copy.
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December 13, 2004 - News from the Profession
FMSB Comments on Yellow Book CPE Requirements
AGA's Financial Management Standards Board (FMSB) has weighed in on a
proposal to update continuing professional education (CPE) requirements
to conform with the 2003 Yellow Book. In a Nov. 30 letter to the Government
Accountability Office (GAO), the FMSB said it agrees with the majority
of the proposed changes, but offered several comments and recommendations.
FMSB Chair Russell W. Hinton, CGFM, wrote, "It is not clear from
the draft guidance what enforceability process is planned, especially
for auditors in public practice. It is also not clear whether the currently
existing peer review process is to be used: whether a separate peer review
process is to be set up or whether the GAO plans direct enforcement."
Click
here to read the entire letter.
Labor Makes Big Advancements in Management
The U.S. Department of Labor is like a star pupil that keeps asking the
teacher for more assignments - and some of those extra-credit activities
are translating into major changes inside the department. New financial
management systems, job competitions and e-government initiatives are
among the changes Labor is in the midst of implementing. "We don't
call it a replacement system; we want to create something totally different,"
said Samuel Mok, CGFM, Labor's chief financial officer and an AGA member.
By multiple measures, Labor stands out as a success story in public management.
The Labor and Energy departments are the only two that earned four out
of five "green" ratings on the latest president's management
scorecard with one remaining yellow. It also has earned a clean financial
audit for the past eight years, and a Certificate of Excellence in Accountability
Reporting (CEAR) from AGA for the past four years. Perhaps more interesting
than the agency's grades, however, is how they earned them. By acting
early - in some cases, anticipating regulations before they were enacted
- and sticking to a clearly outlined strategy, Labor has surpassed many
of its fellow agencies in meeting goals set by President Bush. -Kimberly
Palmer and Amelia Gruber, Government Executive. Click
here to read more.
AGA Today is Brought to you by AGA Corporate Partner
Clifton Gunderson's D.C. office is looking for experienced professionals to join our public sector practice. The ideal candidate will have 5-plus years 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.
GOP Plan Would Hit Taxpayers in Blue States Hardest
Some conservative activists are urging the Bush administration
to scrap the federal deduction for state and local taxes as part of a broader
plan to revamp the nation's tax system. Although the proposal would hurt
some taxpayers in nearly every state, it would hit hardest in states with
higher-than-average income levels and bigger-than-average state and local
tax burdens. High on the list are a number of blue states - those that were
carried by Democrat Sen. John F. Kerry in last month's presidential election.
Taxpayers in California and New York, for example, which have top state
income tax rates of 9.3 percent and 6.5 percent respectively, would be highly
affected; residents of Florida and Texas, which have no state income taxes,
much less so. Supporters of the change insist the disproportionate effect
on blue states is a coincidence, but they acknowledge that the proposal
could hurt most in states that voted against Bush. "Let me put it like
this: It certainly isn't something that's a discouragement," said one
prominent conservative. "Yes, we talked about this. The fact that it
hits blue states is not something that's been missed among Republicans."
California State Controller Steve Westly, a Democrat, said it would amount
to a hidden tax increase for millions of California taxpayers, who already
pay $58 billion a year more to the federal government than they get back
in services. Westly said, "Simply put, it would be yet another poke
in the eye from the federal government to California." - Warren Vieth,
Los Angeles Times. Click
here to read more.
DHS Delivers $2.5B in Grants to States, High-risk Areas
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday awarded $2.5 billion
in grants to state and local governments, targeting more money than ever
to areas with the greatest risk of attack. The overall amount of grant
funding available to state and local governments for 2005 is actually
less than 2004 due to cuts to other grant programs. But a revised funding
formula means that cities and urban areas with the greatest security
needs will get more money than ever this year. DHS manages two primary
grant programs for state and local governments. About $1.66 billion in
grants will be distributed in 2005 through the State Homeland Security
Grant Program, which is intended to create a baseline of preparedness
across the nation. About $855 million will be distributed through the
Urban Area Security Initiative, which targets grants to areas with the
greatest security needs based on population, critical infrastructure,
threat information, and law enforcement investigations and enforcement
activity. The amount of funding available through the UASI program is
the highest it's ever been since the program was started three years ago.
