Recapping the Government Finance Officers Association National Conference

CHRISTIAN FJELLGRAVE: Welcome, and thanks for listening to Cherry Bekaert's Government and Public Sector Podcast Series. In each episode, we hear from the best in the business on the latest challenges, trends, and opportunities affecting the government and public sector. I'm Christian Fjellgrave, leader of Cherry Bekaert's Government and Public Sector Industry Team. Thank you for joining.


DANNY MARTINEZ: I'm your host, Danny Martinez, and I lead our National Government and Public Sector Accounting Advisory Group. Today we're doing a recap of the GFOA, the Government Finance Officers Association, national conference that we attended last week. I have two great guests with us today who also attended the event: Lauren Strope and Jack McKee. Will you please introduce yourselves?


LAUREN STROPE: Hi, everybody. I'm Lauren Strope. I sit in our Tampa office and help local governments every day with their audit needs. I lead the transportation practice for the Cherry Bekaert Government and Public Sector Group, and I'm excited to be here today. Thank you for the invite, Danny.


JACK MCKEE: My name is Jack McKee. I'm an advisory senior manager in our Government and Public Sector Practice. I help clients close the books at the end of the year, prepare their financial statements or ACFRs, implement new standards, and lead many co-sourcing projects with governments around the country.


DANNY MARTINEZ: For those who don't know, the GFOA hosted a national conference in Orlando with over 7,000 attendees from Sunday to Wednesday, and pre-conference sessions even began Saturday. All 50 states were represented. The conference offered a lot of CPE during the day and networking at night. On Tuesday night they closed down Universal Studios for four hours. It really is the who's who of governmental accounting, covering topics like how to improve your ACFR, bond issuance, new accounting standards, and new auditing standards.

DANNY MARTINEZ: If you haven't made it to one yet, maybe this podcast will push you to register for the next one. The next conference will be in Washington, D.C., the week before the Fourth of July. To start, what was your favorite part of GFOA? Lauren, I'll start with you.


LAUREN STROPE: I split my answer into several segments. My favorite session was "A Is for Analysis: Using the MD&A to Tell a Story Behind the Numbers." I liked the graphics and charts that different governments are including in their ACFRs to tell the story behind the numbers and give the average citizen more insight into operations.

LAUREN STROPE: For after-events, I enjoyed the event that Cherry Bekaert put on. I had two shakes, a s'mores and a grasshopper, and the fresh onion rings were awesome. My absolute favorite part was the people. I've worked with local governments my whole career and chose this path because of the people. The focus is on making life better for the citizens our clients serve, and being in general sessions with 7,000 people who share that focus was inspiring.


DANNY MARTINEZ: Jack, go ahead.


JACK MCKEE: It's hard to pick a favorite. One of my favorite parts was seeing people from all over the country in one place. We serve clients nationwide and do a lot of work virtually, so the face-to-face connections at a convention were great. The number of sessions was excellent and covered current challenges and upcoming issues.

JACK MCKEE: It was also helpful that representatives from very large and smaller state and local governments were present, offering different perspectives. Representatives from GFOA and GASB spoke candidly, and many sessions included Q&A that allowed attendees to dig into issues. Overall, it was a wonderful event with multiple sessions I wanted to attend, which is a testament to how well the conference was planned.


DANNY MARTINEZ: I definitely saw some clients in person for the first time. Speaking at the conference was a goal of mine for a while. I had spoken at local and state chapter events, but speaking at the GFOA National Conference exceeded my expectations. I'm appreciative to Emily Brock, Susanna, and Michelle at GFOA for the opportunity to be on the panel. The GASB 101 session was a nerdy topic, but people were very engaged and we had so many questions that we couldn't get through them all. It's nice to see so many people who care about this work.

DANNY MARTINEZ: Continuing the nerdiness, what was one thing you learned from a session that was interesting or surprising? Lauren?


LAUREN STROPE: During Danny's training, I learned about the different types of compensation that local governments can have. The Q&A revealed many types of compensation agreements across local governments and the potential impact GASB 101 could have on them.


DANNY MARTINEZ: Jack?


