Over the last 18-24 months, there have been numerous bills signed into law, including the CARES Act, Omnibus COVID Relief Act, ARPA and most recently the Infrastructure Investments and Job Act (IIJA). The IIJA is not to be confused with the Build Back Better Act, which is still going through congress. The Infrastructure Investment and …
It is no secret that COVID-19 has affected the world as we know it. When the pandemic started, the unemployment rate skyrocketed seemingly overnight due to forced closures in order to limit the spread of the virus. The unemployment rate is now 6% but if you walk into any restaurant or retail business a “We’re …
With an expected completion date in 2024, the Valley’s light rail system will be getting a 5.5-mile extension, bringing it to a total of 32 miles long. The newest extension will run from the downtown Phoenix hub to Baseline Road in South Phoenix. This extension will add eight stations and two park and rides, as …
Stress, an inevitable part of life which is usually characterized as an unwelcome/unpleasant feeling, experienced both physically and mentally. Because of this you spend so much time trying to avoid stress altogether. But what if instead of trying to avoid it completely, you focused on using the following strategies to mitigate your stressful situations and …
Navigating Arizona’s court financial system can be confusing, even more so with a recent switch between AZTEC and AJACS systems. The state completed the transition by June 30, 2020 and now everyone can begin learning the user-friendly system! Don’t miss: Culture of busy-ness Each court is required to complete the following, to adhere to compliance …
The Government Finance Officers Association (or GFOA) is a professional association of state, provincial, and local government finance officers in the United States and Canada. They have recently published the Tenth Edition of Governmental Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting (GAAFR or “Blue Book”) in July 2020. Don’t miss: Yellow book changes GFOA is an organization in …
Brain health is easy to overlook, but it is also easy to improve. There are many benefits to improving your brain health. Two big ones are increased productivity at work, and an increase in overall quality of life and happiness. I have found that when I focus on one area, the others come naturally because …
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 …