General Page

Eligible reports are reviewed by three judges, who complete an evaluation form specifically designed for this purpose. The judge’s evaluation form is comprised of five categories that are given varying weights of importance toward the overall evaluation:

• Reader appeal (25%),
• Understandability (40%),
• Distribution methods (5%),
• And other (e.g., creativity, notable achievement) (10%).
• The remaining 20% of the score is based upon overall quality and usefulness of the report, taking into consideration the four previous categories.

Judges are never selected from the same state as the PAFR being reviewed or from the same firm that performed the independent audit of the annual comprehensive financial report.

Staff tabulates the results of the reviews of the judges. Any PAFR with at least 2 of the 3 judges rating the report as Partially satisfy (3), Good (4) or Excellent (5) in all categories weighted at 20% or higher (i.e., in the reader appeal, understandability, and overall impression categories) is granted the award.

PAFR volunteer judges will now receive and complete review assignments in GFOA’s Awards Management System (AMS.) Judges will access the PAFR and the judge’s checklist in the AMS. When a review assignment is made judges will receive an email with a link to a Volunteer Confirmation form.

Judges must accept or decline the review assignment within 7 days. If accepted, the judge will have three weeks to complete the review. If the review is not accepted within 7 days, it will be re-assigned to another judge.

To accept or decline a review assignment

1. Click the link in the assignment email or go to https://lf.gfoa.org/Forms. You will be asked to log in to the AMS. Your AMS username is your personal GFOA member ID number. If you already have an AMS login as a COA reviewer, you will use the same login and password for PAFR reviews. If you don’t already have an AMS login, click “forgot password” and then “send recovery email” and you will get a password reset link.

2. If you clicked the link in the email, you should see the Volunteer Confirmation Form. If logged in using the link in step 1, go to Open Tasks and open the Volunteer Confirmation Form

3. If you cannot accept this assignment, click “Decline.” If you can complete this review, click “Accept.” Failure to complete this step within 7 days will result in the review being reassigned to another reviewer; you will not be able to complete this review at a later date.

4. Click “Submit”.

5. You will then see the review form. You can begin the review immediately or you can save a draft to return to later.

To complete your review:

1. Log into the AMS as noted above.

2. Go to Open Tasks list in your Inbox and click on the task name to open the review form. The review form will have three tabs as shown below. The Information tab will have details about the government and links to the PAFR, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and their responses to the prior year comments, if submitted. The second tab contains the applicant’s response to eligibility questions on the application. The third tab has space for you to make comments about each category and mark a grade for each.

3. You are required to enter comments and a numerical grade for each of the five categories. Please enter positive comments as well as suggestions for improvement.

4. Click the radio button for “Complete Review” and then click the blue “Complete” button

Request a due date extension

If you have accepted a volunteer review assignment but will not be able to complete it by the due date, you may request a one-week extension or you may request that the review be reassigned to another reviewer.

1. Log into the AMS as noted above.

2. Go to Open Tasks list in your Inbox and click on the task name to open the review form.

3. Click on the Comments and Grading tab and scroll to the bottom of the page.

4. Under “Volunteer Action” click “Request a Due Date Extension or Reassign Review”

5. Another question, “Extension or Reassign?” will appear. Click the radio button for your desired action.

6. Click “Complete” to submit your request. If you requested an extension, the task will temporarily disappear from your Open Tasks while GFOA staff reviews the request. It will reappear if the request is approved. You will also receive an email noting the extension decision.

If you need to update your contact information, availability or report type preferences, complete the Volunteer Update form.

1. Log into the AMS at https://lf.gfoa.org/Forms with your AMS login credentials. Your username is your personal GFOA member ID number. Click “forgot password” and then “send recovery email” if you need a password reset link.

2. Select the “Start Process” menu item in the blue band at the top of the screen.

3. Click the green “Start” button to the right of “Volunteer Reviewer Update.”

4. You will be presented with a form showing your current information. Edit anything that needs to be updated.

5. Click “Submit.”

If you would like to become a volunteer judge for GFOA’s Popular Annual Financial Reporting Award Program please complete an application form in GFOA’s Awards Management System (AMS) at https://lf.gfoa.org/Forms/PAFRVolunteerApplication

You will be presented with the form below and will need to enter your personal GFOA member ID. If you don’t know your personal GFOA member ID or don’t have one, please contact GFOA’s membership team to obtain it.

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Your GFOA membership ID will be validated and you’ll then be asked to complete the application form. Once your application is approved, you will receive an email with AMS login credentials and will begin receiving review assignments.