Managing Financial Distress

Before prescribing a course of treatment for a sick patient, a doctor must first consult with the patient and develop a diagnosis. Ideally, the doctor also provides advice to the patient about how to prevent the illness from recurring. Similarly, when their organizations are in financial distress, finance professionals must apply Fiscal First Aid—starting by diagnosing the causes, then developing a treatment plan, and finally recommending changes to prevent it from happening again. This course provides an overview of GFOA’s Fiscal First Aid program, which outlines the steps finance professionals should take to guide their organizations through times of fiscal uncertainty and budget shortfalls. 

Attendees will learn about the 12 steps and three stages of fiscal recovery. Using examples from local governments, the course will highlight the tools and strategies that finance officers can use to address both short- and long-term fiscal distress.

Those who successfully complete this seminar should be able to:

• Identify the three stages of fiscal recovery
• Identify the twelve steps that make up GFOA’s Fiscal First Aid process
• Discuss actions local governments can take to prepare for fiscal distress
• Learn how finance officers can take a more collaborative approach to addressing fiscal distress
• Understand how to assess the risks related to different types of Fiscal First Aid treatments and how to mitigate those risks
• Learn how to conduct a basic cash flow forecast
• Learn strategies for controlling and cutting personnel expenses
• Understand the role financial policies can play in addressing fiscal distress

This course is taught by experienced capital management practitioners and GFOA staff including Katie Ludwig. Instructors will be familiar with GFOA best practices, are subject matter experts, and have experience as an analyst, finance director, budget director, CFO, or CEO of various size local governments.