Highlights

Oct. 15: AGA Research on Performance-Based Management Reporting

Nov. 12: Understanding the Importance of Soft Controls in Improving Operations

AGA Brings the Training to YOU!
If you, your department or your staff are responsible for managing contracts and/or grants, the AGA has two training courses that will help you manage more effectively and efficiently.

The courses—Contract Auditing and Grants Management—are taught by experienced and knowledgeable professionals who bring the training to your work location.

The two-day Contract Auditing and the one-day Grants Management courses can be modified to meet your training and education needs. Upon completing the courses, participants are awarded 8 to 16 CPE hours, depending on the duration of the course.

For more details about these and other AGA-sponsored training courses, including pricing and availability, please contact AGA Director of Education Joe Jozefczyk at 800.AGA.7211, ext. 307.

This Week on the AGA Blog
Monday, Tuesday: Updates from AGA's Internal Control & Fraud Conference throughout both days

Friday: Lisa Miller, CEO, Dynaxys, on "Transparency is the Battle Cry...Is the U.S. Government Ready to Deliver?"

AGA Needs You on the Blog! Come share your opinions with the AGA community! We are now booking for October. Contact Marie Force to book your day on the AGA Blog.

Training Opportunities

Looking for a Job?

CEAR Reviewers Needed
It's that time again! Last year nearly 90 individuals reviewed the FY07 federal Performance and Accountability Reports/Pilot
Projects, and we expect to use close to that many reviewers this year. Interested?
Contact Lynn Hoffman.

Member News
AGA’s Nashville Chapter was saddened to learn of the sudden passing of fellow member, Elizabeth M. Birchett, CGFM, CPA, bond finance operations officer in the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury's office, where she had worked since 1980. She spent 25 years in state audit before moving to the Division of Bond Finance in 2005. She leaves behind a husband and three sons. Members may make contributions to the Baccalaureate Education System Trust (B.E.S.T.) program, which was set up to help fund her sons' college education. Please contact Martha Brown if you'd like to make a contribution.

Candid Photos Available Online of AGA's PDC
AGA's field representative and Past National President Bobby Derrick, CGFM, has kindly created a "group room" on snapfish.com, which contains hundreds of candid photos from AGA's PDC in Atlanta. Members can download and/or print any of the images. You can also use this room to write messages to the group, order prints and present gifts of each others' photos and more. Check it out.

From the National Office
AGA is pleased to welcome Bekka Gehrmann to the National Office staff as education manager.

Bekka is a 1997 graduate from the University of Maryland, College Park. She began a career in technology after graduation, when she moved to Phoenix, AZ, and worked with a technology company called MicroAge Inc. After seven years, she moved back to the Virginia/Maryland area and worked for StorageTek Inc. as a sales executive for one year before it was bought out by Sun Micro Systems. She continued to work for Sun for an additional two years before moving to Cisco Systems, managing and assisting the director of the DoD Enterprise operation. Her responsibilities at Cisco ranged from extensive forecasting to project management.

Bekka recently decided to make a career change away from the technology industry, and she is now with AGA. “I am really excited to have found this opportunity with AGA and am looking forward to working with Joe Jozefczyk and the AGA team; bringing extensive knowledge, skills and innovative ideas to AGA, and meeting and working for the members,” she said.

Bekka is a newlywed. She got married on Aug. 8 in the northern part of Germany in a city called Braunschweig, her husband’s hometown. They live in Burke, VA, with their Chihuahua named Bogey. In her spare time, Bekka likes to play golf, try new recipes, and spend time with Bogey and her family and friends. Welcome Bekka!

Oracle Federal Forum Set for Oct. 29
Federal government agencies are transforming to meet the increasing public demands, legislative mandates, and economic and political pressures. Agencies need to be more efficient and accountable while providing services and information to constituents more quickly and in a cost-effective manner. Legacy information systems and ever more complex programs make it challenging to meet government's goals. Oracle and its partners invite you to the Oracle Federal Forum, set for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 29 in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., where we will discuss these critical challenges. Featured speaker is presidential historian Michael Beschloss. As the world's largest provider of enterprise software solutions, Oracle is in a unique position to help government solve their critical issues. As a long-standing partner with the federal government, Oracle has helped over 1,500 government organizations deliver on their core missions. Register today.

