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.
Upcoming 2024 Educational Opportunities
WFOA – Training Opportunities
Public Funds Investing for Beginners Webinar
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
9:00am - 12:00pm
$75 Member / $100 Non-Member
This class will be presented online. There are many important questions facing public entities regarding their investments. The Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) yield is beginning to drop and will likely fall further, but why is that happening? What are the main drivers of the LGIP yield, and interest rates more broadly, moving up or down at any given time? Perhaps most importantly, what can you do to diversify and protect your entity’s investments against interest rate movements?
This class will tackle all these topics and more, including:
- How the Federal Reserve impacts interest rates and your entity’s investments
- What public entities can invest in outside of the LGIP to provide diversification, namely bonds
- The basics of how bonds work as investments to provide stability and diversification to your portfolio
- How to structure your entity’s investments to meet the hierarchy of public funds investing needs of 1) Safety; 2) Liquidity; 3) Yield
The topic of investing can be complicated, but we break down these topics in easy-to-understand ways free from confusing jargon. This class is geared towards demystifying public funds investing and teaching you what you need to know to manage your entity’s investments safely and efficiently.
Intermediate Accounting Webinar
Thursday, December 12, 2024
9:00am - 12:00pm
$75 Member / $100 Non-Member
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.
Class topics:
- 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
- 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).
Free Webinar Classes Available
Free eLearning Available from WA State Auditors Office (SAO)
Lease Accounting Standards
Washington State Auditors Office offered classes regarding the new Lease Accounting Standards
Cash receipting
Want to know more about how to protect your organization from cash receipting fraud? SAO’s on-demand training follows an actual fraud case while covering important best practices for internal controls. You’ll learn how to recognize the warning signs and red flags of common fraud schemes and the rewards of developing a strong internal control system and the risks if you don’t. Local government employees are eligible for Continuing Professional Education Credit (CPE) for this course.
Registration Cancellation Policy
Cancelation/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.