AGA TOPICS Newsletter

CGFM Profile: Second Career Prompts Dave Swindell to Find 'Right' Certification

Like many career military officers, Dave Swindell needed to make a big transition after his retirement. Unlike many of his peers, he did not shift to consulting work, contracting for the Department of Defense or maintaining close ties to his Army past.

He made a big break, moving to an area with no military presence and taking on something completely new: a job in local government.

“When you change careers, everything’s open. I considered the private sector, but in the end I was fairly pleased with the ethics and purpose of government. I don’t know if I could work that hard to make someone else money.”

Swindell ended his 22-year military career, and moved from Oklahoma to Pocatello, Idaho, where he has served as the city’s chief financial officer for the past five years. One of his first priorities was to become certified, and the CGFM turned out to be the broad-based governmental accounting certification that he was looking for.

“I was influenced by others who were active in AGA,” Swindell said. “Pocatello is home to Idaho State University and Kitty Pumphrey. Kitty is the Professor of Governmental Accounting and an active AGA pusher—and on my selection committee, I later found out. She got me thinking about the CGFM.”

Swindell said that as a federal employee, he became well schooled in financial and policy analysis. He also earned a master’s degree in public administration along the way. In the Army, his focus was on setting budget priorities, not the specifics of governmental accounting.

By contrast, one of Swindell’s first hires —CPA Joyce Stroschein—was stronger in accounting techniques and not as experienced in financial analysis. He purchased the self-study guides and got to work. After he passed the first exam, Stroschein also started studying, and ended up earning her certification before her boss did.

“We really studied on our own, but we encouraged each other. I couldn’t help but finish,” he said. “There was a little honor involved.” In addition to her CGFM, Stroschein received a promotion from senior accountant to controller. “She also found the program to be a good refresher of just how everything is connected between accounting, management, leadership and accountability to the public,” Swindell said.

Earning the CGFM from Pocatello was somewhat complicated. To take the exams, Swindell traveled to Ogden (130 miles), Salt Lake City (177 miles) and Boise (240 miles), with his wife in the passenger seat quizzing him on the way to the testing centers. Being an AGA member isn’t simple either, as the Idaho Centennial Chapter meets in Boise, on the other end of the state. Swindell and Stroschein attend AGA’s regional conferences and as many chapter functions as time and distance allow.

Taking a job in local government has been a great experience and a huge growth opportunity, Swindell said. Since entering West Point at age 18, his life had been wrapped up in the Army, a life he understood and knew well. He was comfortable walking the halls of Congress or the Pentagon, but nowhere is the role of government in people’s lives more obvious than in City Hall. Approving a setback for a garage may sound mundane, but it’s pretty important to the resident involved. At the federal level, the direct impact of what you do can be somewhat lost, he said. “Everything a city does is generally important,” he said. “I found the right niche for me.”

The values he learned through his military education—becoming a well-rounded person with awareness of many disciplines—applied to the CGFM. As a big believer in what he calls a “core education,” the CGFM fit into his desire to understand the big picture. Studying for the CGFM Exams gave Swindell a stronger knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of governmental accounting, describing the origin of certain rules and how they evolved to the point where they are today.

“I think the CGFM distinguishes you amongst your peers,” he said. “I can testify to the value of it. “