emerging issues roundtable nasact annual conference chicago, il august 23, 2015

Emerging Issues Roundtable

NASACT Annual Conference

Chicago, IL

August 23, 2015

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Demographics

Getting to Know our Audience

Question #1: Public or Private Sector

• Do you work in the:a. Public sector?

b. Private sector?

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Question #2: Your Primary Function (NASACT Members Only)

• Are you a:a. State Auditor (or staff)?

b. State Comptroller (or staff)?

c. State Treasurer (or staff)?

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Question #3: Method of Selection

• For those in the public sector, are you:a. Elected?

b. Appointed?

c. Other?

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Question #4: Generational Categories

• Are you a member of the:a. Silent generation (born 1927 to 1945)?

b. Baby boomers (born 1946 to 1964)?

c. Gen X (born 1965 to 1980)?

d. Gen Y/Millennials (born 1981 to 2000)?

e. Gen Z/Boomlets (born after 2001)?

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Question #5: Geographic Location

• What region are you from?a. North

b. South

c. East

d. Midwest

e. West

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Top Issues

Today and Down the Road

Question #6: The Challenges

• What do you see as the most significant challenge facing your office today?a. Political pressures

b. Budget shortfalls

c. Hiring, retaining, or retirements of qualified employees

d. Standards overload (including increasing complexity)

e. Systems/Data security

f. Other

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Question #7: The Challenges

• What do you see as the most significant challenge facing your office three years from now?a. Political pressures

b. Budget shortfalls

c. Hiring, retaining, or retirements of qualified employees

d. Standards overload (including increasing complexity)

e. Systems/Data security

f. Other

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The War for TalentHiring/retaining qualified employees

Question #8: The War for Talent

• Are you having a problem hiring or retaining high quality employees?a. Yes

b. No

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• Assuming the answer to the previous question is “yes,” how severe is the problem (1=no problem, 10=major problem)?a. 1

b. 3

c. 5

d. 7

e. 10

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• For those not having a problem hiring or retaining employees (i.e., a rating lower than “5”), what factors do you attribute this to?a. Strong employee value

b. Strong employee management

c. Lots of local talent looking for jobs

d. All of the above

e. Other

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• For those having a problem hiring or retaining employees (a rating of “5” or higher), what type of issues do you see as a challenge?a. Recruiting younger workers with appropriate

competencies

b. Retaining current workers

c. Retraining current workers with different competencies than when they were hired

d. All of the above

e. Other

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• What steps are you taking to hire/retain quality employees?a. Flexible schedules

b. Salary adjustment

c. Telecommuting

d. Robust training programs

e. Tuition reimbursement

f. All of the above

g. Other

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• If you allow telecommuting, what level of staff telecommute?a. Entry level (1-3 years exp.)

b. Staff level (3+ years exp.)

c. Supervisors/Auditors-in-Charge

d. Managers

e. All of the above

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• If you allow telecommuting, how many days a week is it allowed?a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

e. 5

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The War for Talent

• Open discussion

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Budgets & Economic ConditionAre Things Really Improving?

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Question #15: State’s Financial Condition

• How would you rate your state’s current financial condition?a. Excellent

b. Good

c. Average

d. Poor

e. Very Bad

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Question #16: State’s Financial Condition

• How would you rate your state’s future financial condition?a. Excellent

b. Good

c. Average

d. Poor

e. Very Bad

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Question #17: Key Threats

• What is the biggest threat to your government’s future financial stability? a. Pension liabilities

b. OPEB liabilities

c. Infrastructure costs

d. Personnel costs

e. Insufficient or declining revenue

f. Other

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Question #18: Your Office’s Budget

• How was the impact on your office’s most recent budget from the prior year?a. Increase

b. No change

c. Decrease

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Question #19: Your Office’s Budget

• What will be the general direction of your office’s budget over the next 3-5 years?a. Increase

b. No change

c. Decrease

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Question #20: Communicating Financial Condition

• What is the most effective way to communicate a government’s financial condition?a. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

b. Popular report

c. Website

d. Press releases

e. Print media

f. Social media

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Question #21: Communicating Financial Condition

• How effective are efforts to connect with citizens over financial condition?a. Highly effective

b. Effective

c. Somewhat effective

d. Neither effective or ineffective

e. Ineffective

f. Highly ineffective

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Budgets & Economic Condition

• Open discussion

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Standards Overload & ComplexityAre You Having Trouble Keeping Up?

