Category: President’s Message

Greetings All-

We are past the half-way point for the program year. I hope you have been able to attend one or more meetings this year.

If you attended some lunch meetings this fall and are a member, you will soon be contacted about whether you earned a free lunch (attend 3 lunches from September to February, get a free lunch in March or April). If you need just one more, the February lunch is your chance to do it.

It is membership renewal season and the  National Office has been sending out notices. The actual membership year ends March 31. I do hope you will renew your membership and take advantage of the member discounts offered. It is also CGFM renewal time for those who have the certification.

I would like to take a moment to mention that long-time member Laura Bowles contacted us recently. She is returning to private industry after many years working for the WI Department of Health Services and the UW-Madison. Laura was a frequent lunch meeting and Symposium attendee. She also served many years in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program as a chapter volunteer. I wanted to take the chance to congratulate her on this big move and let people know about her change.

Our chapter will be sending out a member satisfaction survey in the next 6-8 weeks. I hope you take the opportunity to give us feedback on the events held this year and provide us with suggestions for topics for the new program year.

 

Please note that we have two separate training events in January! There is an audio conference on January 15 that features 2 CPE. The topic is Fraud Detection and Prevention.

The lunch meeting is the Annual Tax Update at Imperial Garden east on January 23.

I am hopeful we can escape the ongoing snow and ice for these dates. I look forward to seeing you there.

The board is actively planning/scheduling the spring Symposium. If you have any topic or speaker recommendations, please send them in.

Chapter community service efforts continued in November. Two board members volunteered at the Salvation Army Community Meal.

We have a great new way to sign up for news from the chapter. There is a simple “subscribe” option at the website. Never miss out on Chapter news again!

There is still time to save money and join AGA under the 20/20/20 program (see this month’s newsletter Monthly Footnotes – January 2014).

See you in January!

 

I would like to express a special thank you to everyone who attended the October lunch meeting. We had an overflow crowd to match a restaurant mix-up. I appreciate the great attendance.

I also thank those who wore pink in appreciation of the Passionately Pink for the Cure event (and those who made a donation). Also, thank you to those who brought warm socks. Your generosity is much appreciated.

I would like to draw your attention to a report out on our website. On September 30, we published our third annual Report to Our Members. It is available under the Chapter History area. This is a four-page report that highlights the Chapter accomplishments for the past program year. I hope you will take a moment to look at it. Please let us know anything else you would like to see included.

And if you need some last CPE for 2013, check out the December 11 audio conference on the calendar. Please note that registration is through the DHS Training Office.

Sherri Voigt, CGFM, CPA

We have two training opportunities for you this month: our regular lunch meeting on October 17 and a two-hour audio conference on October 23. Both topics are grant-related and I hope you will take the opportunity to check them both out.

Our Chapter will host a Komen
“Passionately Pink for the Cure” event as part of the October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign. We will do this on conjunction with the October 17 lunch meeting. See page 6 for some FAQ. Anyone who would like to donate can use this link or bring a donation to the lunch meeting. Anyone who donates $5 or more will receive a pin. All lunch attendees will be entered in a drawing for a scarf (prize donated to the chapter.) So, break out your pink and wear it on the 17th!

If you would just like more information on risk factors and prevention, please visit http://ww5.komen.org/breastcancer/loweryourrisk.html

We are still collecting socks for the Salvation Army Homeless and Community Shelters. We had a lot of success at the September lunch and wanted to give people a chance to bring any they may have forgotten to bring in. We will deliver them after the lunch meeting.

I would like to draw your attention to just one more thing in the newsletter. Our
“20/20/20” Recruitment Campaign was xtremely popular last year. If you have ever considered joining AGA, please take a look at the article on page 8. It features all the benefits of joining, from the current $20 rebate offer to the discounted training fees to the free lunch after joining. Feel free to contact David Mellem, membership chair, me, or any board member with questions.

Sherri Voigt, CGFM, CPA

Welcome to the new AGA program year. We have the entire fall lunch meeting schedule updated for speaker/topic information already. Take a look at the Calendar of Events on page 11 of the September Footnotes or on our website.

For 2014, we had a goal of increasing CPE opportunities for the membership. We will be offering 4 live audio conferences this year. We tried to pick from different topic areas to hit on items that would appeal to the most people. These are all included on the Calendar of Events, and more details will be announced ahead. AGA National conducts the audio conferences and they are worth 2 CPE each.

If you were to attend all events listed on our calendar, you would earn 20 CPE!

As always, if you have any suggestions for speakers, topics, or locations, please feel free to contact Education Chair Mary Laufenberg or myself at any time. It is never too soon to start our process for developing the Symposium agenda!

I hope to see you at the September lunch!

Highlights from this month’s AGA National News – AGA Chapter Insider

• Collaboration Issues Call-to-Action on Government Guidance
• Help Promote AGA’s 2013 CFO Survey — Chapters Can Win Cash!
• AGA 500 Race for Retention

Highlights from this month’s AGA National News – AGA Chapter Insider:

• AGA Membership Renewals
• Upcoming Habitat for Humanity Project: Atlantic City, NJ
• PDC Community Service Raffle and Silent Auction

PDC Training Event: Big Challenges. Bigger Solutions.

July 14-17| Dallas | 24 CPE Hours | Register Now

This week, D.C.-based, Federal News Radio, featured the ‘Rise of the Money People’. The stories are in celebration of YOU!

“Financial management moves front and center as agencies make the final assault on wasted billions,” zeros in on CFOs and their soldiers who are in the financial wars, their strategies and tactics for waging the fight, the current and emerging weapons in their arsenal and how their future battles will unfold.” Read more

Circumstances are tough and heroes like you need to constantly train to stay on top of the best practices and lessons needed to advance government accountability. Join us in Dallas for our premier national training event. This year, the PDC will explore the enormous fiscal challenges facing our nation and offer innovative solutions to solve them.

Highlights from this month’s AGA National News – AGA Chapter Insider:

• Chapter CCR Logo Contest
• AGA Membership Renewals
• Upcoming Habitat for Humanity Project: Atlantic City, NJ

 

From AGA eNews:

Webinar: Citizen-Centric Reports – Communicating to Your Constituents

April 24 | 2-4 p.m. EDT
Communicating to the public remains a difficult task for governmental entities. To assist this effort, AGA created the Citizen-Centric Reporting (CCR) initiative. In 2006, we developed a template for entities to place the most important financial and performance information into an easy-to-understand four-page document. The four pages give citizens the information they should know about the jurisdiction. The citizens that require more information are led to the entity’s website through helpful links.

AGA will host a complimentary webinar led by two CCR preparers offering their first-hand experience in the preparation of their reports.

Speakers:

• Kim Wallin, Nevada State Controller. Her office has prepared several CCRs. She will explain the CCR creation process, how it has evolved, and also how her office uses the report to communicate to the citizens.
• Stephen Marshall, finance director, Syracuse City, Utah, recently prepared its first CCR. He will explain their process, why his leadership wanted to prepare the document, and how they plan to use it in the future.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from these practitioners!