All things public finance at 2015 GFOA conference in Philly (with related video)

The 109th annual conference of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) takes place May 31-June 3 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (photo below, on left) in Philadelphia. The sessions at the show cover a range of topics on all aspects of state and local government finance. Session topics include:
Making sense of big data
Financial resiliency
Changes in accounting and financial reporting
How to best use new technologies
Communicating financial information
Debt management
Disaster planning and recovery

Presenters at the sessions include public-sector practitioners; experts from the auditing, banking, consulting, and technology industries; and professors and researchers knowledgeable about public finance. This year’s conference theme is Innovation and Resilience.

Highlights of the show include:
•    Technical sessions that cover various financial management training subjects. Sessions cover topics on accounting, auditing, and financial reporting; budgeting; capital planning and economic development; debt management; financial management; pension and benefit administration; and treasury and investment management.
•    Preconference seminars on topics of interest to finance officers.
•    An opportunity to earn continuing professional education (CPE) credits;
•    General sessions featuring nationally recognized speakers on topics of interest to public finance professionals;
•    An exhibit hall that offers products, services and practical solutions to a range of professional challenges; and
•    Social events that offer attendees an opportunity to build relationships and network with peers from the U.S. and worldwide.
The preconference seminars start Friday, May 29. The sessions include:

Best Practice Trends in Public-Sector Procurement
This seminar will cover new best practices in purchasing based on the Principles and Practices of Public Sector Procurement (http://principlesandpractices.org/) resources developed by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. Speakers will discuss how to integrate the best practices into high-performing finance organizations to create policies and processes around lease-purchase decision making, the evaluation process, performance-based contracting, cooperative contracts, outsourcing, and more.

Infrastructure Finance
This presentation will provide guidance on how to prepare for and manage an effective capital financing function focused on infrastructure. Topics covered will include capital planning, determining return on investment for capital expenditures, capital finance strategies, the current capital finance environment, how to leverage public-private partnerships, and use of alternative funding strategies.

Security in an IT Environment
This seminar is designed to help governments differentiate myth from reality when making decisions and managing the business side of IT security related to finance. Speakers will discuss how to develop security policies, develop an overall IT risk management framework, implement procedures to address common vulnerabilities, and monitor or audit the effectiveness of the security strategy.

General conference sessions of interest to government officials include:
Sunday, May 31
Checking Up on Your Government’s Health
The first step in financial recovery is to identify your areas of strengths and weaknesses. This session will focus on tools and techniques for assessing your government’s financial health including resources that are available to assist local government.

Sunday, May 31
Plain and Simple: GFOA’s Cash-Basis Financial Reporting Program for Small Governments.

Monday, June 1

The Accounting and Auditing Year in Review

The GFOA’s Stephen Gauthier and Kinney Poynter, executive director of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers, deliver an overview of developments in the past year that affect accounting and auditing.

Monday, June 1
Green Bonds

Green Bonds can be an attractive option for development of brownfield sites.
While financial reporting in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles remains the ideal, it often is not a viable option for very small governments.

Wednesday, June 3

Successful Pension Reform

As many organizations continue to address pension issues from a finance, human resource, and political perspective, many will be faced with the task of converting to an entirely different system.

The GFOA’s Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO) program examinations will take place on Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31. For information on how to participate in the program and to download an application packet, go to www.gfoa.org/cpfo or call Radford University at 540-831-5744.

The conference Welcome Reception takes place Sunday, May 31 at The Franklin Institute.

On Tuesday evening, June 2, the GFOA stages an event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center that celebrates the closing of the 109th annual conference.
For more information, go here.

In the video, participants discuss what goes on in a Government Finance Officers Association Lean Training session

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