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GFOA of the US & Canada

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GFOA of the US & Canada

Since 1906, GFOA has provided practical assistance and support to public-sector finance officers to help them better serve their communities.

Stay current with developments and trends in the government finance profession by uniting with 19,000+ members in the United States and Canada whose careers, studies, or interests involve government financial management.

Operating as usual

03/29/2023

GFOA's Fiscal First Aid research series, developed originally to deal with the 2009 Great Recession & then refined through the pandemic offers strategies to reduce budget expenses, create flexibility, & assess risk for long-term sustainability. This eLearning course, April 18-19, provides an overview of GFOA’s 12 step approach for addressing fiscal distress and outlines the steps finance officers should take to guide their organizations through times of fiscal uncertainty and budget shortfalls.

Register: https://www.gfoa.org/events/lmsffa0423

03/28/2023

New to local government accounting? We have an education journey for you beginning with our Accounting Academy coming up in Chicago, April 25-28.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/events/aboot0423

03/27/2023

Reallocate the police? "Financial innovation" can be a genteel way of saying “a technical solution to a political problem.” Large projected budget gap and no agreement on how to close it? A “scoop and toss” debt refinancing can help. Council wants a new fire truck but can’t agree on how to pay for it? Make those dollars appear with a mid-year budget adjustment—and so forth. This type of innovation can clear a path to political agreement. But it can also allow elected officials to ignore structural financial problems that become exponentially worse with time. Today’s state and local finance officials continue to grapple with the broader ethical and policy questions that surround this type of financial innovation.

The defund the police movement stoked some of the most contentious local political debate in recent memory. Leaders of and against that movement disagreed on basically everything. But they did agree on one key point: police are too often dispatched to situations they’re not equipped to manage. This is especially true for emergencies rooted in substance abuse, untreated mental illness, developmental disabilities, and behavioral health concerns.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfr0223-marlowe

03/24/2023

Get your nominations in! GFOA’s Fifth Annual Hero Award recognizes finance officers who have demonstrated extraordinary actions beyond their normal duties. The nomination deadline is next Friday.

Learn more: https://gfoa.org/hero-award

03/23/2023

! KEYNOTE ANNOUNCEMENT !

GFOA is happy to announce that the opening keynote speaker for the 117th Annual Conference will be Eduardo Briceño. Eduardo is one of the world’s leading experts on growth mindset and workplace learning. He will speak to GFOA conference attendees about how to foster a growth mindset—the belief that one’s abilities and qualities can be developed—and about habits and systems that foster growth.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/sunday-keynote-eduardo-briceno

03/23/2023

As GFOA members continue to have questions related to GASB 87 and GASB 96, we've compiled a list of resources in one place on GFOA's website. The GASB Resource Center includes recent articles and do-it-yourself tools and templates to help in the learning and implementation process. As we develop new resources and future educational opportunities covering these topics, we'll add them to this page.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/gasb-resource-center

03/22/2023

Governments must be able to recruit talent successfully, but some have a reputation for making it harder than it should be. The following "not" Top 10 list includes common mistakes governments have made, based on the reported experiences of a few recent job applicants in a survey by GFOA.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfr0223-10steps

03/21/2023

Here's a question for you...why do good employees leave? While a certain amount of turnover is healthy and normal, when an employer hemorrhages staff, it can take years to recover. And let’s face it, retention is tough in many places. While you can’t make people stay, you can take some critical actions to address the main reasons people say sayonara, so long, and see you later.

Learn more from this recent article in Government Finance Review.
https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfr0223-bye-bye-b0ss

03/20/2023

Want a better understanding of debt management in ? This eLearning course April 25-27 will discuss key challenging facing governments, teach you how to develop appropriate debt management policies and procedures, review current market conditions and trends, and show you how to evaluate if issuing debt is the right option for your municipality.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/events/lmsdm0423

03/17/2023

Government finance officers work on many types of projects from finance to risk management and collaborate with various teams to improve their communities. We seek nominations of such champions for GFOA’s Fifth Annual Hero Award, which recognizes finance officers who have demonstrated extraordinary actions beyond their normal duties. The nomination deadline is March 31.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/hero-award

