From kathryn.ross at state.or.us Tue Jan 4 13:34:12 2011 From: kathryn.ross at state.or.us (ROSS Kathryn * SCD SARS) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 13:34:12 -0800 Subject: [CAFR-Contacts-News] Reminder: FREE CPE Training - Data Mining Message-ID: <8A8CF693A3BB294DB354A999D49CF818077E7E26@exchnode01.ad.state.or.us> This training event is free (sponsored by the State Controller's Division - SARS). This is an audio conference to be held at the Veteran's Building Auditorium. Space is limited to 100 people. Registration for this event will be coordinated through iLearn Oregon ( https://ilearn.oregon.gov ); additional information is listed in the "Registration" section of the below announcement. If you have questions, please contact Aaron Wallace at Aaron.Wallace at state.or.us or 503-373-7277, ext. 281. Thank you. ________________________________ Needles in a Haystack-Data Mining and Predictive Analytics to Prioritize Leads and Highlight Risk for Investigators and Auditors Jan. 12, 2011 - 2 CPE Hours Available! AGA is pleased to announce a new topic to our audio conference schedule-data mining for investigators and auditors. Government investigators and auditors are often overwhelmed by high volumes of data and can perform only ad-hoc analyses and queries to find areas of potential risk and fraud. This audio conference will reveal how data mining can prioritize audits and investigations on the highest value leads or risk areas to ensure the most return on investment. Data mining uses proven statistical techniques to identify anomalous transactions, contracts or people to rank the most likely fraudulent cases for investigation or audit. Predictive modeling employs statistical models to learn from past audits and investigations to predict, in real-time, which new cases are most likely to be improper or fraudulent. Searching for fraud is like looking for needles in a haystack, and specialized techniques are needed to succeed. When beginning a predictive modeling project, analysts almost always have relatively few known instances of fraud with which to represent the problem in the training phase of building the model. Some fraudulent cases that have escaped detection are mislabeled as valid, which adds to the challenge of distinguish between the two. Statistical outliers in the data, which are signs of unusual activity, are fruitful places to search for fraud, but a typical "alert" system built only on these will have far too many "false alarms," or false positives, to be useful in practice. In this audio conference, our presenters will show how to make real advances despite these challenges. To share their practical experience in data mining, audits and investigations are John Elder, Ph.D., CEO and founder of Elder Research, Inc., a thought leader in the field of data mining and predictive analytics, an award-winning book author and a frequent keynote speaker at conferences; John V. Kelly, CGFM, CPA, CFE, director of Forensic Audits, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and Edward Slevin, CISA, director of Computer-Aided Assessment Techniques, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Education. Please join us for two hours of lively discussion about this important and timely topic. In addition to the speakers' commentary, about 20 minutes will be set aside for Q & A so that the participants can ask the speakers questions and share their own experiences. Date: Wed., Jan. 12, 2011 Time: 11-12:50 p.m. Pacific Standard Time Learning Objectives: To understand how data mining can prioritize audits and investigations on the highest value leads or risk areas to ensure the most return on investment. Prerequisite: Basic familiarity with data mining, risk, audit and investigations Advance Prep: None required Field of Study: Auditing CPE: Two credit hours Cost: FREE (Sponsored by SCD) Registration: https://ilearn.oregon.gov Registration for this event will be coordinated through iLearnOregon using the link provided above. You will need an active iLearnOregon account to complete the registration process. If you do not already have an iLearnOregon account, you can find information on how to create an account (for both state & non-state personnel) on the main log-in page for iLearnOregon. Once you have logged-in you will find a link for "How to Register For A Course" in the left navigation panel under "iLearnOregon Help Center." Sponsored by: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 4777 bytes Desc: image001.jpg URL: From kathryn.ross at state.or.us Tue Jan 4 15:02:25 2011 From: kathryn.ross at state.or.us (ROSS Kathryn * SCD SARS) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 15:02:25 -0800 Subject: [CAFR-Contacts-News] Agency reassignments Message-ID: <8A8CF693A3BB294DB354A999D49CF818077E7E2B@exchnode01.ad.state.or.us> Hi Everyone, During CAFR season, some personnel changes occurred within SARS. First, Angela Creasey accepted a position working in Statewide Financial Management Services. Angela is very excited about the opportunities her new job presents and we wish her the very best. Secondly, SARS was able to fill the long-time vacant Accountant 3 position. Barbara Homewood bravely accepted the position in October, coming to work for SARS in the middle of CAFR season! As a result of these changes, some agencies have been reassigned. Karen Williams (503) 373-7277, ext. 227 * All Shared Client Services agencies have been assigned to Karen. * In addition, Karen is responsible for the following agencies: 142 - Legislative Counsel Committee 404 - Public Defense Services Commission Barbara Homewood (503) 373-7277, ext. 282 * Barbara is responsible for these agencies: 144 - Legislative Revenue Office 145 - Legislative Fiscal Office 155 - Legislative Assembly 156 - Legislative Administration Committee 330 - Department of Energy 425 - Commission on Indian Services 660 - Department of Land Conservation & Development 690 - Water Resources Department 691 - Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board 845 - Oregon Liquor Control commission 847 - Oregon Board of Medical Examiners Thanks, Kathy Kathryn Ross Statewide Accounting & Reporting Manager Oregon State Controller's Division 155 Cottage Street NE, U-50 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: (503) 373-7277, ext 253 Fax: (503) 378-3514 http://oregon.gov/DAS/SCD/SARS Data Classification: Level 1 - Published How are we doing? Please complete our customer service survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCD_Feedback Your opinion matters. Thank You! