119th Annual Conference Sessions: Accounting and Financial Reporting
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Sessions for Sunday, June 29
Are We There Yet? The Financial Data Transparency Act
The Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA), which was signed in 2022, changes the way governments must report their disclosures (in a structured data format) to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) system. Federal agencies are currently working through the rulemaking process to implement the act.
Accounting in the Real World
Have you ever tried explaining governmental financial statements to those who've never heard of GASB? The curse of knowledge can make it difficult for us to understand the perspective of those who don't know as much as we do about a given topic. Our challenge is to overcome it so we can explain our work and its importance to individuals outside our field.
Brace for Impact: Proposed Changes to Infrastructure and GAAP
This year, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued preliminary views on major issues related to infrastructure assets that proposed sweeping changes to infrastructure reporting on financial statements, including elements of methods of valuation and additional note disclosures. In response, GFOA offered perspectives from members in accounting, capital planning, and debt management.
From Errors to Excellence: Correcting Common ACFR Deficiencies
GFOA members strive to meet a high standard for comprehensive and timely financial reporting, and overall, they do exceptionally well. GFOA's awards programs recognize almost 5,000 different governments for their achievements. However, no one is perfect and GFOA tracks common deficiencies that are noted in the annual comprehensive financial reports submitted to the Certificate of Achievement (COA) program.
Sessions for Monday, June 30
Accounting and Auditing Year in Review
GFOA's Accounting and Auditing Year in Review provides conference attendees with an overview of changing standards and previews upcoming projects. During this perennial favorite, speakers will provide a comprehensive overview of the key developments in accounting, auditing, and financial reporting that affect state and local governments.
Achieving Financial Transparency
Almost all governments post financial reports to their website to inform the public and promote transparency goals. However, do these reports actually provide information that is timely, accessible, and informative for the community? With modern technology, leading governments can create dashboards that offer genuine financial transparency.
To Be or Not to Be: Issues in Defining Materiality
The application of the materiality concept is important to understand in the preparation of financial statements. This session will discuss the framework of materiality thresholds that audit professionals must use and how various fund types are impacted by materiality.
Complications with Capital Assets
Capital assets are often the largest assets reported by a government, yet accounting for them often takes place after fiscal year end. This session will cover the complexities related to accounting for capital assets, including proper journal entries for the sale, transfer, and disposal of a capital asset.
Sessions for Tuesday, July 1
Reflections in the Pool: Looking Back at Recent GASB Changes
A year after implementing GASB 100, governments were tasked with implementing GASB 101. While GASB 100 focused on the display and presentation of accounting changes and error corrections in the financial statements, GASB 101 changed the recognition and measurement of compensated absences liabilities. Join speakers as they reflect on their experiences preparing for and implementing these new standards.
The Playbook on Qualitative Disclosures
Let's talk about disclosures that coordinate with, but don't actually tie to numbers in the statements. Disclosures on tax abatement agreements, conduit debt outstanding, unused lines of credit, and certain risk disclosures are required by GAAP and should be reviewed annually to ensure the information presented is complete and accurate. These disclosures present a challenge because they take time to draft and often require information from outside the finance office.
Manageable Climb: Preparing for GASB 103
After ten years in development, GASB issued statement 103, Financial Reporting Model Improvements, in June 2024. This session will explore the changes to the Management's Discussion and Analysis, the reporting of the budgetary comparison schedules, and the presentation of discretely presented component units.
Sessions for Wednesday, July 2
Get Exposed: Future Concepts for Revenue Recognition
Raise your expectations! Changes are coming. Not today, not tomorrow, but before you know it, we will be re-evaluating revenue and expense recognition under an anticipated new principles-based model. This session will cover the latest updates on this project work and how it's expected to provide structure to recognition and measurement of some very complex revenue streams. It will also highlight how common revenue streams would be impacted by the proposed guidance.
The End of an ERA: Winding Down from ARPA
With the expiration of several huge COVID-19 pandemic era programs, government finance staff are tasked with winding down the largest federal funding packages ever received by local governments. This session will provide insight into the close-out requirements of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Fiscal Recovery Funds and other federal funding trends.