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The purpose of the Washington Finance Officers Award program is to provide our members with opportunities whereby they can further their professional development and receive recognition for their accomplishments in government finance areas. This program includes the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reporting (CAFR) Award, the Distinguished Budget Award and the Professional Finance Officer (PFO) Recognition. Applications are accepted and reviewed on an annual basis. WFOA Awards Committee Charter The Comprehensive Annual Reporting Award (CAFR) Contact - Sandy Langdon, CPA (360) 363-8017 slangdon@ci.marysville.wa.us This program is designed to assist WFOA members in preparing their Comprehensive Annual Report (CAFR). Criteria used to evaluate the CAFR submissions emulates GFOA CAFR criteria. The WFOA CAFR award applicants can utilize the application and forms found on the GFOA website www.gfoa.org/forms/ to submit their CAFR. Members can scroll down the forms page to locate the CAFR award section and download forms. Completed application packets should be mailed directly to Sandy Langdon, CPA, Finance Director, City of Marysville, 1049 State Street, Marysville, WA 98270 for review. No fee is required. The Distinguished Budget Award Contact - Teresa Camfield, CPA (360) 354-2829 camfieldt@lyndenwa.org The Distinguished budget award program is designed to assist WFOA members in preparing budget documents which are complete, clear and understandable by elected officials and general public without sacrificing the need for solid financial planning in the budget process. The program is modeled after the Government Finance Officers Program and closely follows similar criteria. The deadline for submission is 90 days past the adoption date. There is no fee for submitting an entity's initial budget application. However, once an entity has received a Distinguished Budget Award, a nominal $50 application is required with all future applications. This handling fee will help defer costs associated with the review process, certificate preparation and plaque acquisition. Program objectives, review criteria, criteria location guide and application form links have been updated to more closely align with GFOA guidelines. Please use these links to help prepare and submit your budget documents and submit your application. Budget Objectives Budget Criteria Application Reviewers Evaluation Application Criteria Location Guide Professional Finance Officer Recognition Contact Dawn Masko (253) 964-8121 dmasko@ci.dupont.wa.us The Professional Finance Officer Recognition program provides an opportunity for our members to be recognized for their continued professional development and achievements in the governmental finance arenas. Effective in 2010, currently designated WFOA Professional Finance Officers (PFO) are eligible to continue participating in the WFOA PFO program, providing they to meet the required annual criteria, submit a renewal application and receive committee approval, each year without a lapse. Renewal applications are mailed to each eligible PFO in the spring each year. Should a lapse in renewal occur for a member, they will no longer be eligible for future participation in the PFO program. Twenty-five continuing education points are required each year for renewal as detailed below. Continuing Professional Finance Officer One point for each year a PFO has received the PFO Award can be earned, up to a maximum of 10 points. Continuing Personal Education A minimum of 8 points is required for this section. 1point/class hour can be earned for conference and non conference training from a qualifying organization* completed during the reporting period. Points can also be earned for: 1. Teaching or leading a discussion group outside your entity in Finance or management related field (5 points /event) 2. Teaching or completing a college level course in finance or a management related field (5points/event) 3. Writing an article for a professional journal or newsletter for a qualifying organization (3 points /article) 4. Attending qualifying* local finance group meetings (2 points/meeting) 5. Attending WFOA Committee or sub- committee meetings (2 points/hour/meeting) 6. Participating as a reviewer for Budget or PFO applications ( 5 points each) 7. Serving as an officer of WFOA or GFOA or other qualifying *organization (10 points) 8. Substantially participating in the preparation of the final annual report or budget document submitted by your entity of WFOA or GFOA ( 10 points + 5 additional points for receiving the award) *Qualifying organizations: AGA, APWA, AWC, CWCT, EWFOA, GFOA, KFOA, NACO, NCWFOA, NGFI, NLOC, NWFI, PCFOA, PSFOA, SCCFOA, SEFOA, SWFOA, TCTOA, WACO, WMCA, WMTA, NAST, WSACT Contact PFO Chair for additional organizations which may qualify In an effort to connect our members with a broader scope of certification programs, your WFOA Board is working with other professional governmental financial associations offering valued certification programs. These programs include the Association of Governmental Accountants' Certified Governmental Financial Manager program; the Governmental Finance Officers' Certified Professional Finance Officers program; and the Association of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada's multiple certification programs. All of these programs offer comprehensive educational opportunities to government finance professionals as part of their certification process. I would encourage members to check out the websites of these organizations to learn more about opportunities available through their certification programs. The websites are as follows: www.agacgfm.org, www.gfoa.org, and www.aptusc.org
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