Our World Your World

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Our WorldYour World

• The Director of Finance
• Service in a New Era

GFOAT Spring Conference, April 21, 2009
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Our World

• A new mandate for government
• Economic/financial systems stressed to the core
• Labor, supplies, markets, costs
• Banking Credit
• Reporting/Disclosure
• Oversight/Regulation
• Environmental concerns
• Populism

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Your WorldThe Oz/Kansas Continuum
Oz
Kansas
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Your World

• Your new language
• ARRA
• Disclosure
• GASB / SAS
• Surveillance
• Projected Unit Credit
• Closed period
• Transparency
• Stimulus

• Accountability
• TARP
• Shovel-ready
• Subprime
• Negative Outlook
• Foreclosure rate
• Grant management

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Your World

• The Year of the CFO

Putting the Chief back into CFO
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Hows it going these days?

• Anyone reading your quarterly investment report?
• What was the chat at this years Audit Committee
  meeting?
• How many Budget/Finance briefings have you
  provided this last 6 month?
• My, what a difference a year makes!

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Seven Tips for Effectiveness/Greatness

• The Half-life of Schooling
• Measuring Up
• Leveraging your Resources
• Belt and Suspenders
• Connections and Awareness
• Can you hear me now?
• Carpe Diem Seize the Day

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1. The Half-life of Schooling

• Its time to renew knowledge bases
• You your staff
• Sustained professional development
• Topics actuarial / pension management,
  securities, accounting standards, risk, audit,
  collateralization, depositories

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2. Measuring Up

• Seek the Certificate(s)
• Credentials and standards are healthy exercises
  and establish disciplines of operations
• Select benchmark standards and start measuring /
  surveying
• Use workplans and goals to guide your efforts and
  avoid merely the routine cycle

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3. Leveraging your Resources

• Who is your out to lunch bunch?
• Big department small operationsusing resources
  wisely
• Seek value-added services from current
  providersdepository, FAs, auditors, COGs,
  vendors, etc.
• Divide and conquer shared efforts with other
  departments
• Alliance with other communities/agencies
• Develop your staffshare the burden.
• Unify your efforts in TML regional settings,
  GFOAT, and GFOA.
• Master new meeting formatswebinars, video
  conferencing, etc.

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4. Belt and Suspenders

• Beware any forecast line that only goes up
  the history of cycles
• Contingent thinking
• Plan 1, or Plan 2, or Plan 3.
• What are your exposures?
• Using sensitivity tables (what-if models), etc.
  to assess relationships and impact of change

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AesopGrasshopper the Ant

• In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was
  hopping about, chirping and singing to its
  heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along
  with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to
  the nest.      "Why not come and chat with me,"
  said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and
  moiling in that way?"      "I am helping to lay
  up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and
  recommend you to do the same."      "Why bother
  about winter?" said the Grasshopper "We have got
  plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on
  its way and continued its toil.      When the
  winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found
  itself dying of hunger - while it saw the ants
  distributing every day corn and grain from the
  stores they had collected in the summer. Then the
  Grasshopper knew
• It is best to prepare for days of need.

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5. Connections and Awareness

• Do you know what you are financing / accounting
  for?
• The importance to interdepartmental
  connectedness.
• Are you really a team player? What value do you
  provide departments?
• Techniques to strengthen the team
• Tours, luncheons, briefings
• Volunteering, sharing, etc.
• Notes and acknowledgements

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6. Can you hear me now?

• The importance of effective communication has
  gone way up.
• Layman-ized messages
• Message mediums settings
• web, video, written, oral,
• Messages for
• Your department
• Your organization
• Your profession

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7. Carpe Diem Seize the Day

• Its spotlight time
• Think ahead
• what will this current event cause them to ask?
• What do we want to prep them for?
• Reinforce how an active practice has helped.
• Be ready do your profession proud

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Closing Thoughts

• It is a profound time of returning to the
  basics
• Leave Greatness as a label for others to confer
  focus on the fundamentals
• Do good business everyday
• The Athenian Oath

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The Athenian Oath

• We will never bring disgrace to this our city by
  any act of dishonesty or cowardice, nor ever
  desert our suffering comrades in the ranks

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• We will fight for the ideals and the sacred
  things of the city, both alone and with many

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• We will revere and obey the citys laws and do
  our best to incite to a like respect and
  reverence those who are prone to annul or set
  them at naught

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• We will strive unceasingly to quicken the public
  sense of public duty

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• That thus, in all these ways, we will transmit
  this city not only not less, but greater, better,
  and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.

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Best wishes. Thank you.