GASB STATEMENT 34 ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Minutes

January 8, 2002

 

 

LOCATION:                           Conference Room 222

                                                Wade Hampton State Office Building

                                                Columbia, South Carolina

                       

ATTENDEES:                        Barbara Hevener-South Carolina Office of Comptroller General,

 Program Sponsor

Kathy Glass-KPMG, Program Manager

Michael Hammond-KPMG, Program Manager

Kathy Belton-South Carolina Governor’s Office

Rich Bovard-Deloitte & Touche (guest)

John Campbell-University of South Carolina

Becky Carver- South Carolina Department of Mental Health (guest)

Ken Deon-KPMG (guest)

Danny Edens-South Carolina Department of Mental Health

Rich Gilbert-South Carolina State Auditor’s Office

Glenda Gillette-Santee Cooper

Billy Gossett-South Carolina Department of Social Services

Chris Huffman-South Carolina State Budget and Control Board (guest)

Lisa Lunceford-KPMG (guest)

Billy Martin-South Carolina Employment Security Commission

Renee Moore-South Carolina BCB-Office of Information Resources

Pat O’Cain-South Carolina Office of Comptroller General

Paige Parsons-South Carolina State Treasurer’s Office

Lynda Robinson-South Carolina Department of Education

Wayne Sams-South Carolina State Auditor’s Office (interim)

Harry Snider-Santee Cooper (guest)

Charles Tegan-Clemson University (guest)

Debra White-South Carolina Department of Transportation

Bonnie Gunter-South Carolina Office of Comptroller General

(Administrative Coordination and Minutes)

 

AGENDA:

·          Welcome and Introduction

·          Status of OCG Progress

·          Status of Agency Progress

·          GASB 34 New Developments/Literature

·          Closing Package Training:  Segment 3 Tentative Schedule

·          Other Questions

Welcome and Introduction

Barbara Hevener called the meeting to order.  Members and guests were recognized and thanked for their attendance.

 

Status of OCG Progress

Barbara reported:

 

·          The State’s FY 2001 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) was released and distributed today.   It will be posted to the OCG website later today.

 

·          The OCG prepared and sent bond statements and other materials to the State Treasurer’s Office (STO) and to the bond rating agencies in New York.  State officials are hopeful of maintaining the state’s AAA rating.

 

·          With the above major projects behind the OCG for another year, Central State Financial Reporting Division (CSFR) staff members will once again focus their efforts on the GASB 34 project.  Barbara reported that a great deal of work was already in progress.

 

·          KPMG will present a GASB 34 Implementation “Kickoff Meeting” on Wednesday, January 9, for CSFR and Data Processing Division (DP) implementation staff.  The “kickoff” will serve to organize, guide, and motivate the implementation team to achieve the goals outlined in the work plan.

 

Kathy reported:

 

·          The State Auditor’s Office will soon receive some memoranda relating to policy changes that Wayne Sams will need to address in the absence of Rich Gilbert (since Rich is expected to soon be on active military duty).  The OCG has consulted with the SAO throughout the implementation process to help ensure auditor acceptance of proposed policy changes.

 

·          KPMG is currently working with CSFR staff on modifying year-end closing packages.

 

·          The biggest focus for the OCG for the next few months will be preparing for Segment 3 training.  A series of courses, planned for Spring 2002, will cover GASB 34’s practical impact on agency and component unit financial reporting and the completion of newly modified closing packages to be incorporated into the FY 2002 CAFR.  This training series will be for persons who are directly involved in reporting year-end financial data to the OCG.

 

·          Achieving a timely GASB 34 implementation will require dedicated teamwork from all members of the OCG’s implementation team as well as the continued support of members of the Advisory Committee and other state agency and component unit accountants.

 

Pat O’Cain, OCG Data Processing Division, reported:

 

·          From an IT perspective, everything appears to be on schedule and “in good shape.”

 

·          During the Fall of 2001, the OCG DP Division’s efforts were focused on preparing the interface and parallel versions of Series Z and providing other technical support.

 

Status of Agency Progress

Kathy further reported:

 

·          Review of the 12-31-01 quarter-ending progress reports received by the OCG from agencies will begin soon (the due date was only yesterday, 1-07-02).

 

·          Kathy was somewhat disappointed to find that many agencies had been unable to focus much effort on GASB 34 issues during the 9-30-01 quarterly reporting period due to their responsibilities for providing financial data to the OCG for incorporation into the FY 2001 statewide CAFR.  However, Kathy stated that, for the most part, all key agencies are now where we had hoped they would be at this stage of implementation.

 

·          Colleges and universities have put forth much effort in assessing applicable “34” issues, including systems issues.

 

·          The Department of Education was recognized for its extensive systems projects related to GASB 34 implementation.

 

·          All advisory committee members were urged to continue their focus on GASB 34 and to review their agency’s implementation status.

 

·          Committee members also were encouraged to contact Barbara, or an appropriate staff member in CSFR, as questions arise so they can be addressed in a timely manner.  Barbara expressed full agreement with Kathy on this point.

 

GASB 34 New Developments/Literature

Kathy advised:

 

·          GASB recently issued a new “Q&A” Implementation Guide.  GASB issued a similar guide, covering different questions, about a year ago.  The new guide may be ordered online at the GASB website for $27.95/copy.  Both implementation guides focus on the application of GASB 34’s principles to situations found in common practice and could be quite helpful to state agency accountants—particularly to those who prepare financial statements.

 

·          The AICPA’s expected issue date of the revised Audits of State and Local Governmental Units remains uncertain; but the date likely will not be soon, unfortunately.

 

Closing Package Training:  Segment 3 Tentative Schedule

Kathy stressed:

 

·          This training, as described above, will be the most critical of all.  It will focus on application, whereas the previous two segments dealt primarily with theory.

 

·          Tentative ideas discussed for this extensive Spring 2002 training include the following:

 

§         Provide separate courses for:  closing packages with the greatest changes, colleges/universities, and non-college agencies submitting financial statements.

 

§         Hold training in mid-May through the first few days of June.

 

§         Send a “Mark Your Calendar” notice to agency GAAP contacts in February.

 

§         Make the training free, but ask agencies to limit participation to those employees primarily responsible for providing the relevant CAFR data to the OCG.

 

§         Provide Continuing Professional Education credits.

 

§         Train small groups of participants (25 to 35 per session); repeat the same course material on different dates; run concurrent sessions.

 

§         Use table/chair seating rather than auditorium-style seating.

 

§         Use case studies, when applicable.  Kathy solicited case study recommendations from committee members.

 

Other Questions (Further Discussion of Training Issues)

·          A question was asked about the possibility of including a limited number of participants who work for the CPA firms contracted to audit entities incorporated into the statewide CAFR.  An effort will be made to accommodate these participants.

 

·          Kathy stated that she planned to ask members to respond via e-mail to a short survey about training to assist with planning for the number of participants that agencies might need to send to each course.

 

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 AM.

 

Next Meeting

The next committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 5, 2002, at 10:00 AM, Conference Room 222, Wade Hampton State Office Building in Columbia.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara C. Hevener

 

/bpg

 

 

 

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