Volume 48: Issue 18, September 22, 2008

TOPICS is Brought to You by AGA Corporate Partner Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton Global Public Sector delivers financial, technology and performance management solutions to federal, state and local government clients, and international organizations. Call us to see if we can help your agency manage its resources more efficiently and effectively at 703.637.2750.

AGA's Performance Management Conference Set for Oct. 27–28 in Seattle
Join us in Oct. 27–28, 2008 in Seattle for AGA’s Performance Management Conference (PMC)—a one-of-a-kind event focusing on government performance reporting.

This event will bring together federal, state and local government leaders to share in educational sessions, networking and to recognize government entities that have been honored with AGA’s Certificate of Achievement in Service Efforts and Accomplishments (SEA) Reporting. The PMC is packed with dynamic speakers and informative sessions. Don’t miss this opportunity to share successful practices with industry leaders and peers, and to bring invaluable performance management strategies back to your agency. 

Earn 14 CPE hours at informative, timely sessions designed to give you the knowledge you need to be more effective. Create your own curriculum from a fantastic offering of educational sessions including:

• Activity-Based Costing and Performance Management
• Auditors Working with Management to Advance Performance Management
• Citizen Engagement from Community to State: Issues, Challenges and Lessons Learned from Vancouver, WA, King County, WA, and Washington State
• Essential Ingredients for Successful Performance Management
• Federal Government Performance Update
• GASB Update
• Improving Government Transparency Through Citizen-Centric Reporting
• Lessons Learned for the Next Administration
• National Opportunities in Benchmarking
• Performance Based Management Reporting—Integrating Financial and Performance Information
• Rev Up Your Work Force: The Value of Employee Engagement
• Sustaining a Performance Measurement System
• Transforming Budgeting Process to Deliver Citizen Value
• We’ve Come a Long Way Baby! Thirty Years of Performance Management and Reporting

Learn from Top-Notch Speakers and Industry Experts: Hear from industry experts and leaders in federal, state and local government, the private sector and academia who are on the forefront of performance management and government financial management, including:

• Robert Attmore, CGFM, Chair, Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)
• Scott B. Bassett, MBA, Performance Measurement Program Manager, Audit Services, Department of Transportation, State of Oregon
• Sharon Daboin, Deputy Secretary for Performance Improvement, Governor’s Budget Office, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
• H. Stuart Elway, Ph.D., President, Elway Research, Inc.
• Harry P. Hatry, Principal Research Associate, Urban Institute
• Paul Posner, Professor and Director, Master's in Public Administration Program, George Mason University; Former Director of Federal Budget & Intergovernmental Relations, U.S. Government Accountability Office
• John J. Radford, CGFM, CIA, CFE, State Comptroller, State of Oregon; Member, AGA National Executive Committee
• Kenneth A. Smith, BA, MBA, Ph.D., CPA, Assistant Professor of Accounting, Willamette University
• Robert Shea, Associate Director for Administration and Government Performance, U.S. Office of Management and Budget
• Brian Sonntag, State Auditor, State of Washington
• Rebekah Stephens, Planning and Performance Coordinator, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, TN
• Craig W. Thomas, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington
• Tom Nosack, Performance Analyst, Financial and Management Services, City of Vancouver, WA
• And many more!

We look forward to seeing you in the Emerald City!

AGA PMC Early Registration Deadline: Sept. 29
If you’ve already registered for AGA's PMC, we look forward to seeing you! You’ve made a smart investment in yourself and your organization. But if you have not yet registered, don’t worry… there’s still time!

This is your opportunity to take advantage of an extended early registration deadline. Save time and money by registering in advance. Advance registration discounts ($395 for AGA members and $450 for nonmembers) apply to all registrations received before Sept. 29, 2008. After this date, fees will increase to $445 for AGA members and $495 for nonmembers. Act now to secure your place at this important event.

• Register online and save
• Print registration form (PDF)

Topics is Brought to You by AGA Corporate Partner American Appraisal Associates

American Appraisal—with over 50 offices in the U.S. and overseas—provides critical solutions designed to track, manage and enhance financial and mission performance of a single asset, or a diversified portfolio of land, buildings, leases and personal property (barcode/RFID tagging). For all your federal real and personal property valuation, advisory and transaction consulting needs, contact Kevin McHugh at (202) 628-8800 or kmchugh@american- appraisal.com.

