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1 December 2007 Volume 30, Number 5 UPCOMING EVENTS President s Message By Ann Collett, CGFM, CPA Chapter Luncheon 1/10/08 Winter Seminar 1/8-9/08 Chapter Luncheon 2/7/08 Audio Conference 2/8/08 Audio Conference 3/26/08 Make reservations for the Chapter Luncheon online at Deadline to register for this month is January 7, What s Inside President s Message 1 Luncheon Speaker 3 Committee News 4 CEC Member Profile 8 National News 10 Newsletter Article 14 Meeting Minutes 16 Officers and Directors 17 Are many of you saying to yourselves that you re excited at the prospect of getting in a new year s worth of continuing professional education requirements? Okay, well maybe that s not the most exciting thing you re looking forward to for 2008, but nonetheless and fortunately for you, you can start the year off with a bang at the Winter Seminar, January 8-9. And let me say, even if you don t need CPE, the Winter Seminar has a variety of topics that you ll be interested in simply because you re a government accountability professional! In looking at the agenda you ll see that we have a session on Tennessee Specific Ethics which a lot of people are concerned about getting since that is a requirement that is being phased in for CPAs. Did you know that AGA has a code of ethics for members and CGFMs to follow? Have you ever looked at the chapter s bylaws? First, did you know we have chapter bylaws and a code of ethics? Our bylaws were adopted in 2003 and Appendix I is the Code of Ethics. We actually adopted National s Code of Ethics as our own. The Overview of the Code of Ethics includes The Association of Government Accountants believes that its members first and foremost serve the public interest in accordance with the highest ethical principles. This Code of Ethics is both a standard of behavior to aspire to and a guide for making ethical decisions. However, the code is not simply a set of rules. It also creates an expectation that the Association s members will do the right thing in any given situation. Do you believe government employees think about ethics as they re performing their duties? The Code discusses the government financial management profession as well as the public interest responsibility. The distinguishing marks of a profession are its acceptance by the public and the profession s acceptance of its responsibility to the public. Part of the Purpose of the Code says it has been developed as guidance for the members of the Association, CGFMs, and for the information of their employers. Your boss should be glad to know you re in an organization with a Code of Ethics! Continued on the next page.

2 The bylaws are posted on our chapter website at 003%20Revised%20Bylaws%20Nashville.pdf. This is a good way to learn about the association mission, membership, meetings, chapter governance, committees, budget approval, and more! It s your chapter, so you might as well know how it works! You might take a look at the Code of Ethics before the Winter Seminar session. Looking forward to 2008, after a busy year, what is it that you want to do most? For me, I can hardly wait to have some time off just to read a book! I don t think I m asking for too much!! What about New Year s resolutions? How about making one to say you ll come to everything the chapter sponsors?!!!! Everyone would tell me I should be making a resolution to keep a cleaner office. Sure, it s worth putting on the list! We ll have a lot going on in the chapter in 2008, starting with the seminar and the chapter luncheon the next day. National President Rick Fair will be visiting us to speak at the winter seminar and attend the luncheon. We re looking forward to welcoming him back to Nashville. We ll soon be starting plans for a 30 th anniversary celebration. This will be in addition to our regular annual social. We ll be gearing up for CGFM month in March. I know we ve got several people studying; so, I m expecting to hear about a few more exam completers in 2008! One idea we ve talked about implementing is that of chapter liaisons. This idea was discussed by another chapter earlier this year. We can start off small and learn what works as we go. We d like to have a person in different government offices to be the go-toperson for AGA information. Some ideas include this person being the one to hang up meeting and educational event notices in their office, to have membership applications available to give employees, to answer President s Message questions and talk up AGA, provide reminders of events, and to encourage participation in activities. SomeBy members Ann have Collett, been CGFM, hanging up CPA meeting notices in their offices so we ve made a first step. You ll probably hear more about this soon. If this interests you, contact me! Well, that s it from me for 2007! I hope everyone has a great holiday season!! See you in 2008! Happy New Year! Ann Chapter Recognition Points Chapter Recognition Points Annual National Maximum Points Through November 30, Leadership 3,900 3,000 Education 5,075 4,000 Certification 4,600 4,000 Communication 4,283 3,000 Membership 2,000 3,000 Early Careers 675 2,000 Community Service 1,950 2,000 Awards 2,600 1,000 Total Points YTD 25,083 22,000 2