- Chris Strohm, Government Executive. Click
here to read more.
 AGA Today is brought to you by Treasury Agency Services
Exciting Job Opportunities at the US Department of the Treasury:
Treasury Agency Services (A Franchise Fund within the
Treasury Department - Financial Management Service) is announcing two
job opportunities which close on 12/29/04:
- GS 11/12 Accountant AS-05-006 and
- GS 11/12 Systems Accountant AS-05-004
Click here
to see detailed information on the OPM website. For key word search
enter "Accountant." For pay grade range enter from "11"
to "12".
What's SOX? Workers Largely Unaware of Act
Accounting and finance professionals are all too familiar with the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002 (SOX). However, despite the tremendous effect it has had on
corporate accounting, 80 percent of US workers and 76 percent of employed
investors have never heard of the groundbreaking act, according to a Hudson
survey measuring its impact in the workplace. In addition, only 9 percent
of US workers say they have been asked to do something differently in
their jobs as a result of SOX, suggesting only accounting and finance
workers are affected so far. Among working investors, defined as owning
at least $5,000 in stocks, bonds and mutual funds, only 7 percent indicated
that Sarbanes-Oxley had increased their confidence as an investor. Likewise
among this group, only 7 percent said it had increased their confidence
in the leadership of public companies. Dee Lonn, executive vice president
of Hudson Financial Solutions, said, "Despite massive investments
of corporate resources, public relations is lagging and the workplace
impact has not extended much beyond those directly responsible for achieving
compliance." Companies are spending an average of $3 million in the
first year to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, according to Financial
Executives International. - SmartPros. Click
here to read more.
Federal Accounting Corner— How Can One be in Two Places at Once (When One's Really on the SBR)?
A Source of Confusion
The spreadsheet that maps the SGL accounts to lines on the Statement of
Budgetary Resources (and the related SF-133) lists anticipated accounts
4060, 4070 and 4210 on both lines 3C and 10C. Why? - by Simcha Kuritzky,
CGFM, CPA. Click
here to read more.
Report Urges Agencies to Step Up Recruitment Efforts
During the 1990s, the federal government reduced its work force by about
400,000 jobs and, for the most part, stopped hiring. Personnel offices
took big cuts, and the number of personnel specialists declined by 20
percent between 1991 and 1998. Today, agencies are scrambling to develop
strategies to bolster recruitment and compete for talent. The federal
workforce is graying - the average age of federal employees was 46.5 in
2001 - and the nation's labor force is not growing as quickly as in previous
decades. If agencies fail to attract the right recruits, they could put
their programs and services at risk. But some agencies appear to be strengthening
their recruitment efforts through Internet postings, college visits, paid
advertising and networking, according to a report from the Merit Systems
Protection Board. A survey by MSPB found that federal agencies "have
made significant progress" in improving their recruitment practices"
in recent years, but it also showed that numerous agencies can do more
to attract top-notch applicants, the report says. agencies need to build
a recruitment pipeline so they are better prepared to fill vacancies and
respond to crises. - Stephen Barr, The Washington Post. Click
here to read more.
Survey: Lack of Timely Data Makes Forecasting Difficult
More than half of corporate financial officers say
that their biggest challenge is the amount of time it takes to collect
appropriate data for accurate forecasting, according to a study by Accenture
that calls on companies to re-examine traditional data collection tools
and processes. Accenture interviewed 200 executives in the United States
and United Kingdom responsible for financial, treasury and cash management
decisions of their organizations. When asked to select the area that poses
the biggest problem for forecasting, the greatest number of respondents
- 51 percent - selected "time required to collect data" as the
area that poses the biggest problem for forecasting. The next two biggest
problems identified were "getting agreement on objectives and what
needs to be done" and "inadequate data capture tools,"
cited by 45 percent and 44 percent of respondents, respectively. Similarly,
when asked to select from a list of elements of the budget and forecasting
process they would most want to change or improve over the next 12 months,
58 percent of respondents cited "time it takes to collect data"
among their top three concerns. The others were "data gathering tools"
and "process by which data is collected," each cited by 48 percent
of respondents. - SmartPros. Click
here to read more.
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