VOLUME 10 - NO. 3 Confirmed: Richmond is CAGFO Reception Venue INSIDE THIS ISSUE President’s Report 2 Between council meeting cycles, budget of Olympic artefacts and digital archives PSAB News launch and year-end audit, the adren- featuring iconic Olympic and Paralympic Partner Events 3 aline level in the Finance Department stories from every year of the Games. can be pretty high. In keeping with the The ROX is the only Olympic Museums Strategic Planning as a 4 Financial Enabler finance officer’s professional appetite for Network member in and it is an Welcome CAGFO’s New 5 excitement, we are proud to announce a experience you won’t want to miss! Manager of Operations fitting venue for the 2019 Conference’s and Member Services Police Finance Working Opening Reception at the Legacy Lounge Group of the Richmond Olympic Oval. CAGFO 6 Conference Delegates will have free access to the Richmond Olympic Experience (ROX). BOARD OF DIRECTORS The ROX is a highly interactive and dy- Noreen Kassam namic visitor experience, featuring state- (President) of-the-art Olympic and sport simulators, City of , BC Kelly Lemoine skill testing challenges, hundreds (Vice President) City of Winnipeg, MB Jason Turnbull CAGFO Board Names Three New Lifetime Members (Treasurer) City of Saskatoon, SK In 2011, Penny sible for the Public Sector. He always Katherine Macdonald (Secretary) Bruin retired made sure that KPMG fully supported City of Yellowknife, NT from the City of our organization with sponsorships Lorrie Schmalenberg (Past-President) Vancouver as Fi- and speakers, often speaking himself. City of Regina, SK nance Manager He was a fixture at our conferences for Karen Grommada City of Port Coquitlam, BC and previously over 20 years and now works for the Kelly Gibson the Treasurer. CPA of BC. Town of Banff, AB She then took Ed Kaemingh Sturgeon County, AB on organizing Diana Lokken Lindsay Schneider speakers for our conferences until 2018. retired as the CFO City of Whitehorse, YT Gary Kent She now serves as a non-voting mem- of the Capital City of Mississauga, ON ber of the Board. Previously she was on Regional District Paul Wills Nova Scotia MFC, NS the Executive Board of GFOA US and in 2018. She Penny Bruin Canada and on CCI and the first Presi- served on the (Non-voting) dent of GFOA -Western Canada. Western Canada board for many [email protected] Until he retired years, organizing the 2008 conference (250) 598-6871 in 2017, in Victoria and was president for the Archie extremely successful 2012 conference Johnson was in Vancouver. She has served on CCI and the senior the BC Pension Board and is a great partner in resource for up and coming finance KPMG respon- officers. AUGUST 2019 cagfo.ca Page 1 President’s Report PARTNERS Our National Conference from Oct. 2-4 can chat and stay in touch. in beautiful British Columbia is around the corner and we have an exciting Many volunteer members have joined line-up of speakers and activities. This CAGFO’s Committees: External Rela- year we are introducing a Conference tions, Communications, Membership App so that you can stay connected and and Conference. The Board is encour- enhance your event experience with re- aged by their excitement and ideas. al-time updates and access to all attend- Thank you to all the volunteers for their ees. Stay tuned for more information on participation. how to download the app and plan your Through our Special Interest Groups sessions for the conference. and Committees, we are taking advan- The Special Interest Groups, (Asset Man- tage of the Opportunities for Finance in agement, Police, Library and PSAB) are Responding to Disruption. See you all at in full swing. Special forums have been the conference! planned at the conference for these Noreen Kassam, CPA,CGA groups. As we redevelop our website in Director Finance the coming year, a special area on the City of Burnaby, BC site will be set up where these groups [email protected] GOLD SPONSORS PSAB News The Public Sector Accounting Board the same set of standards and consider (PSAB) recently issued Government Not- whether its standards should provide for-Profit Consultation Paper to: more flexibility when applied to differ- • articulate the national and inter- ent stakeholder groups. national not-for-profit landscape; • present the results of the 2017- The Board is seeking feedback on mat- 2018 GNFP stakeholder consulta- ters, such as: tions; and • whether government and GNFPOs • seek feedback on matters that follow the same standards; would assist the Board in deter- • whether all GNFPOs follow the mining its GNFP landscape. same standards; and • what are the upcoming trends in Generally, government not-for-profit or- the GNFP sector. ganizations (GNFPOs) are not-for-profit organizations that are controlled by the Your response to the Consultation Paper government. They can include libraries is important. The revised GNFP strate- and social housing corporations. gy, when developed, may impact how GNFPOs account and present financial As stated in the 2017-2021 Strategic information. The deadline to respond is Plan, PSAB has decided to explore the September 30, 2019. Make your voice implications of all GNFPOs following heard!