3 Chapter Luncheons January Luncheon Speaker Melvin N. Johnson Melvin N. Johnson began his tenure as the seventh president of Tennessee State University on June 1, Johnson served as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and tenured professor of economics at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). Prior his appointment at WSSU, Johnson served in senior academic roles at North Carolina A&T State University. Additionally, he was a lecturer on business and economic policy for the University of Maryland, European Division, in Germany. He taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy and completed a distinguished military career as a lieutenant colonel. He received his undergraduate degree in economics from North Carolina A&T State University and earned the Master of Arts in economics from Ball State University. He received his M.B.A. and D.B.A. in business economics and public policy from Indiana University. He has pursued postdoctoral studies at the Institute for Education Management (IEM), Institute for Management and Leadership in Education (MLE), and The Harvard Seminar for New Presidents (NPS) at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge. Johnson has been a Kellogg Leadership Fellow (National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education), Senior Fellow of Future Focus 2020 (Babcock Graduate School of Management, Wake Forest University), a Millennium Leadership Institute Protégé (American Association of State Colleges and Universities), Nissan Fellow (UCLA), and an American Banking Association Ayres Fellow (Stonier Graduate School of Banking, University of Delaware). He completed the New President s Academy (AASCU) and completed the Executive Leadership Summit (Hampton University). He has also completed Leadership Nashville ( ), Leadership Winston-Salem, and the Triad Leadership Network. Aside from his fellowships, his honors include The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key Honor Society; Kappa Delta PI Honor Society, Education; Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society; Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society, Business and Management; Omicron Delta Epsilon, International Honor Society in Economics; Who's Who Among America's Teachers, and Outstanding Young Men of America. Nationally, Johnson serves on the Educational Testing Service Steering Committee of Princeton, New Jersey, whose aim is to close the achievement gap. Locally, Johnson's board appointments include the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce (Executive Committee) Board of Governors; Nashville Conventions and Visitor s Bureau, Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors (Old Hickory Council); Nashville Alliance for Public Education Board of Directors; Action on Nashville s Agenda Steering Committee; North Nashville Community Development Corporation Board of Directors; The Frist Center for the Visual Arts Board of Trustees; Tennessee Institute of Public Health Board of Directors and he co-chairs the Nashville Higher Education Advisory Council. He has provided leadership to ensure that remaining university obligations under the court-ordered Geier Consent Decree have been met, resulting in the historic settlement of the 38-year-old court case. Tennessee State University will benefit from enhanced and continued funding of an endowment, scholarships, academic programs and facility enhancements. Additionally, he is providing leadership to organize the Tennessee Campus Compact to promote service learning and civic engagement statewide in all public and private higher education institutions. He has served on the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education (MLE), Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge; Board of Trustees of the North Carolina Baptist Hospitals, Inc.; and the North Carolina Banking Commission. Additional civic affiliations include Rotary International (Downtown Nashville), 100 Black Men of America (Nashville), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Life Member), Sigma Pi Phi Boule (Chi), and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (Tau Lambda). Dr. Johnson received the "Lifelong Excellence and Leadership in Higher Education" award from the Northeast Business and Economics Association at Yeshiva University (N.Y.); The Leadership Award in Education from the Trumpet Awards Foundation (2007); The Leadership Award from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc (Tau Lambda, 2006) and was commissioned by the Kentucky Legislature as a Kentucky Colonel. He has been recently selected as one of Nashville s Top 50 Business and Community Leaders. 3

4 Committee News Awards On behalf of the Nashville Chapter, Ron Erickson, past chapter president, has nominated Ted Fellman, Executive Director of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, for the Excellence in Government Leadership Award. Congratulations to Ted Fellman on your nomination! Point Structure The Chapter Executive Committee approved a new point structure to be used for the active member incentive and the PDC drawing that is conducted at the May Awards Luncheon. Click on this link for more information nt_structure.pdf Education AGA Winter Seminar - January 8-9, 2008 The Nashville Chapter AGA would like you to join us for our annual winter seminar. The seminar will be held January 8 9, 2008, in the Tennessee Room of the William R. Snodgrass Tower, Nashville, Tenn. The seminar offers 16 hours of continuing professional education and will be centered around this year s theme of Increasing Accountability in an Ever-Changing World. The seminar s agenda is packed full of timely topics with speakers from around the country. A few of this year s topics include: Tennessee Specific Ethics training provided by the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, How auditors should change the way they audit presented by David Hancox, Director of State and New York City Audits, Information Technology Controls presented by David Ford, Director of Information Technology for E-Business Solutions, Challenges Facing the Accountability Community presented by Richard Fair (below), AGA National President and State Auditor for New Jersey. Audio Conferences When: Wednesday, February 6, 2008 Time: 1:00 3:00 p.m. What: "Understanding how internal controls can be used to improve operations" Location: TBA Good internal controls can be used for far more than just making sure we have the right numbers in the financial statements. Good controls can improve accountability, prevent problems and most importantly, improve the delivery of services to the public. Find out how one State is using controls to improve its grant management process to provide better oversight and accountability for grants all the way down to the sub-recipient level. You will also hear how one Federal agency is integrating its internal control program with its enterprise risk management program and business modernization activity. To share their expertise in internal controls are Janet Hayes, MBA, CPM, CICA, Director of the Management Services and Nongovernmental Compliance Division, Office of the State Auditor, State of North Carolina; Michael L. Piazza, MBA, CICA, Principal Associate and lead consultant of Professional Development Associates and Director of Program Development and Training for the Institute for Internal Controls; and Martha J. Stearns, Central Site Director, Cleveland Center, U.S. Defense Finance and Accounting Service. For more information on the seminar and to register, please visit our website: 4