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Question #22: Standards Overload

• Compared to the past, do you find the pace of new standards to be increasing?a. Yes

b. No

c. N/A

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Question #23: Standards Complexity

• Compared to the past, do you find the new standards to be more complex?a. Yes

b. No

c. N/A

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Question #24: GASB No. 68 Complexity

• Based on a scale of 1 to 10 (1=not complex at all, 10=major complexity), how complex did you find GASB Statement No. 68 (Pensions) to implement or audit?a. 1

b. 3

c. 5

d. 7

e. 10

f. N/A

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Question #25: GASB No. 68 Complexity

• Assuming you find GASB No. 68 a complex standard to implement, what are the primary causes?a. Lack of timely information from the pension plan

(e.g., GASB 67 related)

b. Communication issues with the pension plan

c. Difficulty in testing census data

d. Inadequate implementation guidance

e. Inadequate audit guidance

f. Other

g. N/A

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Question #26: GASB No. 68 Impact

• While the final numbers are currently being compiled in the FY 2015 CAFRs, what is the anticipated impact on the Statement of Net Assets?a. Severe impact (will cause negative net assets)

b. Moderate impact (will not reduce net assets by more than 25%)

c. Minor impact (will not reduce net assets by more than 5%)

d. No impact

e. Positive impact (will actually have a net pension asset)

f. Not sure

g. N/A

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• Are you aware of any governments in your state (state or local) that will have overall net negative assets as a result of GASB 68? a. Yes

b. No

c. Not sure

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• While the effective date for GASB No. 75 (OPEB) is a few years away, what is the anticipated impact on the Statement of Net Assets?a. Severe impact (will cause negative net assets)

b. Moderate impact (will not reduce net assets by more than 25%)

c. Minor impact (will not reduce net assets by more than 5%)

d. No impact

e. Positive impact (will actually have a net OPEB asset)

f. Too early to estimate

g. Not sure

h. N/A

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Question #29: OMB’s Uniform Grant Guidance

• How prepared are you to implement the provisions of OMB’s new Uniform Grant Guidance?a. Very prepared

b. Prepared

c. Not prepared at all

d. N/A

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Question #30: OMB’s Uniform Grant Guidance

• If you are “not prepared at all,” what are the obstacles?a. Lack of timely guidance

b. Lack of knowledge or awareness by state agencies

c. Lack of knowledge or awareness by subrecipients

d. Other

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Question #31: SEC Rule 2a-7 and GASB ED

• The GASB recently issued an Exposure Draft that would allow qualifying external investment pools (those that would come under SEC Rule 2a-7) to continue to measure their investments at amortized cost, rather than fair value. Do you agree with GASB’s proposed approach?a. Yes

b. No

c. Not sure

d. N/A

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Standards Overload & Complexity

• Open discussion

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Systems/Data

Security and Accuracy

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Question #32: Systems Security

• How confident are you in the security of your state’s or company’s systems?a. Very confident

b. Confident

c. Not confident at all

d. Not sure

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• How confident are you in the security of your office’s systems?a. Very confident

b. Confident

c. Not confident at all

d. Not sure

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• Has your state or company encountered some sort of security breach in the past year?a. Yes

b. No

c. Not sure

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• Has your office encountered some sort of security breach in the past year?a. Yes

b. No

c. Not sure

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Question #36: Data Quality

• Data accuracy is critical to the work of government accountability officials. In your professional responsibilities, how often do you encounter problems with data integrity and accuracy?a. Frequently

b. Often

c. Occasionally

d. Rarely

e. Never

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• Today, data is being collected in unprecedented amounts. But, how usable is the data that is being collected? How often is your office able to use collected data to make useful decisions?a. Frequently

b. Often

c. Occasionally

d. Rarely

e. Never

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• What is the primary cause of data problems?a. Technology (aging systems)

b. Management issues (lack of accountability or supervision, noninterest, etc.)

c. Lack of effective internal controls

d. Poor planning or lack of planning

e. Data entry issues (lack of consistent definition, identifiers, and other data input issues)

f. Lack of expertise or lack of data analytics to determine quality issues

g. Other

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Question #39: Data Analytics

• How often do you use data analytics to make informed decisions?a. Frequently

b. Often

c. Occasionally

d. Rarely

e. Never

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Systems/Data

• Open discussion

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Miscellaneous ItemsSome Odds and Ends

Question #40: Audit Committees

• Does your state or your company have an audit committee?a. Yes

b. No

c. Not sure

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• If yes, how was your state’s audit committee established?a. Legislation

b. Regulation

c. Executive Order

d. Other

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• If yes, what is the composition of the audit committee?a. Legislators

b. Executive branch officials

c. Business leaders and/or academicians

d. Other

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• What are the committee’s responsibilities (select all that apply)?a. Help formulate sound financial policy

b. Confer with state finance officials as concerns arise

c. Approve annual audit plan and review all audit reports and management letters

d. Other

e. Not sure

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• How effective is the committee in assuring that audit findings are appropriately addressed?a. Highly effective

b. Somewhat effective

c. Not effective

d. Not its responsibility

e. Not sure

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Question #45: Internal Auditors

• Does your state or company have internal auditors?a. Yes

b. No

c. Not sure

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Question #46: Internal Auditors

• If yes to the previous question, are they:a. Centralized?

b. Decentralized?

c. Combination of both?

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Miscellaneous Items

• Open Discussion

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emerging issues roundtable nasact annual conference chicago, il august 23, 2015

Documents

previous question

public sector

level of staff

staff level

major problem

states financial conditionhow

years exp

significant challenge