AUGUST 2019 cagfo.ca Page 2 Partner Events

UPCOMING CONFERENCES GOLD SPONSORS Sept 18-20, 2019 Huntsville, ON | Sept. 18-20, 2019 MFOA Huntsville, ON October 2-4, 2019 CAGFO Vancouver, BC | Oct. 2-4, 2019 Vancouver, BC October 28-29, 2019 CPA Public Sector Conference Ottawa, ON November 18-22, 2019 Ottawa, ON | Oct. 28-29, 2019 FMI PD Week Gatineau, QC May 17-20, 2020 GFOA International New Orleans, LA June 7-10, 2020 GFOA Alberta Red Deer, AB June 3-5, 2020 Kamloops, BC GFOA BC September 16-18, 2020 Red Deer, AB | Jun. 7-10, 2020 CAGFO SLIVER SPONSORS Edmonton, AB May 26-28, 2021 GFOA BC Victoria, BC May 30-June 2, 2021 GFOA ALberta Accounting & Auditing Workshop: Banff, AB Nov. 21-22 Conference: Kamloops, BC June 27-30, 2021 Jun. 3-5, 2020 GFOA International Chicago, IL

Edmonton, AB | Sept. 16-18, 2020

AUGUST 2019 cagfo.ca Page 3 Strategic Planning as a Financial Enabler

Strategic planning season is upon • Inform project prioritization framework to properly write many financial officers and as and justification the plan such, let’s explore the purpose and • Provide capacity analysis - how • Collaborate – learn from your benefits of undertaking the process much you can afford to do neighbours and peers properly. Your organization’s stra- • Integrate with and inform tegic plan should provide organi- long term plans Strategic plans can be extremely zational direction, staff alignment • In advanced organizations it powerful and are worth doing right. through a strategic hierarchy, levels is used for cash-flow forecast- If you are looking to leverage your of service, identify projects and ing. strategic plan to get the benefits performance measures. When above, then get involved in the pro- combined, this gives you insight For any of this to happen, the cess. Ensure the right data is being into resource requirements, capital plan needs to be comprehensive, captured and the framework can budget, how non-financial perfor- communicated and well managed. provide what you need in a simpler mance will be tracked and provides Here are some pointers to ensure manner. transparency as required. success: Happy Planning! Ideally the plan is managed there- • Priority plans are different; after; enabling measurement of these highlight high-level performance against the strategic goals, then select projects. hierarchy. This is highly beneficial Avoid the confusion and aim for identifying gaps in resource, to incorporate all projects as competency, roadblocks and com- actions or programs. pliance, to mention a few issues, • Manage the plan when it is for the rest of the organization. On complete top of that, for financial officers • Plan to your budget/resource quality strategic planning/manage- limits Jarred Thomas is a Manager, Consulting ment will enable your organization • Get staff on board – lack of Services with MNP, a leading national accounting, tax and consulting firm. He to: understanding or involvement can be contacted at 778.309.4731 or in the process can make it dif- [email protected] • Help establish a budget ficult to get a comprehensive through a comprehensive plan/plan updates project register • Invest in your plan content, • Help predict budget reviews not a repository – software through consolidated project solutions do not fill the void; updates when you are ready, review • Save on loan interest by pro- the free options available pri- viding more accurate/timely or to getting heavily invested. loan requirements • Create achievable levels of • Simplify financial/non-finan- service and metrics cial annual reporting process- • Ensure you have the in-house es knowledge/training and

AUGUST 2019 cagfo.ca Page 4 Welcome CAGFO’s New Manager of Operations and Member Services BRONZE SPONSORS We are thrilled to an- the non-profit association nounce that Anne Stacey sector and eagerness to will be joining the CAGFO build relationships, we team! are sure to have a speedy onboarding and CAGFO Starting as admin support members will have an op- and gradually moving up portunity to engage her in the ladder to Executive person in Vancouver. If you Director, Anne learned how see her at the Conference, to serve non-profit associ- say hello and feel free to ations from the bottom up reach out to her before or and is keen to identify and after [email protected] . deliver on member needs. With her background in Welcome, Anne!

Are you in library finance? Police finance? Asset management? PSAB reporting? Budgeting?

We’ve put together tailored ‘ask anything’ Forums as part of the conference for clus- ters of members to help you tap your peers’ expertise. Come with questions, hear different approaches from across the counrty.

Police Finance Working Group For the first time, this year’s conference changes, along with increasing costs, will include sessions specifically oriented have led organizations to re-examine to police finance officers. We are excit- the traditional policing model and con- ed to include sessions by Mary Collins, sider new strategies to ensure effective President of the BC Association of Police and efficient policing for the future. Boards, on police board governance, and The panel will address how their or- Chief Constable Neil Dubord, Delta Police ganization is positioned to meet these Department, on employee wellness pro- challenges. grams. - Mark Wilson, The Police Finance Forum will include a Comptroller, New panel of experts examining challenges Westminster facing police services across the nation. Police Police agencies are experiencing an Department unprecedented period of change that has not been seen since the founding of modern policing the 19th century. These

AUGUST 2019 cagfo.ca Page 5 Join 250+ Colleagues in Vancouver! October 2-4, 2019 “Learning the trends on how gov- ernments communicate financial information to Councils, Boards, residents and other stakeholders is critical. Social media and technology are changing so quickly it can be dif- ficult to know the best route to go, but at the conference, you have the opportunity to learn about different tools and hear first hand how they can be successful or what challenges others are facing.”

- Karen Grommada, D i r e c t o r o f F i n a n c e , Check out the Port Coquitlam Conference Brochure here. Register here. Click here for all other updates about the conference.

LIMITED SPACE IN PRE- CONFERENCE SESSIONS ON OCT. 1:

One spot left in Asset Management for Finance Officers

Six spots left in Data Analytics & Dashboards

Five spots left in Finacial Foundations Framework.

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AUGUST 2019 cagfo.ca Page 6