Non-Conference Education

The mission of the WFOA Education Committee is to provide Washington public entities and their staff with professional training in finance, budgeting, accounting, reporting, and other relevant fields. This professional training provides budget and finance professionals the opportunity to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas with others, and enhance their knowledge which will assist them in promoting the professional management of government financial resources. The professional educational opportunities also enable our members to maintain their status as Professional Finance Officers, CPAs, and/or other similar professional designations. If you would like to join the Education Committee or have questions about educational courses offered, please contact the Education Chair at educationcommittee@wfoa.org.

Is there a topic you would like to see presented? Submit your feedback here.

Upcoming Educational Opportunities

WFOA – Training Opportunities

Overview of BARS - In Person Class

Tuesday, March 17, 2026
8:00am - 4:30pm

Location:
City of Ellensburg, Hal Holmes Center
201 N Ruby Street
Ellensburg, WA 98926

$175 Member / $225 Non-Member

This class will be presented in person in Ellensburg

Specialists from the Office of the Washington State Auditor will present an overview of the BARS Manual and the reporting requirements for the governments that use it. This class is intended for both cash and GAAP basis governments. The State Auditor’s Office presents the course materials for people with varying levels of governmental accounting knowledge and experience, from novice to expert.

After taking this class, attendees will be able to:

• Explain the purpose of the BARS Manual and why it is required
• Navigate and search the BARS Manual
• Employ fund accounting, including identifying and evaluating fund types
• Identify the four types of interfund activities
• Use the BARS Chart of Accounts and generate BARS codes as prescribed
• Understand the annual online filing reporting requirements

Beginning Excel Webinar

Tuesday, March 24, 2026
9:00am - 11:00am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

Steve Rogers, Finance Manager for Kitsap 911, will present an interactive course covering a wide range of topics. It will begin with writing basic formulas, formatting, sorting, filtering, exploring menu options, creating basic lookup formulas and pivot tables. For this course, a computer is highly recommended, and attendees should at a minimum be familiar with how to work with Excel.

Lunch & Learn: Get to know the WFOA Board of Directors

Thursday, March 26, 2026
12:00pm - 1:00pm

$0 Member / $0 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

Bring your lunch, log in, and join WFOA's virtual lunch and learn session. This is your chance to engage with WFOA's Board and Staff virtually right from your desk (or cell phone)! If you have ever had an interest in volunteering with WFOA as a board or committee member, this is your chance to learn more and get all your questions answered.

This is your opportunity to network with finance colleagues from all across the state. Bring questions about our committees or just come to listen in! We want to hear from all of you whether you are new to your career or a seasoned professional already involved with our organization.

Registration is free.

Introduction to Power BI Webinar

Tuesday, April 7, 2026
9:00am - 11:00am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

Andrea Kwan CPA, CIA, CISA, CFE serves as the Internal Audit & Compliance Manager for the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. She also teaches auditing and accounting at local community colleges. Join her for an introductory session on Power BI, where you will learn how to create basic visualizations and build simple dashboards that support informed decision-making.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Explain what Power BI is and when to use it
• Import data into Power BI desktop
• Create basic visualizations
• Build and format a simple dashboard
• Understand how dashboards support decision-making

Intermediate/Advanced Excel 1 Webinar - Advanced Lookup & Reference Functions

Thursday, April 16, 2026
9:00am - 11:00am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

Master modern Excel lookup tools to retrieve data with precision and speed. Learn how to use XLOOKUP, INDEX + MATCH, and dynamic arrays like FILTER and SORT to streamline reporting and improve analysis. Add this to your dating profile and we guarantee you’ll see (up to) 100% more matches.

Office 365 is recommended for this course.

Federal Awards Requirements (Includes Grants) Webinar

Tuesday, May 5, 2026
8:00am - 3:00pm

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

This Class covers the essentials of the federal requirements for managing, spending and auditing federal awards. The authoritative set of requirements, found in Part 200 of Title 2 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, is called the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards – or more commonly, the “Uniform Guidance.”

The objectives of this class are for participants to get an overview of the most important and common compliance requirements and learn where to keep reading about the areas most applicable to them. In this way, local governments can better understand the Uniform Guidance, which will help them design effective internal controls to meet these requirements and better manage their federal awards.