5 Committee News Early Career HOORAH!!!! Patrick Cooper, Early Career Member! Congratulations to Patrick for passing both the July 2007 Tennessee Bar Examination and the Certified Government Financial Manager Exam. ***ATTENTION STUDENTS*** AGA National s deadline for the submission of the Graduate/Undergraduate Academic scholarship applications is March 31, Student must be an AGA member or family member (spouse, child, or grandchild) of an AGA member. See National s website for details and application. ***EARLY CAREER MEMBER UPCOMING SOCIALS*** Keep a look out for correspondence from the Early Career Committee for details on the upcoming Early Career social events. If you have any suggestions for venues or events please contact Michelle Earhart at Michelle.Earhart@state.tn.us or Robyn Probus at Robyn.Probus@state.tn.us Be sure to check out the Early Career website for upcoming events and opportunities at m CGFM CGFM Exam 2 Training Session The CGFM Committee is excited to announce that the CGFM Exam 2 Training session will be held on January 31, 2008, from 8:00-4:30 in the 16th Floor Training Room of the James K. Polk Building. The objective of the training is to provide essential training for those individuals who plan to sit for the CGFM exams with the goal of becoming certified. Eight hours of CPE will be awarded. Please Gerry Boaz by January 16 regarding your interest in this FREE training. Depending on the amount of interest, the location may need to be moved; however, any change of venue will be conveyed to you in a timely manner. The training session will be based on AGA s Exam 2 Study Guide. This will provide an opportunity for the directed study session participants to reinforce what they learned during the directed study sessions leading up to the exam. Spread the word to your non-aga member colleagues to get them involved in AGA and this great opportunity. 5 Also, as indicated several months ago, the CGFM Committee purchased two complete sets of CGFM Exam 1, 2, and Exam 3 Study Guides developed by the National AGA office. These study guides are available for checkout after each training session on a first come first serve basis. However, we may give preference to individuals who have already registered to take the exams by September 2008 versus someone who is interested but has not yet registered. Although we have encouraged each participant to purchase his/her own study guides, the Committee guides can be checked out for a limited 45-day time period. If you have any questions, please notify any of the Committee members: Ron Queen, co-chair; Gerry Boaz, co-chair; Rebecca Barr; Mary Anne Queen; Bob Boydston; Karen Hale; Tammy Fruscione; and Jim Raybeck.

6 Committee News Membership National AGA's Member-Get-A- Member Campaign -- We Have a Dream National is also sponsoring a membership drive. See campaign.aspx for details. Earn Prizes! Pins AGA dollars Round trip airfare A BOSE Wave Music System (valued at $499) for whoever recruits the most new Early Career members during the campaign. The Nashville AGA Chapter would like to welcome the following new members: Jennifer Whitsel, Comptroller s Office Sponsor: Robyn Probus Julie Blair, Children s Services Sponsor: Joseph M. Holzmer, CGFM James Westbrook, Weakley County Sponsor: Richard Norment, CPA, CGFM Mikhel Lindsley, Finance and Administration Sponsor: Ann Collett, CPA, CGFM Rhonda Williams, Department of Health Sponsor: Karen Hale, CGFM Pick up plenty of membership applications. Print your name on the Sponsor s Name line on the application to receive sponsor credit when your recruits join. Follow up with those individuals that you asked to join. Rules/Eligibility All AGA members in good standing are eligible to participate in the Member-Get-A- Member campaign. The campaign period includes all new members joining during AGA s membership year, which runs from May 1, 2007 to April 30, All federal, state and local laws apply. Void where prohibited. Two of the chapter s newest members, Melissa LaHue and Isaac Thomas, attend the December luncheon. Welcome aboard! Joining is Easy 1. Pick up an application at the luncheon, or 2. Visit n/registration.aspx on the National Website and you can register on-line with a credit card, or 3. Download and print an application. 6

