Recap: Government Finance Officers Association National Conference 2024

Article

August 1, 2024

Contributor:
Ali Karim | Accounting Advisory, Senior Associate

The Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) 118^th Annual Conference was held between June 9 – 12, 2024, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The event provided attendees the opportunity to meet face-to-face with fellow colleagues and clients (for the first time, in many cases) and network. Most importantly, it provided attendees with a variety of relevant and interesting seminars pertaining to government finance.

Noteworthy Keynote Speakers

While many came to the GFOA Conference seeking expanded accounting knowledge and learning, one of the aspects I enjoyed the most was the morning keynote speakers. The first morning keynote speaker was David Brooks, bestselling author, op-ed columnist at The New York Times, and recurring commentator on PBS’s NewsHour. His insightful and humorous commentary on the American way of life inspired me to read one of his books, “The Second Mountain.”

Also noteworthy was Rana Faroohar, the keynote speaker for the second day. Faroohar is an associate editor at the Financial Times and a global economic analyst at CNN. I found her commentary on the path to prosperity in a post-global world fascinating and insightful. These speeches encouraged attendees to see the bigger picture, not only in ourselves but in the world around us, despite current situations.

Opportunities for CPE

There certainly was no shortage of opportunities for attendees to earn CPE. A variety of topics were covered, ranging from past and upcoming GASB pronouncements, challenges faced in financial reporting, building a procurement function, long-term financial planning, managing a debt portfolio, or preparing for single audits, to name a few. The one obvious challenge was that there were numerous sessions to choose from. Each breakout session came with six to eight class options, and in many cases, I wanted to be in two places at once. This led to course facilitators competing for attendees by giving their sessions provocative titles such as “Not Getting Any Easier,” “Changing Tides,” “Are We Done Yet?,” “Triple Digit Heat Wave,” “Touch All the Bases,” and finally “Relax and Reflect” which included Cherry Bekaert’s own Danny Martinez as a speaker.

A session that was particularly unique at the conference was the “Update on the Financial Data Transparency Act.” The goal of this act is to promote uniformity and accessibility of financial data presented by federal agencies by means of the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) platform. While it is known that this is a gigantic, all-encompassing law that has been done before, there are certain unknowns surrounding it. Such unknowns include the chosen technology, who will have to bear the costs, as well as how it will be enforced.

This act represents the crossroads between financial reporting and technology and is something all debt-issuing state and local governments ought to have on their radar to ensure preparedness when the time comes. The GASB is monitoring the development of the implementation of this act very closely and has dedicated significant resources to it, including a team of nine people. If the development of the data standard is assigned to the GASB in the same way that XBRL was assigned to the FASB, they will be ready.

Overall Takeaways

Of the many positive outcomes of the conference was the sense of comradery participants felt by interacting with hundreds of government finance professionals from all over the country who face similar issues and have similar concerns and challenges. In the GFOA Conference app, there was a Q&A feature for each session that allowed participants to ask questions while others could “upvote” questions that they also felt were relevant. Despite this feature on the app, it was not uncommon to see participants approaching speakers, at times in large numbers, to discuss issues further after sessions were over.

Another favorite at the conference was the Exhibition Hall, where Cherry Bekaert was one of many booth exhibitors. Colleagues and I saw plenty of attendees stopping by to introduce themselves, clients stopping by to show their appreciation of Cherry Bekaert’s services, and potential clients stopping by to grab business cards or some branded goodies and swag.

The conference certainly achieved its goal of bringing like-minded individuals together to network, discuss issues facing the industry, and, most importantly, prepare the industry for what lies in the future.

Looking Ahead to 2025

GFOA’s 119^th Annual Conference will be held in Washington, DC, from June 29 – July 2, 2025.

Let Us Be Your Government & Public Sector Guide

Cherry Bekaert’s experienced Government & Public Sector team offers audit, tax, and advisory services, including GASB-as-a-Service advisory, to federal, state, and local agencies and not-for-profit organizations. With a team solely focused on serving the industry, we are committed to providing customized solutions to help government entities navigate the ever-changing regulatory environment, optimize operations, and achieve their mission objectives.

If you have any questions specific to your business needs or topics discussed at the GFOA Conference, our team is eager and available to speak with you.