Topics covered:
• Introduction to the Uniform Guidance (including high-level information on revisions)
• Understanding the Uniform Guidance Cost Principles
• Overview of the common administrative requirements
• Essentials for implementing internal controls
• Preparing the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards
• Details about the federal single audit
• Available resources

Intermediate/Advanced Excel 2 Webinar - Date, Time, and Financial Functions

Tuesday, May 12, 2026
9:00am - 11:00am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

Take control of time-sensitive and financial calculations. Explore functions like DATEDIF, WORKDAY, and EOMONTH for scheduling, plus PMT and FV for loan and investment planning. You’ll then be able to casually mention that you know this at the next family dinner to prove your in-laws wrong.

Office 365 is recommended for this course.

Beginning Excel Webinar

Tuesday, June 9, 2026
9:00am - 11:00am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

Beginning Accounting Webinar

Thursday, June 25, 2026
9:00am - 11:30am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

The beginning accounting class will be conducted via a webinar taught by Bret Brodersen. Bret is the Finance Director for the City of Centralia. He teaches accounting at the local community college. Bret is a current WFOA Board member, chair of the Professional Rules and Operational Standards Committee.

The Beginning Accounting class will cover the basics for practical accounting. Included are:

• T Accounts
• Debits & Credits
• General Ledgers
• Assets & Liabilities
• Revenues and Expenditures (Expenses)
• Fund accounting (types of funds)

Intermediate/Advanced Excel 3 Webinar - Logical & Conditional Analysiscific topic TBD

Thursday, July 9, 2026
9:00am - 11:00am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online. Turn complex variables and rules into automated decisions. Learn IF, IFS, SWITCH, error-handling functions, conditional formatting, and nested logic to create clean, dynamic outputs and shave HOURS off your workload. This is the kind of flex that will make even teenagers think you’re cool. No cap.

Office 365 is recommended for this course.

Intermediate/Advanced Excel 4 Webinar - Summarizing & Analyzing Data

Thursday, August 20, 2026
9:00am - 11:00am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online. Transform raw data into actionable insights using SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, PivotTables, and dynamic ranges for powerful reporting. You’ll be able to build dashboards, slice and dice data on the fly, prepare clean data for reporting, and finally make your ex jealous without using “new year, new me” as the caption on your Instagram.

Office 365 is recommended for this course.

Overview of BARS - In Person Class

Tuesday, October 13, 2026
8:00am - 4:30pm

Location:
Bud Van Cleve Room at Luke Jensen Sports Park
4000 NE 78th Street
Vancouver, WA 98665

$175 Member / $225 Non-Member

This class will be presented in person in Ellensburg

After taking this class, attendees will be able to:

Federal Awards Requirements (Includes Grants) Webinar

Tuesday, October 20, 2026
8:00am - 3:00pm

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

The Future of Writing

Wednesday, November 18, 2026
12:00am - 1:00am

$25 Member / $50 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

You have eight seconds to win the attention of your audience (four seconds if you are using email). In a distracted world bombarded with information, it's more important than ever that we leverage brevity for effective communication. This session includes tips and tricks for making your writing more clear, concise, and compelling.

Intermediate Accounting Webinar

Thursday,December 10, 2026
9:00am - 11:30am

$50 Member / $75 Non-Member

This class will be presented online.

This class will be presented online by Bret Brodersen. Bret is the Finance Director for the City of Centralia. He teaches accounting at the local community college. Bret is a current WFOA Board member, chair of the Professional Rules and Operational Standards Committee.

The Intermediate Accounting class will cover the basics of financial reporting. Included are:

• Basic Financial Statements Overview
• Balance Sheets
• Income Statements
• Statement of Cash Flows

Webinar criteria to be eligible for CPE:

Each attendee must register with their email
Must be logged into the ZOOM webinar with their registered email
Have the Zoom meeting on their active screen in order to answer the polling questions.
- Three polling questions will be administered for every 50 minutes in order to be eligible for 1 CPE. (Example – 4 hour session will have 12 polling questions).

Registration Cancelation Policy

Cancellation/substitution requests must be received in writing by Admin@wfoa.org. In-person events, a refund is available until 14 business days less a $20 administrative fee. Webinar events, a refund is available until 3 business days less a $20 or 25% of registration fee, whichever is less. No refund will be issued after the business days listed but can be appealed in writing. The appeal can take up to 45 days for determination. Substitutions after the business days listed may be allowed for a $10 fee.