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kathryn.ross at state.or.us Thu Jan 6 14:45:04 2011 From: kathryn.ross at state.or.us (ROSS Kathryn * SCD SARS) Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 14:45:04 -0800 Subject: [CAFR-Contacts-News] GASB 54 - reminder! Message-ID: <8A8CF693A3BB294DB354A999D49CF818077E7E4C@exchnode01.ad.state.or.us> Hello CAFR Accountants, Now that we have completed the CAFR, SARS is refocusing its attention on GASB 54 and the fund balance reporting requirements that are effective for FY 2011. In late May and again in mid-September 2010, SARS emailed agencies the d23 fund tracking sheet to use to list the GASB 54 fund balance category for each of your agency's governmental d23 funds (special revenue, capital projects, debt service and permanent funds). As we receive the completed forms, we are checking to ensure that all governmental funds have been assigned a GASB 54 code and that the assigned codes look reasonable. We plan to upload this data into R*STARS once the review process is completed. Based on the tracking sheets submitted to date, we realize there are some areas that need additional clarification: 1. GASB 54 Code R1. The GASB 54 category R1 represents resources that are restricted by federal grants, federal laws, or federal regulations. It should not be used for resources that are restricted by laws or regulations of the State of Oregon or other entities. 2. Active versus inactive governmental funds. If your agency has d23 funds that are still in Active status, but are not being used, the fund should either be: (a) inactivated or (b) assigned a GASB 54 category. The GASB 54 code will soon be an SFMS system requirement for all active governmental funds. 3. Nonspendable fund balance. While nonspendable is one of the GASB 54 fund balance categories, it cannot be assigned to the entire fund balance of an individual d23 fund. The nonspendable category will be designated as the result of the transaction codes used to record certain nonspendable resources (inventory, prepaids, etc). The d23 fund in which a nonspendable balance is reported must be assigned one of the standard GASB 54 categories listed on the d23 fund tracking sheet, using the same process to determine that category as is used for all other governmental funds. 4. Reference column - required information. For fund balances that are restricted by the Constitution or enabling legislation, as well as committed fund balance, the applicable constitutional or statutory reference must be entered in the Reference column on the tracking sheet. This information will then be uploaded into a special description field on the d23 fund profile. The description field is limited to 40 characters (including any spaces). On the d23 fund tracking sheet, please limit the information in the Reference column to 40 characters. However, you may want to add more information on the copy that you keep for your files. 5. Constitutional restrictions. Please note, for resources restricted by the Constitution, the reference information must be the applicable article, section and subsection of the Oregon Constitution. Lottery funds, including lottery bond debt service funds, should be considered restricted by the Constitution, Article XV, Section 4, subsection (4)(d). 6. Budget bills. Budget bills should not be the basis for determining the GASB 54 category that is assigned to an individual d23 fund. The exception we noted earlier that warrants repeating involves a d23 fund that accounts for resources for which the only constraint on spending of resources is contained in the agency's budget bill. In this situation, if you cannot find: a. Legislation that both authorizes the collection of a revenue and places constraints on its use (restricted fund balance), or b. One piece of legislation that authorizes collection of the revenue and another that places constraints on its use (committed fund balance), and c. The only constraint on how to spend the resources is found in the agency budget bill, d. There is no basis to categorize the fund balance as either restricted or committed. e. Instead, classify the fund balance as assigned (GASB 54 code A1). It is the state's intent to spend the money for a certain purpose, but there is no legislation (other than the budget bill) limiting it to that purpose. The resources may easily be diverted to another purpose, should it be desirable or necessary. Effective immediately, the GASB 54 fund balance category and reference information will be required to process all new governmental d23 fund requests. The D23 fund request form will be modified shortly to provide a place to supply that information. We initially asked agencies to submit the completed GASB 54 tracking sheet to their SARS analyst by January 4 (yesterday); that deadline has been extended to Friday, January 7th. Please let your SARS analyst know if you have questions on the GASB 54 categories or will not be able to meet this deadline. We are attaching the training documents (the guide to identifying the appropriate fund balance