03/16/2023

A public budget is a means of communicating community priorities and a plan for guiding public administrators in executing discretionary decision-making and undertaking practical means for getting results. Public finance analysts need to be skilled communicators who have an understanding of psychology, marketing, language, and cultural diversity.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfr0223-public-figures

03/15/2023

This Friday is your last chance to save on the registration fee for in Portland, Oregon, May 21-24. More than 3,500 attendees have already registered. Browse the 70+ sessions now at https://www.gfoa.org/sessions/2023-conference-schedule and register at https://www.gfoa.org/events/117th-gfoa-annual-conference

03/14/2023

What are the fundamentals of local government budgeting? Let’s dive into it! This eLearning course, beginning April 24, will emphasize the fundamental components of a local government's budget policies and processes along with best practices and techniques required for effective budgeting. Each training module/day will focus on a specific topic and feature both presentation and interactive discussion/exercises.

Attendees will go through the basic structures of a local government budget, learn how budgeting can be better used to promote long-term planning, process improvement, and community outcomes. In addition, the course will cover specific techniques for developing the budget, communicating budget messages, and identifying strategies for approaching cut back budgeting to deal with a crisis.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/events/lmsfb0423

03/13/2023

Looking to gain a better understanding of accounting and financial reporting for state and local government? Attend GFOA's popular Accounting Academy in Chicago April 25-28. This intensive four-day workshop will get you up to speed on highly specialized rules, guidelines, and practices on GAAP, fund accounting, component units, budgetary reporting, government-wide financial reporting, and more. Register early because this class will fill up!

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/events/aboot0423

03/10/2023

Let's talk process improvement. Until recently, Fort Collins, Colorado, Senior Accounting Coordinator Renee Reeves was frustrated by the amount of time it took her to reconcile the city’s credit receipts with its bank records. But after a summer-long improvement project in the city’s Financial Services Division, she was able to celebrate a dramatic decrease from an average of 100 hours a month spent on this activity to only 65 hours in October 2022.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfr0223-process-improvement

03/09/2023

This week, GFOA announced that it's teaming with Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, on a first-of-its-kind initiative to provide local U.S. governments with state-of-the-art tools to help them better analyze and plan their rainy day funds.

When planning for potential disasters, local governments perennially ask themselves “how much is enough” to keep in the rainy day fund? To help answer this question, GFOA is teaming with Aon to grant GFOA access to data on natural disaster exposure in local communities, enabling GFOA to build risk models with comparable analytical techniques that insurance companies use to develop coverages.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfoa-teams-with-aon-to-mitigate-natural-disaster-risk

03/09/2023

Conference attendees can now begin planning their learning experience at in Portland, Oregon, May 21-24. More than seventy conference sessions have been added to the schedule including the always popular Accounting Year in Review. New hot topic sessions include FDTA Explained, Building a Data-Driven Finance Officer, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Government, Practical Solutions to Fix Your Hiring Process, and many more.

View Sessions: https://www.gfoa.org/sessions/2023-conference-schedule

03/09/2023

GFOA's Market and Credit Rating Outlook webinar is coming up next week. This event will provide attendees with an understanding of current credit and market factors, information that is especially important for governments that may be planning to issue bonds this year. Representatives from Moody's Investors Service, Fitch Ratings, and S&P Global Ratings will discuss various topics including new ratings methodologies.

The event will also provide a muni market outlook that will give issuers a snapshot into understanding investor interests and issuance patterns, and what factors may create some bumps in the road this year.

Register: https://www.gfoa.org/events/int031623

03/08/2023

It's about teamwork in the City of Thousand Oaks, California. Early in his career with the city, Senior Financial Analyst Ryan Roman, who works in the Finance Department, asked Deputy Public Works Director Nader Heydari if his team could help with a project. Nader quickly responded, “It’s not your department and my department. It’s our team. It’s the city.” These words had a significant impact on Ryan as a new employee, and they exemplify the collaborative culture that Thousand Oaks staff consider to be one of the keys to their success. Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfr0223-thousand-oaks

03/08/2023

Political polarization is the leading social rift of our time and won't be an easy problem to solve, but there is a science-backed method that can help to bridge political divides. We've partnered with Constructive Dialogue Institute to bring you Perspectives, an online program that helps teams create the best ideas across divides to develop public finance solutions greater than the sum of their parts.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/perspectives

