The login procedures to GFOA’s Awards Management System (AMS) have been modified slightly to accommodate Award Programs other than the Certificate of Achievement (COA) Program. The one difference is that where previously the username had been the government’s GFOA member ID, the username will now be the government’s GFOA member ID followed by a “dash one”. For example, if the username had been 30012345, it would now be 30012345-1. With the addition of the PAFR program to the AMS, the login procedures have been modified to accommodate up to two user accounts associated with each government.

Managing Your Government’s AMS Login

The User Management Form in the AMS is used to manage the primary contacts for the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting (COA) and Popular Annual Financial Reporting (PAFR) programs. To access the form:

1. Login to your government’s account (lf.gfoa.org/Forms).
2. Click “Start Process” in the blue band at the top of the page.
3. Click the green “Start” button to the right of “User Management Form.”

This should open a form like the one below:

Each government has placeholders for two users. Each user is identified by a username, which consists of the government’s GFOA member number followed by a dash and either a 1 or a 2.

An active user will be assigned one or two groups: either COA or PAFR, or both. When a person is assigned to a group, that person becomes GFOA’s primary contact for the awards program that group represents. The primary contact is the person who can login to the AMS, request extensions and submit applications, and who will receive emails relevant to any applications that have been submitted (such as an email indicating a review has been completed that provides a link for retrieving the result documents).

It’s important to note that there can be only one primary contact for each user account, and that a program can only be assigned to one user. In the above example, since the COA program is already assigned to User 1, it could not simultaneously be assigned to User 2.

In the above example, the City participates in GFOA’s Certificate Program. Rory Test is the primary contact for the City. His username to login to the account is 300265610-1.

In the example below, a second user has been added to be the primary contact for the PAFR program:

Here, Rory will be able to login using the username of 300265610-1 (and whatever password he has selected), and Estelle will be able to login using the username of 300265610-2 (and a unique password that she selects). Rory would be able to submit to the Certificate Program, but not to the PAFR Program; Estelle would be able to submit to the PAFR Program, but not to the Certificate Program.

Both groups could be assigned to the same primary contact, in which case the same person would be able to submit to both programs.

Adding the PAFR Program to the AMS

Almost all governments in the United States who have previously submitted to the PAFR program will have an Awards Management System (AMS) account with GFOA, as U.S. governments would have established AMS accounts to submit to the Certificate Program (a prerequisite to receive the PAFR Award). Those U.S. governments who have not submitted to the COA or PAFR programs in the past couple of years, or who are submitting to both programs for the first time, as well as Canadian governments may need to register to create an AMS account if one does not currently exist for the government. To register for the first, time follow the instructions on this link.

Adding the PAFR Program for governments who have already established an AMS account:

1. Login to your government’s account (lf.gfoa.org/Forms).
2. Click “Start Process” in the blue band at the top of the page.
3. Click the green “Start” button to the right of “User Management Form.”

This should open a form like the one below:

A government has two options. The PAFR Program could be assigned to User 1 (Rory), who is currently the primary contact for the COA Program, or the PAFR Program could be assigned to User 2, in which case a primary contact would need to be established.

Option 1—Assigning PAFR to User 1

1. Click the “Edit” button to the right of User 1’s (Rory’s) name.

2. Click the drop-down arrow in the field to the left of the green “Add” button.

3. Select “PAFR” from the drop-down menu.

4. Click the green “Add” button. A yellow “PAFR” button will now appear next to the “COA” button.

5. Click the green “Save changes” button on the bottom of the screen.

An email will be sent to Rory alerting him that a new program has been assigned to him.

Option 2—Assigning PAFR to User 2

1. After logging in to your account and opening the User Management Form, click the “Edit” button to the right of User 2:

2. The following form should pop up:

3. Add the email address, first name, and last name of the person who should be the primary contact for the PAFR program.

4. Click the drop-down arrow in the field next to the label “Groups”.

5. Select “PAFR”.

6. Click the green “Add” button. A yellow “PAFR” button should appear next to the label “Groups”:

7. Click the green “Save changes” button at the bottom of the screen. The following screen should appear:

8. Click “Save changes” again.

Emails will be sent to both Rory and Estelle indicating the program assignment changes for the government, and Estelle will receive a second email that will allow her to login with her username (300265610-2) and create a unique password.