Highlights
CPE
Opportunities
Looking for a Job?
Earning a Certified Government
Financial
Manager Designation: A Step-by-Step Guide
When people who are interested in
the CGFM designation call the AGA National Office, some of the most
common questions center around the process of obtaining the CGFM
designation: Where do I start? What happens next? How do I purchase the
exams?
So
click here for a step-by-step guide to how you can earn the CGFM
designation!
Registration
Now Open for PDC 2006
Registration is now open for
AGA’s 55th Annual Professional Development Conference &
Exposition (PDC)Register today and secure your place at the
government financial management education event of the year!
Register online
Print
registration form to send by fax/mail (Adobe PDF)
Corporate Partner Spotlight: DecisionPath
Consulting
Effective performance management and reporting strategies require a
solid foundation of integrated data and enterprise information.
DecisionPath Consulting helps government finance, IT, and program
offices apply business intelligence and data warehousing practices to
achieve their performance goals. Through a defined process called
the BI Pathway that clearly aligns agency missions, key operational
processes, analytic needs and required information resources,
DecisionPath helps our clients create performance management solutions
that achieve outstanding results. DecisionPath Consulting is a
full lifecycle data warehousing and business intelligence firm that
understands the business of government. From strategy development
and program planning to systems development, integration, and training,
DecisionPath Consulting helps our clients increase the impact of their
enterprise information.
Charlie
Kaplan
DecisionPath Consulting
Six Montgomery Village Ave., Suite 622
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
301.990.1204
Charles.Kaplan@
decisionpath.com
www.decisionpath.com
Chapter News
The deadline for second quarter Chapter
Recognition Program credit entries is Monday, November 21. Please e-mail or call 800.AGA.7211, ext.
317, with any questions.
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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Volume 44: Issue 21, November 14, 2005
TOPICS
is Brought to you by AGA Corporate Partner
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.
From the National President
Sam M. McCall, MPA, CGFM, CPA, CIA, CGAP
 In this month’s
Topics, I want to briefly address three issues: Chapter visits since my
last column; the November joint meeting of the AGA Financial Management
Standards Board (FMSB) with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board
(GASB); and the important issue and responsibility of AGA members to
reach out and encourage early career government financial management
professionals to join AGA.
In October, I attended a chapter education
event at the New York Capital Chapter in Albany, New York. We had
a lively four-hour panel discussion on emerging issues in
auditing. The five-member panel represented federal, state, local
government, academia, and the private sector and the friendly exchange
of views was educational for both attendees and the panelist. The
next day, I took the train from Albany to New York City and spoke to
the New York Chapter about my theme for this year “Accountability
Reporting with a Citizen Focus.” CPE was additionally provided on
Government Auditing Standards. I also had an informative
conversation in New York with several chapter members and learned about
how they are reaching out to early career professionals. Click here to read more from National President
McCall.
AGA NLC Registration Brochure Now
Available Online 
Make plans now to attend AGA’s National
Leadership Conference (NLC) to be held February 2 – 3, 2006, in
Washington, D.C.
The Conference Brochure is now available
online. Click here for a sneak preview of the
brochure in PDF format.
As a government finance professional, you
perform an important public service in often difficult circumstances.
The demands made of you are many, the resources available to you often
few, and we are all witnessing the rapid multiplication of rules which
goes hand-in-hand with ever-increasing workloads.
In these circumstances, it pays to seek out
the best training available—training that exposes you to top
leaders in the field, teaches you the ins and outs of the newest
regulations and trends and provides you with unparalleled opportunities
to exchange ideas with your colleagues.
AGA’s National Leadership Conference
provides this and more. The NLC will bring together the biggest
thinkers from all levels of government, as well as from the private
sector and academia. Earn 14 CPE hours at dynamic, comprehensive
sessions, share best practices, view exhibits of the latest
technological advancements and meet your peers in the field.
All this and more awaits you at NLC
2006—register today!
Member-Get-A-Member Recruitment
Challenge—Go For Growth—is in Full Swing
 Jose Lebron of the Puerto Rico Chapter, recently recruited
his 13th new member, sending him into the Top Recruiter position! Close
behind is Margie Colon, CGFM, also a Puerto Rico Chapter member, with 9
recruits. The challenge is on to see who will land on top as Recruiter
of the Year! Click here for a listing of the Top
Recruiters.
