I have attended several governmental conferences over the past few years and looked around the room and wondered where is the generation that will assume the finance responsibilities in 10 to 20 years. Governmental finance is a specialty and is not covered in detail at colleges and universities. You should be thinking outside the box …
The Government Accounting Standards Board is always issuing new standards on a range of topics such as pensions, postemployment benefit plans, lease standards and more. With so many technically complex changes issued within a short time frame, it can be hard to keep up. Implementing changes can be a time-consuming process, especially for those with …
In the accounting profession, work can get busy. So much so, that many of us have probably caught ourselves saying, “I was so busy at work today, but feel like I got nothing done.” In general, one minute of focused time equals four and a half minutes of unfocused time, and while people can switch …
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) as identified in their mission statement is an organization that was established to assist in the professional management of governments by developing and identifying financial policies and best practices through education, training, facilitation of member leadership and networking. The objectives of the GFOA are to offer expert knowledge, education, …
In January 2012, the Government Finance Officers Association’s Executive Board adopted 2 new Best Practices and revised 4 Best Practices. The 2 new Best Practices are as follows: Presentation of the Departmental Section in Operating Budget Document – This document provides guidance to governments on how to meet their programs and services objectives. The departmental …
That is a question that management of many governmental entities asks. Governmental entities also have another layer of complexity in determining appropriate levels of cash reserves due to the fact that there are many different funds within a governmental entity. For example, a governmental entity may have General, Special Revenue, Debt Service, Capital Improvement and …
Over the past several years more and more citizens have pushed for an increase in the transparency of financial reporting of governments. As the economy has struggled, citizens have grown more concerned with how their tax dollars are being spent. The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has long encouraged governments to demonstrate transparency by making …