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Date: November 23 & 24, 2023
Time: 8:30am - 4:30pm (Day 1) | 8:30am - 2:30pm (Day 2)
Location: Coast Coal Harbour, Vancouver
| Eligible CPD Hours: 10 Course Fee: $795 PD Passport Valid: 24 credits |
Summary
The Local Government Accounting & Auditing Workshop is a joint presentation by the Government Finance Officers Association of BC (GFOABC) and CPABC. The objective of this workshop is to provide a forum for practitioners and auditors to discuss the accounting, auditing, reporting and financing issues facing local governments.
Don’t miss this opportunity to get up to date on accounting and auditing practices, and to discuss relevant issues.
Meet, interact, and exchange ideas with some of those involved in standard setting!
Nexus Day Agenda
DAY 1
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
8:30 am - 9:30 am | ESG and Public Sector Reporting Panelists: Dave Warren, IPSASB; Celine Chan, IPSASB; Sarah Keyes, ESG Global Advisors; Allison Ashcroft, MFA BC; Gregory Kreuger, City of Vancouver; Kevin Butterworth, ESG Centre of Excellence How does ESG reporting influence financial professionals? ESG reporting may initially appear daunting and create a perception of an increased workload. However, finance professionals play a crucial role in ESG reporting and its implications to their organizations. This session will review ESG reporting from different perspectives. |
| 9:30 am - 9:45 am | Break |
9:45 am - 10:30 am | Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) Update |
| 10:30 am - 10:45 am | Break |
10:45 am - 11:30 am | PSAB Conceptual Framework and Reporting Model Review |
| 11:30 am – 12:00 pm | Maximizing the Auditor-Auditee Relationship |
| 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Lunch Break |
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm | Nature's Balance Sheet: Valuing Our Natural Assets Local government and regional district natural asset reporting requirements are evolving. In addition to the IPSASB natural resources project, and the emerging sustainability reporting requirements from the ISSB and IPSASB, voluntary reporting frameworks are in development with stakeholders such as the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative. Join Bailey Church, Partner, KPMG to explore these requirements, and to learn about performance measures and measurement models that are being leveraged for natural assets reporting. |
| 2:00 pm - 2:15 pm | Break |
2:15 pm - 3:00 pm | First Nation Values and Links to Modern ESG |
| 3:00 pm – 3:15 pm | Break |
| 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm | Audit Partner Round Table - KPMG, BDO, & MNP Embrace the opportunity to deepen your understanding, enhance your expertise, and gain unparalleled knowledge from industry leaders. Join us for an exceptional Audit Partner Round Table, as the esteemed experts from KPMG, BDO, and MNP come together to engage in dynamic discussions covering a diverse array of topics. |
| 4:45 pm – 6:00 pm | Reception & No-Host Bar |
DAY 2
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
8:30am – 9:15am | Economic Update Gain valuable insights with a 2023 economic update. This session will provide a comprehensive overview of the current Canadian economy, along with the latest forecasts for the remainder of the year. |
| 9:15 am - 9:30 am | Break |
9:30 am - 10:15 am | Revenue Recognition Overview |
| 10:15 am - 10:30 am | Break |
10:30 am - 11:00 am | Canadian Accounting Standard (CAS) 600 Special Considerations |
| 11:00 am – 12:00 pm | Asset Retirement Obligations (ARO) and Beyond Gain valuable insights and reflections from the implementation journey of Asset Retirement Obligations (ARO) as it transitions into a common standard for the public sector. This informative session will focus on the key learnings and reflections from the ARO implementation process. |
| 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Lunch Break |
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm | Ethics Dialogue: Identifying warning signs and taking action |
Allison Ashcroft is the Director of Sustainability at the Municipal Finance Authority of BC.
Allison’s background marries the subject matter and context expertise of climate change and local government with a CPA’s competency in audit and accounting systems and processes. Allison is leading MFA’s development of meaningful and measured ESG reporting.
Kevin Butterworth is the Executive Director of the ESG Centre of Excellence in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.
Kevin joined the province in 2012 serving in the capacity of Executive Director of Research, innovation, and technology for several ministries.
Celine Chan, CPA, CA is a Senior Manager at the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) where she supports technical projects and strategic initiatives to deliver the IPSASB work program.
