119th Annual Conference Sessions: Budgeting and Forecasting
119th Annual Conference Sessions: Budgeting and Forecasting
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Sessions for Sunday, June 29
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Sun
29 Jun
2:40 PM - 3:30 PM ET
Ballroom C
Budgeting and Forecasting
Getting Everyone on the Bus for Budget Reform
As a budget professional, you and your team are anxious to embark on a journey to improve your budget process and implement best practice. However, your chief executive and/or elected officials are not on board. Knowing their support will be critical as you challenge the status quo and rethink past practice, what do you do?
1 CPE credits
Level: advanced
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Sessions for Monday, June 30
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Mon
30 Jun
10:30 AM - 12:10 PM ET
Ballroom C
Budgeting and Forecasting
Get With the Program: Moving Away from Line-Item Budgets
The traditional local government budget is expressed in both departments and line items such as "salaries and wages," "materials and supplies," and "professional services." While these descriptions are often useful for monitoring spending and preparing financial reports, they often make it difficult for governments to have meaningful conversations about how best to spend its limited resources or to adjust levels of service to meet demand. One way to address these challenges is to adopt a program-based approach to budgeting.
2 CPE credits
Level: advanced
More info -
Mon
30 Jun
10:30 AM - 12:10 PM ET
Room 147
Budgeting and Forecasting
Investing in the Future of Public Education: Considerations for Finance Officers
The state of public education is constantly evolving and finance professionals must navigate increasing complexities in funding, facilities and infrastructure, technology, logistics, curriculum, and special programs. Over the past decade, schools have faced difficult challenges related to changing enrollment, retaining and compensating teachers, academic performance standards, introduction of new technology, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
2 CPE credits
Level: basic
More info -
Mon
30 Jun
2:40 PM - 3:55 PM ET
Room 147
Budgeting and Forecasting
Come Together: Building a More Collaborative Budget Process
Collaboration and trust are essential for governments to build and sustain thriving communities. Partnering with the public is important for understanding community needs, identifying solutions, and balancing competing priorities. Similarly, working together across departments can maximize the use of limited resources. Trust is crucial to ensure that all stakeholders participate in the budget process and unite to support shared goals.
1.5 CPE credits
Level: basic
More info -
Mon
30 Jun
4:15 PM - 5:30 PM ET
Ballroom C
Budgeting and Forecasting
Information from the Real World: Understanding Public Priorities
Most best practice recommendations on budgeting suggest that governments should allocate resources aligned with your community's priorities. But how do you know what those are? And what if their priorities won't actually contribute to a thriving community?
1.5 CPE credits
Level: intermediate
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Sessions for Tuesday, July 1
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Tue
1 Jul
10:20 AM - Noon ET
Ballroom A
Budgeting and Forecasting
Level Up: How to Get Your Budget Stakeholders to Stop Playing Games
Earlier this year, GFOA released a report that delves into the tactics or “games" used by participants in the budget process to secure more resources, such as "The Padding Play," where budget requestors inflate their needs. This session will outline the other games budget officers encounter and provide advice on how to contain and even defeat these tactics.
2 CPE credits
Level: intermediate
More info -
Tue
1 Jul
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM ET
Room 146
Budgeting and Forecasting
Telling Your Budget Story
Budgeting involves the process of estimating costs and revenues, allocating limited resources among competing needs, balancing community expectations with service-level realities, and driving results for the community. Finance professionals need to possess a variety of technical and leadership skills to navigate the budget process, conduct accurate analysis, and promote effective decision making. However, it often takes a completely different skill set to communicate these decisions to those without detailed budget and finance knowledge.
1.5 CPE credits
Level: intermediate
More info -
Tue
1 Jul
3:35 PM - 4:50 PM ET
Room 147
Budgeting and Forecasting
Be a Chef: Creating Your Own Recipe for Budget Success
A key tenet of GFOA's Rethinking Budgeting initiative is to encourage government budget professionals to think of themselves as chefs rather than as cooks. No two governments or communities are exactly the same, so what works for one may not work for yours. Rather than follow a specific checklist or recipe for budget success, GFOA encourages you to harness your inner chef and create your own recipe.
1.5 CPE credits
Level: intermediate
More info
Sessions for Wednesday, July 2
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Wed
2 Jul
8:30 AM - 10:10 AM ET
Ballroom B
Budgeting and Forecasting
Budget in the Crosshairs: Using a Target-Based Approach
Are you looking for a new approach to budgeting that can help you control spending growth, minimize budget gamesmanship, and promote autonomy within departments? If so, target-based budgeting (TBB) could be the approach you’re looking for. With TBB, the budget office provides each department with a spending target for core services. This target is less than the total revenue forecasted. The difference between the spending target and the revenue forecast is the amount available for supplemental services. Departments can submit decision packages for the supplemental services funding.
2 CPE credits
Level: intermediate
More info -
Wed
2 Jul
10:30 AM - 12:10 PM ET
Room 145
Budgeting and Forecasting
All on the Same Team: Managing Relationships with Elected Officials
Working with elected officials can be one of the most difficult parts of a government finance professional's job. The challenges are many: earning and maintaining trust, explaining technical concepts, balancing competing or conflicting priorities, and gaining support for unpopular—but necessary—decisions. It's enough to overwhelm even the most seasoned finance professional.
2 CPE credits
Level: advanced
More info -
Wed
2 Jul
10:30 AM - 12:10 PM ET
Ballroom C
Budgeting and Forecasting
Target Practice: The Timeless Techniques of Revenue Forecasting
Finance professionals are always looking for ways to improve their revenue forecasting abilities. Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting a lot of attention, but technology can only do so much. Even the most technically elegant forecast is useless if it doesn't influence decisions. Thus, finance professionals will still need skills and strategies for incorporating quality revenue forecasts into decisions. This includes enhancing your understanding of the factors that influence your revenues and building your audience's confidence in your forecasts.
Steve Elliot, Esteban Hernandez, Meg Jakubik, Chuck Maurer, Peter McDevitt, Raymond Munch, Scott Rust
2 CPE credits
Level: advanced
More info -
Wed
2 Jul
10:30 AM - 12:10 PM ET
Room 147
Budgeting and Forecasting
To Budget, or Not to Budget...for Vacancy Savings
When it comes to personnel budgeting, few topics generate as much debate as how to approach budgeting for vacant positions. Should you budget the salary or wage on the low end or high end of the pay scale? Should you budget assuming the position will be filled for the entire budget period? Should you assume that some positions will become vacant through attrition during the budget period? While there's not a singular right answer to any of these questions, there are benefits and risks associated with the different approaches.
2 CPE credits
Level: intermediate
More info
