Happy March! I love March since it is official CGFM month! Featured are the proclamations from Governor Evers and Madison Mayor, Satya Rhodes-Conway. I would like to give a “shout out” to board member Andrew Stovich, CGFM, CPA for contacting their offices to get the proclamations this year.
We will have the brochure and registration set up for the Symposium soon. This in-person session will be held at Union South on Wednesday, May 10. We are partnering with CLA and they have helped us pick out a list of topics so we can provide 7 CPE. The topic list is:
Accountability in the Workplace
GASB Updates and Impacts
Pensions and the Current State of the Economy
Effective Risk Assessment and Audit Planning
Common Errors in Governmental Reporting
Cybersecurity Risks and Controls
I hope to see many of you there!
The National AGA office is offering a free members only webinar on April 5, A State of Flux – Shake Up Within Our Profession! This session runs 1-2:15 central time and is 1.5 CPE. If you haven’t registered yet, there is still time! They are also offering a free members only webinar on June 7, but the topic has not been announced yet. This session is also 1.5 CPE. I hope you are able to take advantage of this great membership benefit.
It is membership renewal season! It is also CGFM renewal time. I am sure you are aware and getting emails from the AGA National office. This year, they have added the option to select auto-renewal.
May 10, 2023 | 8:00am-3:50pm | In Person | 7.0 CPEs
Topics Include:
Accountability in the Workplace
GASB Updates and Impacts
Pensions and the Current State of the Economy
Effective Risk Assessment and Audit Planning
Common Errors in Governmental Reporting
Cybersecurity Risks and Controls
AGA Member $50 | Non-Member $100|
Retired AGA Members $30
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None Required
Delivery Method: In Person
Program Level: Overview
Questions? Special dietary needs? Please email or call:
Sherri Voigt:
Registration & Payment
Register on-line below or contact Sherri Voigt:
If you have multiple people to register for your agency, you may send one list via email for all names. Please include name, e-mail address, member status, and indicate if you would like an invoice sent.
Registration Deadline is April 25, 2023
After the registration deadline, there are no cancellations, only substitutions.
New! Special addition for in-person attendance–Free to attend
(This is for State Agency Staff located in the Hill Farms State Office Building.)
Note: In person attendance will not allow for participation in the “ethical dilemmas” and other polls during the webinar; therefore, attendance will be monitored by AGA through sign-in logs for CPE credit. Questions may be submitted during the webinar through the room monitor.
Duration: 100 minutes (2 CPE hours)
Program level: Overview
Prerequisites: None
Advance Preparation: None
Cost: Free
Hill Farms agency staff: Conference room space is being reserved at the Hill Farms building for in person attendance, Limit: 50
Register below or send e-mail to Sherri Voigt with membership status, payment preference (non-members) and name(s) of attendees.
Registration Deadline is Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
**conference room information will be sent after registrations are completed **waiting lists will be created if the room limits are reached
New! Special addition for in-person attendance–Free to attend
Note: In person attendance will not allow for participation in the “ethical dilemmas” and other polls during the webinar; therefore, attendance will be monitored by AGA through sign-in logs for CPE credit. Questions may be submitted during the webinar through the room monitor.
Duration: 100 minutes (2 CPE hours)
Program level: Overview
Prerequisites: None
Advance Preparation: None
Cost: Free
All agencies: Conference room space is being reserved at the DOA building for in person attendance, Limit: 75
Register below or send e-mail to Sherri Voigt with membership status, payment preference (non-members) and name(s) of attendees.
Registration Deadline is Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
**conference room information will be sent after registrations are completed **waiting lists will be created if the room limits are reached
All Agencies (Department of Administration Location) – Registration Link
Title: Ethical Dilemmas—You Make the Calls
Session Date and Time: April 13, 2023 1:00 – 3:00 pm CT (Virtual, via Zoom)
Description: If you said to a group of government accountability professionals, “raise your hand if you’re ethical,” every hand would go up. Why, then, do we have ethical failures? One answer is that not everyone recognizes it when confronted with an ethical dilemma. Another answer is that not everyone can agree on the “right” course of action to take in every situation. This interactive webinar will explore several potential ethical dilemmas vis-à-vis AGA’s Code of Ethics to determine how and why trained and experienced government accountability professionals sometimes run afoul of our ethics principles.
Learning Objectives: After completing this session, participants will be able to:
Recognize the AGA’s Code of Ethics and how it can help you remain ethical.
Describe AGA’s ethics inquiry process and ethics enforcement process and results of recent ethics inquiries and investigations.