7 Committee News Membership Congratulations to Ann Collett for winning the two-night stay at the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa in Florence, Alabama!!! AGA Members Recruit to Win This year at the Awards Luncheon in may, the Membership Committee will be giving away two prizes to members who have recruited new members throughout the year (May 2007 to April 2008). Grand Prize: There will be 2 one-day passes to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. This pass will get you into both Islands of Adventures & Universal Studios Florida all day long for one day. Also, we may be able to expand on this grand prize. Watch for updates in upcoming newsletters. At the December meeting, Jeff Hughes presents Ann Collett with the award for sponsoring the most new members from September 1 to November 30. I m thrilled to have my efforts at recruiting four great new members into AGA this fall rewarded by winning the recruitment prize to the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa. Membership has done a great job at getting some incentives lined up and chapter member should shoot for the grand prizes we ll give away in May. Don t forget about the active member incentive!! The association will reimburse a new or renewing (non-early career) member $45.00 of the upcoming year s annual membership dues if and when the member: earns enough points through April 30 the end of the Chapter s membership and recognition year. (The point structure is posted on the chapter website under History and Points ), and provides proof of payment by March 31, of the upcoming year s renewal fee. 7 Cash prize: For every new member that you recruit during the AGA program year, you will get your name placed in the hat for a $100 cash drawing. The winner of the Grand Prize will not be eligible for this drawing. PIZZA FOR PROSPECTS To aid our members in recruiting new members, the Membership Committee is authorizing pizza parties for prospective members. The idea is to host a party at your workplace where you can make others aware of the benefits of being a member of AGA! To be eligible the parties must adhere to the rules (posted on the website at Pizza_for_Prospects.pdf) and be approved in advance by the Membership Committee. This office is valid as long as funds are available. So, throw a party and sign up new members!

8 Committee News Program The survey results for this year s social event are The Chieftains!!! We have reserved 100 tickets for AGA members and their guests to attend The Chieftains concert on Tuesday, March 4, The concert will take place in the Laura Turner Concert Hall at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The Chieftains hail from Ireland and will give us an evening of Celtic music. SunTrust Bank is providing free parking to concertgoers at its parking garage at 4 th Avenue North and Commerce Street. Each member may purchase up to two tickets (one for themselves and one for a guest) at $20/ticket. The chapter will subsidize the rest of the cost. We have reserved 58 seats on the Orchestra level and 42 in the Balcony. If you have a preference, you should indicate that when you register. Seats will be assigned on a first come/first serve basis. You can reserve your tickets by going to the AGA website ( or contacting Hellens Kruszynski at or Hellens.Kruszynski@state.tn.us. You must make your reservations by January 28, Meetings and Attendance The next AGA Luncheon is January 10th! Since many of you will take annual leave the last week of December and/or the first of January, its time to make your reservations now before things get crazy! AGA has invited the Nashville Association of Black Accountants to join our January meeting. Please make every effort to greet and make our guests feel welcome. When: Thursday, January 10, 2008, at 11:30a.m. Where: The Nashville City Club, SunTrust Bank Building, 20 th floor, 201 Fourth Avenue North Speaker: Dr. Melvin Johnson, President of Tennessee State University Reservations can be standing for the entire year or booked individually through our AGA website or by contacting Joe Kimery at or at Joe.Kimery@state.tn.us. To cancel a reservation, call or Joe Kimery before the reservations deadline. Luncheons are $10.00 for members who make their reservations by the deadline (6 pm Monday the week of the Thursday meeting). Members who make a reservation but do not attend or find a member or first time guest replacement will be responsible for the $10.00 fee. Luncheons are $17.40 for nonmembers. First-time guests of attending members eat free. After a guest s first visit, he or she will be charged our costs ($17.40). CEC Member Profile Joe Kimery, CPA, CGFM, CFE Meetings and Attendance Co-Chair Mr. Kimery is a native of Shelbyville, Tennessee, and currently resides in Williamson County. He earned a bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from Tennessee Technological University in 1973 and has been employed with the State of Tennessee, Comptroller of the Treasury, Division of County Audit for almost 35 years. Presently, he is an assistant director with the Division of County Audit responsible for financial and compliance audits. This entails publishing audits of 89 of the 95 counties and 31 judicial district drug task forces, and reviews of various county correctional incentive programs and special investigations. Over the years Mr. Kimery has had several opportunities to leave state employment but did not because the Comptroller s Office provided challenging and rewarding opportunities to serve the people of Tennessee. He would recommend any new graduate to consider the benefits offered by the State of Tennessee for a professional career. He and his retired wife, Roseanna, have two daughters and three grandsons that live nearby and keep them busy. 8