AGA’s
National President, Sam McCall, CGFM, has challenged every member to
recruit at least 1 new AGA member before the close of the membership
year, April 30, 2006. Are you up to the challenge?
We have made it so easy to participate!
Click here
for all of the details, including prize information. The 2005-2006
Recruitment Campaign runs through April 30, 2006. Now is the time
to swing into action!
AGA Hurricane Relief
Effort
Tops $17,500!
Click here to find out how you can donate
and to view the list of contributors!
TOPICS is Brought to you by AGA
Corporate Partner
Watkins, Meegan, Drury & Company is
currently seeking experienced professionals for its rapidly growing
Government Services Group. Watkins Meegan provides accounting,
consulting, and technology solutions to the federal government.
Successful candidates will have 2 - 6 years experience, BS in
accounting or related field required; CPA, CIA, CISA, CGFM a plus. Click here to e-mail your resume.
FY 05 Performance & Accountability
Reports Due to AGA's CEAR Program by December 15
The CEAR Program has been a major factor
in improving the quality of the federal agencies' PARs. Reviewers with
diverse backgrounds exercise an unusual level of thoroughness and
recommend numerous opportunities for improvement for what is an
extensive and comprehensive document. The recommendations can typically
run several pages-even for agencies to which the Certificate of
Excellence is awarded.
Thus the program is a win-win situation. The
agencies receive information with which they can continuously improve
their PARs. The reviewers obtain an opportunity to perform an in-depth
analysis of other agencies' PARs and learn how to make their own
agency's reports better. And the readers of the PARs have the assurance
that the agencies have prepared highly informative, highly readable,
complete documents. Contact Julie
Bryant, CGFM, for more information.
CEAR Program Reviewer's
Training
Reviewing and Improving Performance Reports
Tuesday, November 29, 2005, 1 - 3:30p.m.
U.S. Department of Education
First Floor Auditorium
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C.
EVENT LEADERS: John Hummel, CGFM,
Partner and Director, Federal Assurance Practice, KPMG LLP; Chair, CEAR
Board;
Harold I. Steinberg, CGFM, Technical Director, CEAR and SEA
Programs, AGA; and
Barry White, Director of Government Performance Projects,
Council for Excellence in Government and CEAR Board member.
This intermediate-level training provides information and
tools
to review and identify ways to improve federal agency Performance and
Accountability Reports (PARs). You will leave with a clear
understanding of how to help federal agencies improve their reports.
OMB's Circular A-136 has changed-join us to be one of the first to know
what these changes are!
The training will cover:
- The CEAR Guidelines, how to
review a PAR and determine opportunities for improvement. Including:
- Essential sections - MD&A, performance
section and financial section
- Cost effectiveness measures and trend data
- Importance of integration and creativity
- Balancing comprehensiveness with length
- AGA's CEAR Program and how it will be
conducted
- The reviewer's role in the program
You will leave with a clear
understanding of how to help federal agencies improve their performance
reports. Contact Julie Bryant,
CGFM, for more information.
SEA Reviewer
Training
AUDIO CONFERENCE
Wednesday, December 7, 2005, 1 - 5 p.m., 4 CPE
hours
If it's your job to explain how government funds have been
managed to ensure funding continues, this reviewer training is for you!
Funding for government projects is not automatic. If you have to
provide written justification for why funding should continue, you
should attend this conference, which will teach you an effective way to
explain how government funds have been managed. Contact Julie Bryant, CGFM, for
more information.
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. It can affect anyone, at any age, and in any ethnic or
economic group. The crime has many facets and can be perpetrated in a
variety of ways. 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.
Yankees, White Sox and
the AGA Japan Chapter?
Sue Muzzy, DFAS Japan
In 1953, the Yankees won the World Series and the Tokyo
“Federal Government Accountants Association” (FGAA) was
formed. With a name change in 1975 to the now familiar
“Association of Government Accountants” (AGA) the Tokyo
Chapter continued on until 1979 when the chapter, driven by loss of
both military and civilian billets, became dormant. In 1998, our
current Vice President, Mike Martin, spearheaded the reemergence of the
Japan AGA Chapter for the next several years until personnel
reassignments once again resulted in the chapter being placed in
“caretaker” status. Click here to read more about AGA's Japan Chapter.
N.A.L.G.A. Plans Annual
Conference
The National Association of Local Government Auditors will
host
its 18th Annual Conference on May 22-23, 2006 in San Jose, CA. Click here to find out more.
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