Celine joined in September 2022 and is currently involved in the Consultation Paper on Advancing Public Sector Sustainability Reporting. Prior to joining the IPSASB, Celine worked for several years at TD Bank in the Accounting Policy and Advisory group where she advised on complex M&A transactions, strategic investments, FinTech, business and intangible valuations, retail banking products, and corporate functions under IFRS and U.S. GAAP. Before working at TD Bank, Celine was part of the Deloitte assurance practice specializing in audits of financial institutions. During this time, she had the opportunity to work in North Carolina, United States and volunteer in Tanzania.
Bailey Church, CPA, CA Partner, Accounting Advisory Services, KPMG, leads the National Public Sector Accounting Advisory service line at KPMG. He has an extensive background serving the Government of Canada, provincial governments, crown corporations, municipalities, not-for-profit organizations and for-profit entities pursuing significant transactions with public sector entities.
His over 17 years of experience includes substantial work in financial management, accounting, financial reporting and auditing matters within the public sector environment. Bailey is a well-known speaker at seminars and conferences across the country, including the Government Financial Officers Association, the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Financial Management Institute, the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation, and the Office of the Auditor General. Bailey holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
Matthew Hartney, MBA, CPA, CMA, is a Director in the Audit & Assurance practice of Deloitte LLP and has over 15 years of experience in serving all levels of the government and public sector (GPS) across Canada.
Matthew serves governments by supporting improvements to budgeting and planning, operations and accounting, and financial reporting. He is dedicated to supporting finance leaders across Canada to help them see success for their organizations. Matthew has specific expertise and knowledge with Regional Districts and Municipalities within British Columbia and has served other various GPS entities across Canada at all four levels of government including First Nations, Local, Provincial, and Federal.
Scott Hildebrand is Chief Administrative Officer at Thompson-Nicola Regional District, and is a dedicated and passionate leader with 25 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. He has been fortunate to work within some strong organizations and have had the privilege of working with many talented people.
He has had the opportunity to spend time in executive roles with Pepsico (Frito Lay), McKenzie Seeds, City Manager in Brandon, Manitoba and CAO in both Merritt BC and currently with the Thompson Nicola Regional District. His time has been focused on community engagement, innovation, strong leadership, fostering relationships and the delivery of results.
Asifa Hirji, CPA, CA, Partner, KPMG, has 15 years of audit experience with various not-for-profit and public sector organizations. She regularly works with organizations undertaking complex transactions to determine the appropriate accounting treatment, financial reporting implications, operational impacts and leading practices.
Asifa is an active member of KPMG's Public Sector and Not-for-Profit practice in BC, which addresses organizations' specific issues, risks and service requirements. As a member of KPMG's national PSAB accounting advisory team, Asifa has extensive experience with adopting new accounting standards. Asifa is also the leader of the KPMG Enterprise Efficiency and Quality Committee for GVA. In this role, Asifa leads initiatives that allow all audit teams to perform audits efficiently, effectively, and in accordance with professional standards and leading practices.
Martha Jones Denning, CPA, CA, is an Associate Director with Canada’s Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB). She has developed public sector financial reporting standards for over 30 years, leading projects to create many standards in the CPA Canada Public Sector Accounting Handbook.
Martha is involved with various PSAB projects, such as PSAB’s Concepts Underlying Financial Performance project, as well as PSAB’s Public Sector Accounting Discussion Group, a public forum where public sector accounting issues are discussed.
Sarah Keyes, FCPA, FCA, is the CEO of ESG Global Advisors Inc. Sarah is an experienced ESG and climate change expert with over a decade of being a thought leader, consultant, facilitator, and auditor.
As the CEO of ESG Global Advisors, she regularly presents to Executive teams and Boards of Directors on the link between ESG and climate change with financial and operational performance and long-term value. She also helps my clients establish ESG and climate change strategies that align with strategic priorities, enabling effective integration with existing risk and strategy processes.
Gregory Kreuger is the Associate Director of Financial Reporting for the City of Vancouver. The city is committed to taking action to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
One of the initiatives that the city has undertaken as part of this commitment is to include unaudited climate-related financial disclosures in its annual financial report. The city is one of a small cohort of municipalities in Canada that includes a climate-related disclosure as part of its annual reporting process.
Denis Murphy is the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Board for Nch’ḵaỷ Development Corporation.