9 Committee News Community Service 2008 Community Service Event: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) An was sent to the listserv concerning VITA volunteer information. The United Way of Nashville placed an ad in the City Paper for volunteers to help with VITA. The following criteria were listed: No accounting experience needed-tax software guides you every step of the way, or you can volunteer to do customer service. No liability to volunteers-free training is provided beginning as early as October/November and sites are IRS-approved. The tax preparation service is provided January through April. Time commitment is up to you-volunteer as much or as little as you like. Evening and daytime hours available -- select times that are convenient for you. volunteer work hours are flexible, based upon volunteer's desired commitment. Multiple locations throughout Nashville -- Choose a site near where you live or work. Results from previous events: Nashville Rescue Mission November s Community Service event was a great success. We had 14 members volunteer at the Nashville Rescue Mission on November 28, and we had 3 members make online donations. We helped serve, clean tables, carry trays, and other miscellaneous kitchen duties. We have already had requests from members to sponsor another night at the Mission. We plan to volunteer again in the spring. If interested, talk to other members that served. Thanks again to everyone who volunteered! Li l Soldiers I am pleased to say that December s Community Service project was a great success. Our chapter sponsored 40 Li l Soldiers this year. Pat Finney put in a lot of time and hard work to make this successful. Dorothy Russell, State Youth Coordinator for the Tennessee National Guard Family Program, sent an saying, I am still in AWE at the generosity of you and your organization. Just know you have made a difference in many children's lives this year. I thought this was very humbling and wanted to share it with the whole chapter. More information can be found at Click on volunteer opportunities. For the Volunteer Registration Guide 2008 and site locations visit Please let me (Jennifer Lewis) know if you are interested. Participants earn 1 point for every SHIFT worked. ODDS AND ENDS We are halfway through the program year. Thanks to everyone that has supported the Community Service projects thus far. Keep in mind that we are still planning numerous activities for the rest of the year. These include: Brown Dog Foundation, Nashville Rescue Mission, VITA, Channel 8, Habitat for Humanity, and the Country Music Marathon. By volunteering, you not only help the community, but you get to spend time with other members of our chapter. Pictured left to right with packages for the Li l Soldiers are: Dorothy Russell, LTC Ron Strahle, and Terressa Holland. The Community Service Committee would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. 9 Contributors to the Li l Soldiers Community Service Event

10 News from National Wake Up, America! By David Walker, CPA Published in The Journal, Winter 2007 With the looming retirement of the baby boomers, spiraling health care costs, plummeting savings rates and increasing reliance on foreign lenders, our country faces unprecedented fiscal risks. The truth is that America is on a path toward an explosion of debt that threatens our country s future. Unfortunately, there have been few calls from Washington for meaningful reforms or shared sacrifice to return our country to a prudent fiscal path. In fact, in recent years, just the opposite has been happening. Despite our long-range fiscal imbalance, the federal government has been pursuing an unsustainable policy of promoting additional spending increases while expanding or extending tax cuts. In less than a decade, the U.S. government has gone from budget surpluses to budget deficits. Depending on which accounting method you use, the federal deficit in fiscal year 2006 ranged from $248 billion to $450 billion. But today s deficits are not the problem. It is the federal government s mounting liabilities and unfunded commitments for programs like Social Security and Medicare that pose the real threat. In the last six years alone, the estimated present value of these combined items has soared from $20 trillion to $50 trillion. What this means is the U.S. government has made a whole lot of promises that, in the long run, it cannot possibly keep. Fifty trillion dollars translates into an IOU of about $440,000 for every American household. The average median household income in the United States, however, is less than $50,000 a year. The growth of this burden is outpacing the net worth of most Americans and the growth rate of our economy. The United States has, because of its low domestic savings rate, become increasingly reliant on foreign investors to purchase federal debt. In the short term, we are fortunate to be able to borrow from these foreign investors at relatively low interest rates. In the long term, however, this reliance on overseas sources of funding increases the risk of a sudden interest rate hike should one 10 or more of these major investors lose their appetite for our debt. Moreover, the increased holdings of U.S. debt by foreign central banks can reduce the influence we have with those countries and increase their influence over us. Long-range simulations from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) are chilling. If we continue as we have, U.S. policymakers will eventually have to raise taxes dramatically or slash government services that the public has grown to depend on. Just pick a program loans for college students, the interstate highway system, law enforcement and the judiciary, and possibly even our armed forces. Our growing indebtedness is also undercutting U.S. flexibility to change course and tackle new 21st century challenges. For example, caring for our aging population is going to be extremely expensive. Many retirees are expected to live far longer and spend more years in retirement than their parents and grandparents. This is going to put unprecedented demands on America s pension and health care systems. At the same time, billions of dollars are needed to modernize everything from roads and bridges to airports and water and sewage systems. America faces similar sustainability challenges in a range of other areas, including our elementary and secondary education system, current immigration policy, increasing energy dependence, growing environmental concerns, the conflict in Iraq and our badly broken health care system. Nearly a century ago, one of my favorite U.S. presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, said, We have to, as a nation, exercise foresight and if we do not exercise that foresight, dark will be the future. Today, GAO has added foresight to its portfolio of traditional audit responsibilities. My agency feels an obligation to look beyond the current status of government operations and provide policy-makers with a big-picture view of America s policy challenges. In our view, government leaders need to develop a long-term perspective and understand the collateral implications of their decisions. Too often, it s the immediate crisis that gets all the attention.

