Government Finance Review articles from April 2005

Government Finance Review archives from April 2005

Standard setting--how much is enough?(Setting standards for financial reporting)
April 1, 2005... The special theme of this issue of Government Finance Review is accounting and financial reporting. The selection of this theme was triggered by the recent release of the newest edition of GFOA's classic "Blue Book," Governmental Accounting,...

Winter Meeting yields 6 recommended practices, 2 public policy statements.(News & Numbers)
April 1, 2005... Nearly 200 members of six GFOA standing committees gathered in Washington, D.C., January 27-28 for the annual Winter Meeting. In addition to the committee and subcommittee meetings, committee members were treated to an engaging presentation by...

New releases.(News & Numbers)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
April 1, 2005... Government 2.0 By William Eggers Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005 Technology is altering the behavior and mission of city halls, statehouses, schools, and federal agencies across America. From transportation to education to elections...

Survey: more governments using new cash management technologies for payments.(News & Numbers)
April 1, 2005... A new survey by GFOA and JPMorgan Chase shows that while nearly all state and local governments accept payments via mail or in person, more than half now accept automatic bank debits and more than a third take payments over the Internet and...

Rockefeller Institute: states and localities off critical list, still in intensive care.(News & Numbers)(government spending)
April 1, 2005... While tax revenues are finally rebounding from the dramatic declines precipitated by the 2001 recession, continued spending pressures and the risk of federal policy changes mean state and local governments must continue to exercise fiscal...

Report card a mixed bag for state governments.(News & Numbers)
April 1, 2005... State governments have shown mixed success in weathering the worst financial storm since World War II, in which plunging revenues have coincided with surging costs. Some states have been successful in figuring out how to deal with the crisis...

Making the most of the new Blue Book.(Governmental Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting)
April 1, 2005... The 2005 edition of Governmental Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting--or the "Blue Book" as it is commonly known--incorporates the many significant developments in state and local government accounting, auditing, and financial...

Governmental Accounting Standards come of age: highlights from the first 20 years.(Governmental Accounting Standards Board)
April 1, 2005... He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance...

Peering into the future: emerging issues in governmental accounting.(financial management)
April 1, 2005... The landmark issuance of Statement 34 and related guidance clearly did not signal the end of a need for the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. To the contrary, in the dynamic and ever-changing government environment, significant new...

Consumer-driven health care: will it take hold in the public sector?
April 1, 2005... Each decade seems to bring a "shift of gears" in how health care is administered in the United States. The 1960s saw the creation of Medicaid and Medicare. The 1970s witnessed the movement of large employers toward self-insured arrangements....

Home improvement changing government business processes for good with the help of technology.(Technology investments for effective ERP )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series on enterprise financial system optimization. The first installment examined why public sector ERP implementations often do not live up to expectations; this article offers recommendations...

Developing a financial trends report.(Best Practices)(government finance)
April 1, 2005... Those desiring to analyze the financial health of a government often refer to the wealth of data found in the government's comprehensive annual financial report. However, most of the information found in the CAFR is that of the current and...

Winning the war for talent: Part II--some solutions.(Management & Careers)
April 1, 2005... How well-equipped is your organization to meet the workforce challenges created by massive retirements and a shrinking pool of workers? In the February issue, Part I of this series focused on the dimensions of the war for talent and why...

Serving as a budget reviewer a win-win situation.(Solutions)(Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program)
April 1, 2005... While many financial professionals participate in the Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program by submitting their entity's budget for consideration, far fewer realize that becoming a volunteer reviewer can be an award in and of itself....

Proposed budget and tax proposals take aim at state and local governments.(Federal Focus)
April 1, 2005... The fiscal year 2006 budget proposal President Bush submitted to Congress February 7 is one of the leanest funding proposals in recent presidencies. Coupled with several tax reform proposals now under consideration, there is a lot at stake in...

From internal control to enterprise risk management.(Internal control on financial reporting)
April 1, 2005... In September 2004, the Council of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting issued Enterprise Risk Management--Integrated Framework. The new publication is intended to provide a more robust framework...

Watching out for the alligators: Risk Management for fiduciaries.(Book review)(Book Review)
April 1, 2005... Risk Management for Pensions, Endowments, and Foundations Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. www.wiley.com 2005; 268 pages; $69.95 Risk. The word itself arouses images of danger and problems, because risk inherently involves...

Calendar.(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... [gfoa events] April Columbus, Ohio 18 Preparing a CAFR 18-19 Costing and Competitive Options for Government Services 18-19 Advanced Governmental Budgeting 19-21 Intermediate Governmental Accounting 20-21...

Fiscal integrity: political dead letter--or not?(Commentary)
April 1, 2005... Does fiscal integrity still matter in America? Not in politics, it seems: We just finished a presidential election in which neither candidate could even say how he'd return us to balanced federal budgets. And now the winner is claiming a...