JACK MCKEE: Two things come to mind. I attended a session on the future of cash receipts and payments. A stat mentioned that in the next five years many payments may be made via phone tap-to-pay instead of pulling out a card, and governments will need to adapt. The presenters also noted that some people prefer in-person payments and that providing kiosks can address language needs and ADA compliance without hiring additional staff.

JACK MCKEE: The other presentation I enjoyed focused on reserves. Now that CARES Act funds have been spent and ARPA obligations set, what do reserves look like moving forward? A Moody's representative discussed how reserves and certain ratios affect bond ratings and what goes into a AAA credit rating. I anticipate many questions about reserves as governments plan beyond pandemic-era funding.


LAUREN STROPE: When working with the city of Richardson in Texas, we see many people making utility payments in person. It's part of their routine, even though electronic options exist.


DANNY MARTINEZ: One interesting update was that GASB is working on a taxonomy for the Financial Data Transparency Act. The FDTA requires issuers to tag their financial statements, and GASB is taking a proactive approach by developing a taxonomy. On the FASB side, the FASB is responsible for taxonomy, and we should hear more details at the XBRL conference in New York next month.

DANNY MARTINEZ: Let's talk about the Cherry Bekaert Happy Hour at Shake Bar. It was a hit and got louder and more crowded as the hours went on. What was your favorite part of the happy hour? Jack, you first.


JACK MCKEE: It was great that so many people attended from across the country. I was happy to see a good contingent from my hometown of Albuquerque. The conversations were helpful and the perspectives varied. The biggest takeaway was a sense of camaraderie; many governments face similar challenges and successes.

JACK MCKEE: I met a delegation from the Federated States of Micronesia and invited them to our event. They said they would attend but did not make it, so I hope to connect with them again. A common topic was co-sourcing and leveraging relationships to share knowledge. It was great to see clients meet each other, with distinct groups from Texas and Florida represented.


DANNY MARTINEZ: Lauren?


LAUREN STROPE: I echo Jack. It was great to hear connections between current clients and new contacts. They shared similar pain points. Our GASB contacts stopped by, which was exciting, and the food was amazing. The conversations were the highlight.


DANNY MARTINEZ: Scott Anderson is normally on this podcast, but he was on PTO and invited Joel Black and Alan Skelton from GASB to stop by. They chatted informally about the state of governmental accounting and the profession's future. I also want to shout out my Texas people from Frisco, Westlake, and Richardson, and the president of the Texas chapter of GFOA for joining.

DANNY MARTINEZ: One thing I did not like about the Cherry Bekaert Happy Hour was learning that people call Frito Pie a "walking taco." Being from New Mexico, Frito Pie is a staple. At Cherry Bekaert, one of the food options was a walking taco stand, which used Frito bags. I learned that Frito Pie is a regional term and that elsewhere it's called a walking taco.


DANNY MARTINEZ: As we look forward to next year, what would you do differently at the conference knowing what you know now? I'll start.

DANNY MARTINEZ: I would have reached out to more connections beforehand and been more intentional about scheduling meetings. At the end of my presentation I saw a friend from the Port of Long Beach, and it would have been better to connect before everyone was headed to the airport.


JACK MCKEE: I can relate. I attended a session with GFOA's Young Professionals Committee and connected with them. I'll attend their monthly networking events and make more connections with young professionals in the finance field. I also arrived Sunday afternoon and felt the badge swag was picked over, so next time I'll register earlier to get better badge items.


LAUREN STROPE: I didn't realize how many people 7,000 is until a planned meeting in a general session failed. Next time I'll be more intentional about meeting places. Also, I'll bring more comfortable shoes because there's a lot of walking.


DANNY MARTINEZ: Thank you all for helping Cherry Bekaert recap the GFOA conference. We encourage listeners who want more CPE content to register for our virtual government conference in early August. It's a well-attended, free two-day event with many CPE speakers covering a wide range of government topics. We'll share the registration link in the show notes or description.

DANNY MARTINEZ: Thanks again, Lauren and Jack. We appreciate your time and we'll see everyone on the next episode.


CHRISTIAN FJELLGRAVE: Thank you for listening. Don't forget to subscribe.


LAUREN STROPE: Thank you.


JACK MCKEE: Thank you.