11 Policy-makers find it easier to ignore issues if their impact may not be felt for several years, even decades. Although elected officials will ultimately be forced to make difficult policy choices, they are unlikely to do so now, while our options are better, unless the public understands the need for such reforms and the consequences of inaction and demand change. This is why I ve been speaking out publicly about our nation s worsening financial condition and long-term fiscal outlook. In the fall of 2005, I started going on the road with representatives of the Concord Coalition, the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation. We call ourselves the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, and, so far, we have held town hall meetings in 30 cities and 24 states, and many more appearances are scheduled. We plan to continue the tour through the 2008 election cycle. Our mission has been to speak the truth about America s financial condition and fiscal outlook, the need for timely action and possible ways forward. During these trips, we meet with civic groups at colleges and universities and other public venues. We also try to schedule visits with business and community leaders as well as the editorial boards of local papers. On several occasions, members of Congress, governors and mayors have joined us. For example, former U.S. Sen. John Glenn and then-office of Management and Budget Director Rob Portman spoke at the forum at Ohio State University. At every stop, we have made it a point to lay out the facts in a professional, nonpartisan and nonideological manner. We have also emphasized the moral and ethical dimensions of the challenge, including the unfair intergenerational aspect of our current path. So far, the tour has received a considerable amount of attention both inside and outside of Washington. A 60 Minutes profile of the Wake- Up Tour aired in the spring, and I also made appearances on both The Colbert Report and Diane Rehm s show on National Public Radio to discuss our efforts. During the tour, I have found that the American people are hungry for two things: truth and leadership. They just want some straight talk about what is going on. They are looking for public officials to lead change and partner with others to solve problems. Not everyone in Washington likes what the Wake-Up Tour has to say, but as comptroller general of the United States, I feel a responsibility to state the facts convenient or not. After all, if the head of the government s leading accountability agency is not willing to speak up, who will? America s growing fiscal imbalance is not a partisan issue, and neither are the solutions. We need ideas and proposals that will appeal to the sensible center rather than the ideological extremes on the left and the right. Obviously, a return to fiscal discipline is essential. For starters, Washington needs to improve transparency in its financial reporting and budgeting practices. As the federal official who signs the audit report on the government s financial statements, it is apparent that our government s financial condition is far worse than advertised. Current federal financial reporting and budgeting provides policy-makers and the public with an incomplete and even a misleading picture. Current 10-year budget projections fail to take into account the huge costs associated with the impending retirement of the baby boomers. Similarly, these projections ignore the huge revenue losses that will result if all recent tax cuts become permanent. It is only when we take a long-term view that the magnitude of our challenge becomes clear. Congress should pass the Transformation in Accounting and Budget Act proposed by GAO and expected to be introduced in 2008 by U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Tom Coburn. The bill would require the president and Congress to focus more on our fiscal future. It would also improve federal financial reporting to the public. It is also time to reimpose tough budget controls on both the tax and the spending sides of the ledger. These controls should apply to both 11

