Donna Collins
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Transcript of Donna Collins
- 1. Popular Reporting for Small Governments Presented by Donna Collins Milestone Professional Services
2. What is a Popular Report?
- Annual Financial Report designed to meet the needs of a broader audience than traditional financial reporting
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- Citizens
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- Other interested parties
- Does not replace the CAFR
- May be a separate report or part of a larger document with financial and non-financial information
3. What is a Popular Report?cont.
- Does not have to be prepared on a GAAP basis
- Designed to supplement traditional financial reporting
- Recognized for excellence by the GFOA- Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting
4. Why prepare a PAFR?
- Great opportunity to interpret your CAFR for your citizens and news media
- Rules and requirements are very flexible
- Most of the information is already available as a result of the audit process and can be prepared in conjunction with your annual financial report
5. Guidelines for Preparing a PAFR
- Determine an appropriate perspective
- Provide useful analysis, not merely disclosure
- Be objective
- Prepare a user friendly document
- Develop a distribution plan
6. Determine an appropriate perspective
- Identify your target audience
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- Know what information your citizens want what are the hot topics in your community
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- Dont try to please everyone
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- Sophistication of presentation depends on intended readers
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- Education, interests and involvement in local government
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7. Determine an appropriate perspectivecont.
- Define clear objectives for the report
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- Know the message you are trying to communicate
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- Focus on key financial data, accomplishments and initiatives that communicate this message
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- If there are issues within your community consider this forum to address them
8. Provide useful analysis
- Focus on the key questions
- Address whether publicized plans turned out as expected and whether any new projects were implemented
- Address significant changes in key policies or programs
- Remember that trend analysis should be focused on the impact on future tax rates, utility rates charged and levels of service
9. Be Objective
- Popular Reports are subject to bias
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- Documents lack full disclosure
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- Provide true accountability - not just a public relations package
- Balance is crucial to effective communication
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- Discuss favorable trends
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- Also acknowledge and address problems
10. Prepare a user friendly document
- Keep it short
- Use journalistic style of writing
- Include pictures, graphs and charts
- Vary the layout
- Simplify the financial information presented
- Ensure report topics flow and message is consistent throughout the document
11. Develop a distribution plan
- Identify locations where the Popular Report can be placed or distributed
- Make use of speaking engagements of elected officials to distribute the PAFR
- Consider the impact of the news media
- Place report on your website
12. What to include
- Most common items
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- Letter from the mayor or county administrator
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- Analysis of general fund activity
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- Analysis of major utility activity
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- Summary of Statement of Net Assets and Statement of Activities
13. What to includecont.
- Other great ideas
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- Capital Improvement Plans
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- Future Initiatives and their funding
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- Analysis of other items of interest such as large grants or donations
14. GFOA Award Program
- Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting
15. Award Program - Eligibility Requirements
- Must prepare CAFR
- CAFR must have been awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for most recent year submitted or ultimately be received for current year CAFR
- Any questions regarding eligibility are determined by GFOA Technical Services Center
16. Award Program Report Requirements
- PAFR must be received by GFOA within 6 months of the fiscal year end
- Deadline is not formally extended on regular basis; however, one-time thirty day extension may be granted under certain circumstances.(Must be approved in advance and cannot be granted for succeeding years.)
17. Award Program Report Requirementscont.
- Report must advise readers of the availability of the CAFR
- Financial information should be derived from the actual GAAP data in the CAFR
- Financial information should have same measurement focus as CAFR although presentation may be different
18. Award Program Report Requirementscont.
- Popular Report may include only selected funds or component units but this must be disclosed
- Some form of narrative or graphic analysis for items of significant interest or concern is required
- May not reproduce Certificate from CAFR program within the popular report
19. Award Program Report Requirementscont.
- Application must be completed
- Fees apply
20. Awards Program Review Process
- Each PAFR is evaluated by four judges
- Judges may not evaluate Popular Reports for governments located in their state of residency
- PAFR judges must certify their independence in both fact and appearance
- CPA firms may not have members that review a PAFR for which they served as the auditor
21. Awards Program Review Processcont.
- Each judge completes an evaluation form broken down into five categories that carry varying weights of importance towards the final grade
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- Reader appeal - 10%
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- Understandability - 25%
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- Distribution methods - 7.5%
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- Other (creativity, etc) - 7.5%
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- General quality and usefulness 50%
22. Reader Appeal
- Report is short enough to maintain interest
- Format is logical and easy to understand
- Typography is easy to read and appealing to readers
- Photographs, charts, graphics or other artwork enhance the reports appeal
23. Understandability
- Avoids jargon and technical language
- Appropriate graphics are used to enhance financial data presented
- Narrative explains financial data and highlights significant items of interest
- Report helps users to understand financial data in proper context
- Potential for misinterpreting information is minimized
24. Distribution Methods
- Number of reports distributed is appropriate for target audience
- Mode of distribution is appropriate for target audience
25. Other
- Report is notable achievement for government of this type and size
- Report is innovative or creative in form or content
- Report is useful to users of entitys services
- Report makes the government more attractive to interested parties (e.g. new businesses)
26. Awards Program Review Processcont.
- Remaining 50% is based on overall quality and usefulness of the report, taking into consideration the four previous categories
- Each category is ranked on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being poor and 5 considered excellent
- All responses of 1,2 or 3 require written comments from the judge
27. Awards Program Review Processcont.
- TSC staff calculate the weighted average score from each reviewer.The lowest score is thrown out.The remaining scores must be 75% or higher for the report to be eligible for the award.
28. Awards Program Review Processcont.
- If the average score falls between 70-74.99%, the report is subjected to review by TSC staff.This reviewers score replaces the lowest of the previous three scores and a new average is calculated.An average score of 75% makes the report eligible for the awards program.
29. Awards Program Review Processcont.
- TSC staff compile all written comments offered by each of the four judges where a 3 or less was given and edit for consistency and adherence to PAFR program policies.These are provided to the report preparers as suggestions for improvement.
30. 2006 Award Winners
- In 2006, of the Popular Reports that were submitted, 160 of these received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting
- Included in this list were only 13 entities from Florida
31. 2006 Award Winnerscont.
- Alachua County
- City of Gainesville
- City of Miami
- City of Miami Springs
- Hillsborough County
- Manatee County
- Polk County
- Putnam County
32. 2006 Award Winnerscont
- Highlands County
- City of Maitland
- Palm Beach County
- Town of Palm Beach
- Pinellas County
33. 2006 Award Winnerscont.
- Picture your government on this list!
34. Questions?