The Michigan MFOA's training programs.

• Author: VanLeuven, James
• Position: Michigan Municipal Finance Officers Association - State/Provincial Highlights.

The Michigan Municipal Finance Officers Association (MMFOA) has an active participation of 615 members representing 485 communities. Active members are hired, elected or appointed by a federal, state or local government within Michigan in any position relating to public finance: accounting, auditing, budgeting, financial reporting, treasury or other fiscal capacity. Associate members are certified public accountants (CPAs), bankers, brokers, consultants, lawyers and others interested in promoting public finance.

One of the strengths of the MMFOA is the commitment of its members to training and the dissemination of pertinent information. To achieve this objective each year, the association sponsors various one-day training sessions, a longer training institute and a yearly seminar. The board of directors coordinates all of the activities, striving to offer the events at the lowest cost possible and to realize any profits from increased attendance and memberships.

One-day Training

The Professional Development Committee (PDC) is one of the MMFOA's four standing committees--Audit Committee, Standards Committee and Legislative Committee. The PDC's task is to plan and implement one-day training sessions aimed primarily at local government staff members. PDC seminars have been conducted by faculty from Michigan State University and CPAs from national accounting firms.

For the past two years, the PDC has sponsored a three-part program entitled Back to Basics. Each of the three sessions focuses on a public finance fundamental--accounting, budgeting and financial reporting. In addition, the tasks are reviewed in relation to two GFOA awards: the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award and the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. Approximately 40 people attend each session, and 27 people have completed all three sessions. The MMFOA awards completion certificates at its Winter Seminar. Participants at the Back to Basics sessions, as with other training sessions, are eligible for continuing professional education (CPE) credits.

In addition to the Back to Basics program, the PDC coordinates other one-day training seminars. Realizing that finance officers have limited training budgets, the MMFOA has begun to cosponsor finance-related training seminars with the Michigan Municipal League (MML). This allows the MMFOA to reach a larger audience, and more individuals can be trained for a lower fee. In July 1993, a full-day payroll...