In this role, he provides leadership in strategic decision-making, business planning, and financial management for the organization and its subsidiaries, with a particular focus on real estate development — most notably for the Sen̓áḵw development, the largest net zero carbon residential project in Canada. Prior to joining Nch’ḵaỷ, Denis served as the Senior Financial Officer for the Squamish Nation and has over 18 years of experience in Finance, having worked for the Provincial Health Services Authority, British Airways, and Baker Tilly. He holds an FCCA designation and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Imperial College London.
Mario Piroddi, CPA, CA is an assurance Partner in the BDO Kamloops Office. He has nearly 20 years of experience providing assurance, accounting, and taxation services to municipal governments and public sector organizations, educational institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and a variety of private sector organizations.
Mario’s involvement in the province’s public sector industry is vast – he is a regular contributor to GFOABC publications and events and is the leader for BDO’s British Columbia Local Government Service Team. Mario has been involved with the audit training of professional staff on an office, regional, national, and international level along with lecturing on topics such as audit methodology and financial statement analysis. He has also been active in working with BDO's national office in providing commentary on assurance methodology changes and responses to exposure drafts issued by Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. In addition to his accounting and assurance work, Mario is also BDO’s Information Systems Audit Specialist Partner for its Western Canada Region.
Michael Puskaric, MBA, CPA, CMA, is the Director of the Public Sector Accounting Standards for the Public Sector Accounting Board. Michael has a broad base of experience based on 20 years working in public, private, and not-for-profit sector organizations.
He is a member of the special advisory committee of the Auditor General of Canada that provides advice and consultation on financial accounting and auditing matters. Michael is a part-time professor of public sector and not-for-profit accounting at Toronto Metropolitan University and holds a Chartered Professional Accountant designation and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University.
Antonella Risi, CPA, CA, is an Associate Director with Canada’s Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB). In this role, she supports staff and the work of task forces made up of practitioners and users of financial reports to develop and amend public sector accounting standards.
Antonella has been developing public sector accounting standards for over nine years. Recently she led PSAB’s Concepts Underlying Financial Performance project.
Suzanne Schulz, CPA, CA.IFA, CBV, CFF, Partner, Forensic Disputes & Investigations, BDO has practiced exclusively in forensic accounting since 2000, with a particular focus on financial and fact-finding investigations, economic loss and damages quantification, fraud risk management, and anti-bribery and corruption programs.
Prior to joining BDO, Suzanne spent more than 20 years in various roles at KPMG LLP, including a decade as a partner leading the Forensic practice in British Columbia. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), a Chartered Business Valuator (CBV), is Certified in Financial Forensics, and has a Diploma in Investigative and Forensic Accounting from the University of Toronto. Suzanne has provided expert testimony before the Supreme Court of British Columbia and has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal as one of Canada’s leading experts in forensic accounting.
Cory Vanderhorst, CPA, CA is the Regional Assurance Partner for MNP’s Vancouver Island region. With over 20 years of experience, Cory specializes in delivering business advice and assurance and auditing services to municipalities, school districts, not-for-profit organizations and private sector clients.
Cory is particularly adept at discussing financial reporting with his clients and is able to identify and provide solutions to the issues and challenges preventing them from reaching their goals. By working closely with clients, he develops tailored solutions that meet their specific needs. Additionally, he undertakes special assurance engagements that require a high level of expertise. Cory’s strong background in accounting and public sector auditing standards translates into the ability to convey complex ideas in a manner that is simple and straightforward.
Dave Warren, CPA, CA was appointed Director of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) effective January 2021. In his role, Dave works with the IPSASB staff team to deliver the Board’s work program.
Dave acts as a resource and source of advice for the Board Chair and establishes and maintains relationships with key stakeholders. Dave is the staff lead for the IPSASB Consultative Advisory Group and oversees the measurement project while acting as a key resource on the Board’s sustainability initiatives. Prior to this role, Dave was a Principle with the IPSASB where he worked on several projects including financial instruments and revenue. Prior to joining the IPSASB, Dave worked for several years for big-4 accounting firms in Canada. During that time, he worked on complex accounting transactions as part of the accounting firm’s professional practice. Prior to joining the IPSASB, Dave worked for the Canadian Public Sector Accounting Board.
Bryan Yu is the Chief Economist at Central 1. Reporting to the Vice President of Treasury Solutions, Bryan leads and mentors Central 1’s team of economists who empower credit unions with practical and unbiased forecasting, reporting, and analysis.
The team provides objective, expert-driven economic analysis that enables credit unions to clearly evaluate issues emerging on an international, national, and local level – helping credit unions make informed decisions.