Are You An Auditor? Attend this Special Session After the Performance Management Conference
Government auditors can increase their value by taking on new roles and practices aimed at improving performance measurement and management. In this course, A New Service Model: Auditor Roles in Government Performance Measurement, participants will learn how to apply an organized framework to determine which specific practices provide the best opportunities for adding new value to the entity they serve.

This four-hour session on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008, is only $50 per participant. CPE is offered. The course is being taught by Richard Tracy, former audit director for Portland, OR, and a current GASB member.

For more information about this and the Performance Management Conference visit our website.

AGA Welcomes El Paso Chapter
At a meeting held Sept. 5, AGA welcomed its newest chapter in El Paso, TX. More than 32 people attended the meeting in downtown El Paso, which has easy access to the state, local and federal communities.

AGA Field Representative and Past National President Bobby A. Derrick, CGFM, praised the efforts of Georgie L. Ortiz, CGFM, CPA, Janet Pacheco-Morton, CGFM, CPA, and Marla S. Gorena from AGA's Albuquerque Chapter, who were instrumental in getting this new chapter established. "I am very thankful for their time and energy and financial support," Derrick said, adding, "I cannot say enough about our newly elected El Paso Chapter leadership. They stepped up when it counted the most, and volunteered to organize, plan and lead the new chapter. They have the vision as to how this chapter can play a significant role in the lives of professionals in their community, and how the chapter can make a difference."

AGA Today is Brought to You by AGA Corporate Partner CACI
Calling Cleared Professionals! Join CACI

September 23rd, 11am -  7pm
Crystal City Crowne Plaza
1480 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA

Seeking TS/SCI Cleared professional in: Performance Management, Financial Strategy/Management, Budget Execution, Accounting, Business Systems Implementation, ITIL, Process Improvement, Organizational Change

RSVPs requested to CACIrecruitingevent@caci.com.

AGA, CEG Team Up for Excellence in Government Fellows Program
AGA and the Council for Excellence in Government (CEG) are pleased to announce that they are now accepting applications for the new financial management career track with the CEG’s  'Excellence in Government Fellows Program'.

The Fellows program is directed at exceptional individuals from across federal and state government who are committed to enhancing their leadership skills and accomplishing significant results in their respective organizations. It is a transformational experience, conducted over a one-year period, with a unique concentration on the leadership and management challenges specific to government organizations. Through the partnership, AGA and CEG have designed and implemented a financial management career track within the Fellows program. The new track will include specific financial management-related education courses and specialized team projects, benchmarking and coaching.

The new financial management career track recognizes the importance of government financial management and the critical need to expose and train the next generation of government leaders in the nuances of that discipline. Click here to apply online. For more information, please contact Chris Wingo.

Public Forum on XBRL Set For Oct. 16
Interactive data (XBRL) is changing the way government entities report information. Find out how it works and how it will change your business by attending the Public Sector Symposium, Oct. 16, 2008 in Washington, D.C. Join AGA Executive Director Relmond Van Daniker, DBA, CPA, who will moderate a session on municipal reporting in XBRL format.

Highlights from the conference:

• Learn from keynote speakers Steven O. App, CGFM, Deputy Director and CFO, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), plus Kim R. Wallin, CPA, CMA, CFM, Controller, State of Nevada.
• Find out how structured data can improve information processing at a federal, state and local levels.
• Get educated on specific applications for grants reporting, municipal reporting, the FDIC and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Click here to find out more and to register.

AGA Advertising Opportunities!
Advertise in AGA's electronic newsletters—TOPICS and AGA Today! Get maximum exposure and build your brand. Find out what's available in an upcoming issue. Click here for all the information you need to run your ad. Or, you can contact April Force Pardoe.

AGA Staff List

AGA Membership Application

CGFM Application

Audio Conferences

Training Opportunities

Other AGA Links

CGFM Certification—Learn More

Register for AGA's Third Annual Internal Control & Fraud Conference, Sept. 22–23, 2008, Phoenix, AZ

Register for AGA's Fourth Annual Performance Management Conference, Oct. 27–28, 2008, Seattle, WA

Bring New AGA-Sponsored Training Courses to Your Organization

(C) Association of Government Accountants 2008

Disclaimer: AGA serves government accountability professionals by providing quality education, fostering professional development and certification, and supporting standards and research to advance government accountability. If you would like to opt off of future AGA mailings, please e-mail agawebmaster@agacgfm.org. Thank you.