03/07/2023

Member Spotlight: GFOA recently spoke with Harpreet Hora, the executive director of budget services for Atlanta Public Schools, about her experience working in local government, the role of a leader in public finance, the value of relationships, and her involvement in GFOA’s Rethinking Budgeting initiative.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfr0223-interivew-hora

03/06/2023

Budget decisions today are often made in an environment of high conflict and low trust. This is not surprising given that conflict is up, and trust is down in the United States, generally. However, we can make the discourse healthier and more efficient through quadratic voting. This allows participants to swing the decisions they care about the most, in exchange for giving up some influence over decisions they care about less.

This article examines how the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County navigated a crowded decision-making environment with quadratic voting.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/materials/gfr0223-seeking-consensus

03/06/2023

GFOA's Federal Funds Fair begins tomorrow. Join virtually to learn more about federal grants available to state and local governments. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear important information from the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Treasury, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Discover federal funding streams that could benefit your communities.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/events/federal-funds-fair-2023

03/03/2023

We're two weeks away from the Second Early Registration Discount Deadline. More than 3,000 attendees have already registered for in Portland, Oregon, from May 21 to 24. Don't miss this opportunity to network and learn about the latest trends in public finance. There will be up to eighty CPE-accredited sessions on government finance topics that are relevant and applicable to your job.

Learn more: gfoa.org/conference

03/02/2023

GFOA's Fiscal First Aid research series, developed originally to help deal with the 2009 Great Recession and then refined through the pandemic offers several strategies to reduce budget expenses, create flexibility, and assess risk associated with different options with the goal of long-term sustainability.

This eLearning course, beginning April 18, provides an overview of GFOA’s 12 step approach for addressing fiscal distress and outlines the steps finance officers should take to guide organizations through times of fiscal uncertainty and budget shortfalls.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/events/lmsffa0423

03/01/2023

The February issue of Government Finance Review features in-depth articles on GFOA's Rethinking Budgeting initiative, process improvement, communicating with public figures, quadratic voting, and much more.

Read the issue online now at https://www.gfoa.org/gfr.

02/28/2023

GFOA’s Federal Funds Fair is one week away. Want to learn more about federal grants available to state and local governments? Don’t miss this opportunity to hear important information from the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Treasury, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Discover federal funding streams that could benefit your communities.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/events/federal-funds-fair-202

02/27/2023

Capital assets are the largest investments for most governments: from planning, to financing, to construction, to operations, maintenance, and replacement. Therefore, making generational investments and maintaining capital infrastructure in the condition necessary to preserve and enhance your community’s vitality and quality of life takes forethought and planning.

This eLearning course, March 28-30, will walk you through examples using best practices in long-range capital planning, budgeting, and asset maintenance planning as a foundation to discuss successful methods and many of the common challenges associated with the process.

Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/events/lmscip0323

02/24/2023

Ready to dive into accounting? We have two in-person courses coming up at our headquarters in Chicago the week of March 20.

Intermediate Governmental Accounting
March 20-21 | 12 CPE Credits

Attendees will gain a basic understanding of the appropriate governmental accounting and financial reporting related to: capital assets; debt; leases; public-private and public-public partnerships; availability payment arrangements; and subscription-based information technology arrangements.

Register: https://www.gfoa.org/events/iga0323

Advanced Governmental Accounting
March 21-23 | 20 CPE Credits

Attendees will gain a basic understanding of the appropriate governmental accounting and financial reporting related to: investments and derivative instruments; grants; joint ventures, majority equity interests, and similar arrangements; sales and pledges of receivables and future revenues; government combinations and transfer of operations; risk financing; fiduciary activities; common reporting deficiencies found in annual comprehensive financial reports; irrevocable split interest agreements; government-wide financial statements, and conversions and consolidations; environmental obligations—landfills, pollution remediation, and asset retirement obligations; and internal control.

