• Two of the hottest topics in Harrisburg over the last few years are pension and property tax reform. In this session you’ll learn:
  • Implications of recently enacted Act 5 of 2017, the latest in a series of pension reform bills approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly
  • Potential effects of property tax reform proposals on Pennsylvania school districts
  • Efforts in pension and property tax reform

Speaker

 

Matthew Malinowski Lentz
Business Manager/Board Secretary
Upper Moreland School District

• Although the dust has settled following the issuance and implementation of the Uniform Grant Guidance, the single audit continues to be a dynamic area for school district management and auditors. This session will help you avoid some of the common problems as well as some tips and tricks to keep ahead of upcoming changes, including:
  • How to use the current compliance supplement
  • Methods to evaluate your program for compliance with federal grant requirements
  • Steps to properly document your compliance with federal grant programs
  • Ways to avoid common single audit findings

Speaker

 

Anthony W. Rapp, CPA, CFE, CGMA
Manager
Maillie LLP

• Current and pending GASB pronouncements.
• Develop a proactive approach to ease any potential implementation issues
  • GASB 84: Fiduciary Activities Standard
  • GASB 87: Leases Standard
  • GASB 89: Accounting for Interest Incurred before the End of a Construction Period
• Major changes in recent years and lessons learned
  • Perspectives from both the auditor and the school district employee
• GASB preliminary views: Financial Reporting Model
• Other upcoming projects

Speakers

 

Christopher M. Turtell, CPA
Partner-Accounting and Auditing Services
Herbein + Company, Inc.

 

David L. Nester, CPA
Business Administrator
Pottsgrove School District

• Examine the recent updates in the 2018 revision of The Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, the Yellow Book. These new standards provide a framework for performing high quality audit work with independence. This session will demonstrate examples of how:
  • Expansion of the independence standard and how auditors should respond to threats, plus related documentation requirements
  • New performance audit standards for when internal control is significant to audit objectives
  • Standards providing the foundation for government auditors to establish independence, transparency, accountability, and quality through the audit process
• Updated peer review standards
• Yellow Book’s reformatting as it relates to requirements versus application guidance

Speakers

 

Daniel Bradley, CPA
Principal
Young, Oakes, Brown & Company, P.C.

• Common areas of benchmarking in school finance
• Drilling down the many sources of data that exist
• Live links to troves of data
• Steps to appropriately benchmark
• Value-add strategies to improve the benchmarking process
• Valuable perspectives on why your clients are benchmarking

Speakers

 

Timothy J. Shrom, PhD, PCSBA
Director of Research
Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials

 

Andrew L. Armagost, PhD
Research and Advocacy Manager
Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials

• Charter schools, funding issues, and mandatory financial disclosures
• Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): implementation tips
• Inside look at what’s happening at the Pennsylvania Department of Education
• New programs
• New grants

Speakers

 

Susan McCrone
Chief
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Federal Programs

 

Matthew S. Wildasin, CPA
Principal
Boyer & Ritter LLC

• Benefits and challenges of data analytics, both today and in the future of auditing
• How data analytics can help auditors gain greater insight into their clients’ business operations and improve the ability to evaluate large quantities of data quickly
• How data analytics can improve the efficiency of the audit process, while maintaining compliance with GAAS

Speakers

 

Amanda J. Bernard, CPA, CFE, CMA
Principal
Maillie LLP