12 discretionary and mandatory spending. In addition, reforms are needed in connection with congressional earmarks, emergency appropriations and supplemental spending. Members of Congress also need more explicit information on the long-term costs of spending and tax bills before they vote on them. For example, the Medicare prescription drug bill came with an $8 trillion price tag, a fact that was not disclosed until after the bill had been passed and signed into law. Another problem is that much of government today is on autopilot, based on social conditions and spending priorities from the 1950s and 1960s. Washington rarely seems to question the wisdom of its existing commitments. Instead, it simply adds new programs and initiatives on top of the old ones. As President Ronald Reagan once quipped, a government program is the nearest thing to eternal life we ll ever see on this earth. This is a key reason our government has grown so large and so expensive. We need nothing less than a top-to-bottom review of federal programs, policies and operations. Congress and the president need to decide which of these activities remain priorities, which should be overhauled, and which have simply outlived their usefulness. Government transformation is equally essential. Every federal agency and program should be required to rethink its missions and operations. They should also be required to demonstrate their continued relevance to our nation s needs and what outcome-based results they are achieving with the resources and authorities they have been granted. Entitlement reform is especially urgent. Unless we reform Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, these programs will eventually crowd out all other federal spending. Otherwise, by 2040 our government could be doing little more than sending out Social Security checks and paying interest on our massive national debt. My hope is that policy-makers and the public will think more strategically about what we need to do to get on a more prudent and sustainable path. Fortunately, concern seems to be 12 growing. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have started asking some pointed questions about where we are and where we are headed. Even the administration now acknowledges that deficits matter. In 2007, U.S. Reps. Frank Wolf and Jim Cooper introduced legislation in the House, and U.S. Sen. George Voinovich introduced a counterpart bill in the Senate, that would create a credible, capable, and bipartisan commission to develop a package of reform proposals on issues like Social Security, tax policy, health care, the budget process and other key areas. Several other members, including U.S. Sens. Pete Domenici and Diane Feinstein, and Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg, have announced their own commission proposals. Citizen education and public engagement are also vital. The American people need to become more informed and involved when it comes to the problems facing our country. They also need to become more vocal in demanding change. Younger Americans especially need to speak up. They and their children will, quite literally, pay the price if today s leaders fail to act. The good news is younger Americans turned out in large numbers for last November s midterm election. On so many issues, the public s dissatisfaction with the status quo was abundantly clear. But looking toward 2008, it is essential that the public and the press continue to hold candidates accountable for their position on the issues, including our country s financial condition and fiscal outlook. Other nations with similar challenges have already acted. The two best examples are Australia and New Zealand. Like the United States, they have aging populations. Unlike the United States, these two countries have dealt with some of their serious long-term challenges. Among other steps, they have reformed their overburdened public pension and health care systems. The efforts by policy-makers in Australia and New Zealand show it is politically possible to make difficult decisions that are in a country s long-term best interests.

13 Democracy is hard work, but it is work worth doing. That message is really at the heart of the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour: How America looks in the future is largely up to us. We the people are ultimately responsible for what does or does not happen in Washington. The American people are going to have to become better informed and involved as we head toward the 2008 elections. In addition, the next president, whoever he or she may be, and whichever party he or she represents, should be prepared to use the bully pulpit of the Oval Office to push needed reforms. If these things happen, we have a real chance to turn things around, ensure that our future is better than the past and keep America great. David M. Walker, CPA, a member of AGA s Washington, D.C. Chapter, is nine years into his 15-year term as comptroller general of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Reprinted with permission from Marie Force, National Director of Communications and Editor, Journal of Government Financial Management. National Leadership Conference AGA s Sixth Annual National Leadership Conference is set for February 21 22, 2008 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., and the conference is centered on the theme Dynamic Leadership for Changing Times. Staying up to date on new regulations, while maintaining a clear vision of government transformation, can be accomplished through the best training at this conference. the Exhibit Hall will showcase the latest tools to help agencies perform at top efficiency. Also offered is an intensive review course for taking the CGFM exams. Pre-registration for this program is required. Early registration is due by January 25, 2008 and can be done by fax, mail, or online. Visit the website at for more information. Top decision makers from all levels of government will lead educational sessions, and 13

14 The Secret to the CAFR by Phil Carr, CPA, CGFM The lights from my Christmas tree, sipping a cup of hot chocolate, reviewing my CAFR draft such are the memories of holidays past. It s time for a new tradition! Thanks to the efforts of our accounting staff and external auditors, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville wrapped up its CAFR for this year around the end of October, approximately six weeks ahead of last year. Although salvaging the holidays was one benefit, the change in the CAFR schedule was primarily driven by other factors: The Metropolitan Charter requires an audit opinion date on or before October 31, so we ve never had any flexibility there. However, SAS No. 103, which was effective for our 2007 fiscal year, now requires that our auditors complete a higher level of audit work before the opinion date. In November 2006, the Metro voters elected to change Metro s budget cycle requiring that a budget by delivered to the Metro Council by March 25 instead of May 25. This increased the importance of closing the books and issuing the CAFR in a shorter timeframe. The revision to our schedule involved a number of parties and changes to our processes. The following are some of the highlights that led to our success. Management support and early communication The Finance Director distributed a memo to all Metro departments in January 2007 communicating the intention to revise our schedule. Meetings were held with our major departments throughout the winter and spring to address their specific issues. 14 Phil Carr, CPA, CGFM Past chapter president External audit coordination We had our first discussions regarding changing the schedule as we were wrapping up the prior year s audit. We worked with our auditors on the proposed changes to the schedule to make sure our auditors would have staff available and could meet the new deadlines. Review late journal entries, transactions, etc. Obviously a number of transactions are recorded subsequent to year-end. Those transactions were reviewed to determine if and how we could record those earlier in our closing process. Be aware of materiality and be willing to estimate We focused on the areas that were the most material to our financial statements and had the most risk. And with an earlier cut off, we had to use estimates more than ever before. Stick to deadlines With the tighter schedule, we had little flexibility in terms of certain key dates. Because we had planned well and had developed good processes leading up to those dates, we were able to stay on schedule.