category and the special revenue fund guide) again for your reference, as well as the d23 fund tracking sheet. Thanks, Kathy Kathryn Ross Statewide Accounting & Reporting Manager Oregon State Controller's Division 155 Cottage Street NE, U-50 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: (503) 373-7277, ext 253 Fax: (503) 378-3514 http://oregon.gov/DAS/SCD/SARS Data Classification: Level 1 - Published -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: GASB 54 Fund Balance Tool 4-21-10.doc Type: application/msword Size: 51712 bytes Desc: GASB 54 Fund Balance Tool 4-21-10.doc URL: From kathryn.ross at state.or.us Wed Jan 19 08:00:45 2011 From: kathryn.ross at state.or.us (ROSS Kathryn * SCD SARS) Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:00:45 -0800 Subject: [CAFR-Contacts-News] Statewide Balancing Reports Update Message-ID: <8A8CF693A3BB294DB354A999D49CF818077E7E8C@exchnode01.ad.state.or.us> Hello CAFR Accountants, The statewide balancing reports have been updated and posted as of January 18, 2011. The reports contain data through January 14, 2011. Please use these reports to monitor your agency's records and work with other agencies to correct any transactions that are out of balance at the statewide level or that have an incorrect GASB 38 code. The reports can be accessed through the following link: http://oregon.gov/DAS/SCD/SARS/swbreports.shtm If you have any questions, please contact your SARS analyst. Thanks, Kathy Kathryn Ross Statewide Accounting & Reporting Manager Oregon State Controller's Division 155 Cottage Street NE, U-50 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: (503) 373-7277, ext 253 Fax: (503) 378-3514 http://oregon.gov/DAS/SCD/SARS -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kathryn.ross at state.or.us Fri Jan 21 14:51:31 2011 From: kathryn.ross at state.or.us (ROSS Kathryn * SCD SARS) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:51:31 -0800 Subject: [CAFR-Contacts-News] Job opportunity: Acct 4 in SCD-SARS Message-ID: <8A8CF693A3BB294DB354A999D49CF818077E7EAF@exchnode01.ad.state.or.us> Hello Everyone, Please see the attached job announcement for an Accountant 4 here in SARS that was posted yesterday to the State Jobs page. If you have questions concerning this position, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you, Kathy Kathryn Ross Statewide Accounting & Reporting Manager Oregon State Controller's Division 155 Cottage Street NE, U-50 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: (503) 373-7277, ext 253 Fax: (503) 378-3514 http://oregon.gov/DAS/SCD/SARS Data Classification: Level 1 - Published How are we doing? Please complete our customer service survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCD_Feedback Your opinion matters. Thank You! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Job Bulletin Acct4 Jan2011.pdf Type: application/octet-stream Size: 45867 bytes Desc: Job Bulletin Acct4 Jan2011.pdf URL: From kathryn.ross at state.or.us Mon Jan 24 11:09:40 2011 From: kathryn.ross at state.or.us (ROSS Kathryn * SCD SARS) Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:09:40 -0800 Subject: [CAFR-Contacts-News] SARS semi-annual update Message-ID: <8A8CF693A3BB294DB354A999D49CF818077E7EC1@exchnode01.ad.state.or.us> Hello Everyone, Our semi-annual update is attached. Thanks, Kathy Kathryn Ross Statewide Accounting & Reporting Manager Oregon State Controller's Division 155 Cottage Street NE, U-50 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: (503) 373-7277, ext 253 Fax: (503) 378-3514 http://oregon.gov/DAS/SCD/SARS Data Classification: Level 1 - Published How are we doing? Please complete our customer service survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCD_Feedback Your opinion matters. Thank You! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: SARS Customer Report Jul-Dec 2010.doc Type: application/msword Size: 130048 bytes Desc: SARS Customer Report Jul-Dec 2010.doc URL: From kathryn.ross at state.or.us Mon Jan 31 12:05:32 2011 From: kathryn.ross at state.or.us (ROSS Kathryn * SCD SARS) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:05:32 -0800 Subject: [CAFR-Contacts-News] Personnel Change in SARS Message-ID: <8A8CF693A3BB294DB354A999D49CF8180B187A42@exchnode01.ad.state.or.us> Hello Everyone, I suspect many of you have heard by now that Scott Smyth has accepted a position with ODOT - his first day is February 1. Scott has been a major contributor to the success of SARS, so we are sad to see him go. However, on a brighter note, Scott will be working on infrastructure in his new position which should be a great help to us at yearend! We wish Scott the very best. The job announcement to fill Scott's position (Accountant 4) was posted January 21. In the meantime, we have temporarily reassigned his agencies as noted below: 137 Department of Justice Margaret Wert 170 Oregon State Treasury Jane Moreland 172 Oregon Facilities Authority Jane Moreland 196 District Attorneys & their Deputies Margaret Wert 259 Public Safety Stds & Training Barbara Homewood 274 Veterans' Affairs Jane Moreland 415 Oregon Youth Authority Barbara Homewood 440 Depart of Consumer & Bus Svcs Kathy Dixon 442 Office of Private Health Prtnrships Kathy Dixon 471 Employment Department Jeanne Bock 831 Oregon Health Licensing Agency Margaret Wert Thanks, Kathy Kathryn Ross Statewide Accounting & Reporting Manager Oregon State Controller's Division 155 Cottage Street NE, U-50 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: (503) 373-7277, ext 253 Fax: (503) 378-3514 http://oregon.gov/DAS/SCD/SARS Data Classification: Level 1 - Published How are we doing? Please complete our customer service survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCD_Feedback Your opinion matters. 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