Register: https://www.gfoa.org/events/aga0323

Address

203 N La Salle Street Ste 2700
Chicago, IL
60601

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Friday	8:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+13129779700

Website

http://www.gfoa.org/

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Videos

Many of the challenges that most inspire the passion of citizens are complex problems. Complex problems pose a challenge to public engagement. Because they defy easy answers, they contribute to a sense of cynicism about what collective action, through government, can achieve. Here's a preview of one of the 10+ sessions we'll be featuring at GFOA's Rethinking Public Engagement Summit, November 7-10. A variety of registration options are available. Learn more: https://www.gfoa.org/rethinking-public-engagement-summit

We’re talking GAAP Update on the latest GFOA podcast. Listen as Technical Services Director Michele Mark Levine discusses this year’s program and what participants can expect to learn. Podcast: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/yiYkjglkzsb Registration information: https://www.gfoa.org/gaap-update

Struggling with time management? GFOA’s Katie Ludwig stopped by for a conference chat to talk about how our #TimeBackChallenge can help! #GFOA2022

New GFOA President Terri Velasquez stopped by for a conference chat to discuss her goals for the next year. #GFOA2022

Last week, GFOA Executive Board members gathered in Austin to discuss #BuiltByBonds. #GFOA2022

GFOA Federal Liaison Center Director Emily Swenson Brock stopped by for a conference chat to talk about the work happening in Washington and how it impacts members and communities. #GFOA2022 #BuiltByBonds

The Exhibit Hall at #GFOA2022 is a busy place this afternoon!

This week, GFOA, CivicPulse and Engaging Local Government Leaders released new data on the gender composition of finance and budgeting officials for over 21,000 local governments. We chatted with Nathan Lee from CivicPulse about the Diversity Dashboard at #GFOA2022.

GFOA's 3rd Annual MiniMuni Conference is one month away. Don't miss this opportunity to hear from key leaders in Washington, D.C. and participate in dialogue with issuer peers. Nine CPE credits are available with your participation. Learn more at gfoa.org/minimuni.

Happy Holidays from GFOA!

Virtual Conference Session Spotlight

GFOA's Financial Foundations for Thriving Communities

Support Small Issuers

Restore Advance Refunding

Comments

In case you are interested, the City of Clive, Iowa is looking a finance director. Their current finance director is retiring.

I'm seeking Comptroller job descriptions for School Districts. If you have one that you can share, can you please email them to [email protected]! Thanks in advance.

Can anyone share experience with grants recipient software systems that helps with the ongoing administration of state/federal grants?

So, our county received a bunch of CARES Act money and isn’t doing much sharing with cities. They’ve given some to the school districts. Does anyone out there have any creative ideas for eligible projects/expenditures? We’ve requested the basic stuff (public safety, etc.) to no avail.

The City of Winnipeg is researching funding models for its police service to ensure they have predictable and sustainable funding. 1) We would like to know if your jurisdiction uses a funding model to determine the police services annual budget and 2) if you do use a model can you share some details. You can contact me at [email protected]

Stress reduction video at www.virtualtravelvideos.org

What are you using to track debt payment (principal and interest)?

Is anyone using or going to use lease accounting software to implement and maintain compliance with GASB 87? If so, which software and why? Thank you in advance for your input.

Cities needs to pass a resolution declaring BLM as a terrorist organization

Has anyone done a 'mass' request for customers to make payments via ACH due to COVID-19? We are looking to reduce the number of paper checks especially since we are all working remotely. If so, do you have a letter/email you used that I could see as an example?

I follow bond rating changes for local governments in New York such as counties, cities, towns, villages and school districts.

Up to March 27 Moody's has not downgraded the bonds of any local governments this month due to the virus. These governments are at risk because they may lose portions of their operating revenue such as sales tax. A number of entities in New York City are being placed on a "negative credit watch" status by Moody's. This can lead to bond downgradings.

With the current COVID-19 crisis, Finance’s efforts are completely diverted from implementing the new GASBs that are coming out, especially for GASB 87 for leases. The time available, resources, and funding needed to already implement this new GASB standard timely has exponentially declined and diverted to support operations for the current crisis and will have long lasting impacts on our State and local governments. Can GFOA and the State GFOA chapters work with GASB to encourage them to give us more time while the States’ and localities’ finance departments focus on supporting current emergent operations and supporting the plans for economic recover rather than implementing new GASB standards with significant changes? Is any other County, Town, City, District, Municipality, or utility feeling the same way?