15 It s better to wait on some things Despite our best efforts at estimating, there are some numbers that we missed significantly, specifically for some revenues we receive in late August. We need to deliver our numbers to our auditors without some of the estimates and give them the adjustments subsequently when we have the actuals. Confirm with outside parties Unfortunately, our accounting staff can t control all aspects of the close and CAFR preparation. Component units, their auditors, actuaries, attorneys, etc., all feed information into our CAFR. We communicated our change in schedule to those outside parties and confirmed their ability to meet the deadlines early in our planning process. Be willing to say no We had to stand firm and enforce the closing deadlines to minimize the volume of changes after numbers were delivered to our auditors and the CAFR draft was in process. Don t be afraid of change It s hard to battle the that s the way we ve always done it mentality, but we couldn t follow our old processes but just expect to get everything done more quickly. We had to look hard at our processes and make the changes necessary to get our books closed earlier to meet the final opinion date. As with the implementation of any new process, some things worked well, and other things could stand some improvement. Having had a few weeks to look back, there are some areas that need a little work for next year. Spread the workload and be aware of bottlenecks We did a fairly good job of spreading the detail work load and meeting deadlines for completing tasks for our close and CAFR preparation, but we seemed to get held up in the review processes. We need to spread the review responsibilities to prevent delays. Reduce post close changes even more Although we significantly decreased the volume of post close changes to our numbers, we still had a number of things that came up late in the audit process. We need to review those items to get them done sooner. Expedite printing and distribution Although the audit was completed at the end of October, it still took us another month or so to get everything printed and distributed. We would like to shorten that process to get everything out prior to Thanksgiving. So as I sit here without a CAFR worry in this Christmas season, I give thanks for the support of management, our external auditors, and our accounting staff for working so hard to get our CAFR done early. And now that we know we can do it, I m looking forward to improvements to make the process go even better next year! 15

16 Meeting Minutes December Chapter Luncheon The December Chapter Luncheon was held on December 6, 2007, at the City Club. To read the draft minutes from the Chapter Luncheon and see the photo gallery, please visit the chapter website. Members will have an opportunity to approve the minutes at the January 10 Luncheon meeting. Minutes _meetings.htm Photo Gallery allery.htm Charles Harrison discusses the issuance of a Citizen-Centric Report and Customer-Centric Report by the Comptroller s Office and Office of Management Services, respectively at the December Luncheon meeting. Chapter Executive Committee Meeting James P. Anderson, III, with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, speaks at the December Luncheon meeting on unemployment insurance integrity. The Chapter Executive Committee met on December 3, 2007, in the 14 th floor conference room of the Tennessee Tower. To read the approved minutes from the October 29, 2007 Chapter Executive Committee meeting, please visit the chapter website. Minutes monthly_meetings.htm 16

17 Nashville Chapter Officers and Directors Officers President Ann Collett, CGFM, CPA (615) President-elect Kathy Anderson, CGFM, CPA (615) Immediate Past President, CGFM Co-Chair Gerry Boaz, CGFM, CPA (615) Secretary Jennifer McClendon, CGFM (615) Treasurer Terry Mason (615) One-year Directors Nathan Abbott, CISA, CFE Education Co-Chair, Webmaster Co-Chair (615) Robbie Hunter, CGFM, CPA Program Co-Chair (615) Hellens Kruszynski, CPA, CFE Program Co-Chair (615) Visit the Nashville Chapter website at: Angela McElrath-Prosser Finance Co-Chair (615) Mary Anne Queen, CGFM, CFE Finance Co-Chair (615) Two-year Directors Ed Burr, CPA, CGFM Membership Co-Chair (615) Michelle Earhart, CPA Early Careers Co-Chair (615) Teresa Kennedy, CPA Awards Co-Chair (615) Joe F. Kimery, CPA, CGFM, CFE Meetings and Attendance Co-Chair (615) Beth Pugh Community Service Co-Chair (615) Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs Nichole Curtiss, CFE, CGFM Education Co-Chair (615) Donna Jewell, CPA, CFE Education Co-Chair (615) Ron Queen, CGFM, CPA CGFM Co-Chair (615) Britt Wood, CGFM, CPA, CFE Membership Co-Chair (615) Dan Willis, CPA, CISA, CGFM Webmaster Co-Chair (615) Suzanne Sawyers, CFE Meetings and Attendance Co-Chair (615) Jennifer Lewis, CFE Community Service Co-Chair (615) Karen Hale, CGFM Public Relations and Newsletter Editor (615) Scarlet Sneed, CPA, CGFM, CFE Awards Co-Chair (615) Robyn Probus, CPA, CGFM, CFE Early Careers Co-Chair (615)