Client Corner

PAAdvisory is excited to announce the addition of a new segment in select editions of our newsletter highlighting specific news from our clients. This week, we bring to you an article regarding the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA), specifically their initiatives to leverage the expertise of the organization’s nearly 18,000 members to aid in Michigan’s economic turnaround.

MACPA Task Force Knee-Deep in Michigan Reinvention

In a very early response to the election of Michigan’s first CPA Governor, Rick Snyder, and his call for significant reforms, the Michigan Association of CPAs launched the MACPA Involvement in Michigan’s Turnaround Task Force. Leveraging the unique expertise and extensive knowledge of Michigan’s CPA profession, this new Task Force is effectively facilitating the involvement of Association members in the efforts of the Governor, the Legislature, and other organizations to restore Michigan to a state of fiscal stability and economic viability.

The Task Force sprung into quick action in the autumn of 2010 with their first project – providing the Snyder Administration, Business Leaders for Michigan, and the Anderson Economic Group with recommendations on how to create a “citizen-friendly” version of the comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) for the State of Michigan. Assembling some of the state’s leading experts in governmental accounting and auditing, including financial professionals from local governmental units who have previously developed similar documents, the Task Force provided significant input that turned out to be fundamental to the Governor’s January 2011 release of the Citizen’s Guide to Michigan’s Financial Health.

In the Spring of 2011, shortly after the passage of the State’s fiscal year 2011-2012 budget, it was clear that Michigan’s local governments would be met with a new reality with regard to revenue and budgeting – and again, the MACPA Involvement in Michigan’s Turnaround Task Force went to work. In partnership with the Michigan Association of Counties, the Michigan Township Association and the Michigan Municipal League, a subcommittee of Task Force members developed an educational forum for local government financial managers and policy makers. Scheduled for Friday, December 2 in Lansing, the Local Government Leadership Summit on Financial Matters promises to provide tangible, applicable knowledge and best practices for change management and financial reform for local units.

Task Force and MACPA leadership met with Snyder Administration officials to identify specific topic-areas and initiatives in which the profession’s expertise would add value. This meeting resulted in the development of seven additional topic-area workgroups. Different workgroups are at different stages of their initiatives, some awaiting direction from the Snyder Administration and/or the Legislature, others having taken significant steps – but all are armed, ready, willing and able to volunteer their knowledge and expertise in adding the MACPA’s mark on Michigan’s turnaround.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, November 18, 2011 11:51 AM
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