Evaluate hypothetical ethical dilemmas, whether they can result in a violation of AGA’s Code of Ethics, and propose your views about each dilemma.
NASBA Field of Study: Behavioral Ethics
Duration: 100 minutes (2 CPE hours)
Program level: Overview
Prerequisites: None
Advance Preparation: None
Cost: AGA Members – Free
Non-members – $10
Register below or send e-mail to Sherri Voigt with membership status, payment preference (non-members) and name(s) of attendees.
Registration Deadline is Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
Speaker Bio:
Melinda J. DeCorte, CPA, CFE, CGFM, PMP
Partner at Cotton, A Sikich Company
Melinda DeCorte has 25 years of accounting, auditing and government financial management experience. She directs, manages, and serves in a quality assurance capacity for financial statement audit engagements conducted in accordance with Government Auditing Standards (GAS) and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) auditing standards. She also has extensive advisory experience for multiple governmental agencies, primarily focusing on internal controls and risk assessments, financial statement preparation, financial system implementation, and evaluating agencies for audit readiness and compliance with internal control standards and generally accepted accounting principles.
In addition to client engagements, Melinda’s corporate leadership roles include serving on the Sikich LLP Executive Board and overseeing the Sikich federal audit practice.
Ms. DeCorte is an active member of the AGA (formerly known as the Association of Government Accountants) and she also served on the advisory council to the GAO in updating the Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government. She has authored several articles in the AGA Journal of Government Financial Management and the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC) Armed Forces Comptroller. A former adjunct professor at the University of Virginia (introductory and intermediate accounting principles), Ms. DeCorte regularly speaks on ethics, audit, and internal control at professional development conferences and training seminars
We have also included some upcoming CPE events from AGA National and other chapters. Please take a look at the information for the 2022 Technology & Transformation Summit (page 3)… This is 8 CPE and is free to members!!! If you can’t attend the full day, you can still get credit for the sessions you do attend. This is a great part of your membership value!
The chapter board spent time in September and October discussing what we could for new AGA members. Historically, we offered a free lunch meeting. Since those are no longer part of the event rotation, we brainstormed and came up with a few ideas. The result was a vote to give new members $20 off the registration fee for the Annual Symposium. This also helps with members who are outside the Madison area and could not reasonably attend the lunch meetings. We will do a look-back to all members with an original join date of January 1, 2022 or later. I will be reaching out to that list of people over the next month or two to let them know, and I will also do an outreach as the Symposium agenda is finalized. [Note: Be sure to save the date: Wednesday, May 10, 2023]
AGA National has created Google accounts for chapters so we can better handle surveys. We will be sending out a member survey very soon to get feedback on what you would like to see the chapter doing, including the ever-present request for training topics and speakers. This year, we will be offering an optional drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card for completing the survey by the deadline. We look forward to the information so we can use it in planning chapter activities.
State and Local Government Emerging Issues R. Kinney Poynter, CPA, Executive Director- National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers (NASACT)
When: Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 1:00-2:40 pm Central Time Prerequisites: None Advanced Preparation: None Field of Study: FIN Delivery Method: Group Internet Based Program Level: Overview
Objectives:
Provide an overview of current trends and issues for state and local governments
Help attendees locate useful websites for collected data
Participants will earn 2.0 CPE credits
Cost:
Free for AGA members
$5.00 for non-members
Registration deadline is Monday April 18, 5 pm * Limit: 75 people (a wait list will be created if the limit is reached)*
Kinney Poynter is the Executive Director for the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers (NASACT). In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall operations of NASACT as well as the programs of the National Association of State Comptrollers and National State Auditors Association. NASACT is a professional organization whose mission is to assist state leaders to enhance and promote effective and efficient management of governmental resources. Kinney has been with NASACT since 1989, previously serving as the association’s Deputy Director and various other positions.
In addition to his experience with NASACT, he has been a partner of a local public accounting firm in Lexington, Kentucky, and a principal auditor with the Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts, where he conducted financial, performance, and investigative audits on state agencies and local governments.
While in public practice, he performed single audits on various nonprofit organizations.
Kinney has BS and MS degrees in accounting from the University of Kentucky and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Association of Government Accountants (AGA). He previously served on the AICPA Governing Council. He is also a member of the Kentucky Society of Certified Public Accountants, where he has served as chairman of the Governmental Accounting Committee. Kinney has served as an instructor domestically and internationally on a variety of governmental accounting and auditing issues.
