CGFM TOPICS Newsletter

Treasury Accountant Seizes CGFM Opportunity at PDC

The opportunity to take the CGFM Examinations at no cost gave Audrey Duchesne the motivation she needed to complete the CGFM testing process.

And she’s glad she did. Duchesne, who is a senior staff accountant at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, took the CGFM two-day Intensive Review Course at the AGA’s Professional Development Conference & Exposition in Orlando last July. Those who sat through the review course were allowed to take the three examinations at no cost, a chance Duchesne did not want to pass up.

She says studying for the three exams gave her a more well-rounded view of all levels of government—local, state and federal. It also gave her a better understanding of the budgetary aspects of federal financial reporting. More important, it enhanced her understanding of federal generally accepted accounting principles so that she could more effectively advise Treasury’s Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board member and develop the Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) of the Financial Report of the United States Government.

“I felt a sense of accomplishment.” said Duchesne, who is also a CPA and a CMA. “I felt it did help me with my work and I think that the AGA is an excellent professional organization to be affiliated with. It seems like the AGA is changing and coming into its own, and as the years go on, the credential will be more highly valued. In our arena, the CGFM is the only credential that adequately prepares you for a career in government financial management.”

Duchesne joined Treasury in late 2003, coming from an auditing position at a Washington, D.C. nonprofit, Legal Services Corporation. Schooling did not adequately prepare her for governmental accounting, as it isn’t taught much; neither did the CPA Exam, since the subject is not the focus of that exam. From her previous position, she was familiar with the Governmental Accounting Standard Board’s Statement 34, Basic Financial Statements—and Management’s Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments, but she figured the exam would help her put all the pieces together. “I decided to do it to gain more knowledge and to perform my duties more effectively.”

Her supervisor, Deputy Assistant Secretary Robert N. Reid, a former president of AGA’s Washington, D.C. Chapter, supported Duchesne. The department paid for her to attend the PDC and to take the Intensive Review Course.

For Duchesne, the course was indeed a review. In other words, she came prepared. Having previously passed Examination 2, which she considered the most difficult, the course was the motivation she needed to complete the testing process. After hearing about the Intensive Review Course, she said she bought the CGFM Study Guides and devoted about a month of study time to each examination, reading the material at least twice and going through the quizzes at the end of each chapter.

Like the other participants in the Intensive Review Course, Duchesne took the examinations over two days at the PDC. “I thought they were manageable,” Duchesne said. “I thought they were right on target.” She and 18 others earned their CGFM credential in Orlando.

The event was such a success that AGA will continue the practice at its upcoming conferences. The next Intensive Review Course is scheduled for February 1-2, 2006 (with exams set for February 3-4, 2006) in conjunction with AGA’s National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Washington, DC. Click here for more information on this event.

By: Christina M. Camara