2023 Florida State and Local Government Training Academy

Registration and breakfast.

Welcome, housekeeping, and introductions.

1 credit: Personnel/Human Resources

This session will cover the purpose and benefits of conducting HR assessments within an organization, as well as the various types of assessments that can be used to evaluate employee performance, skills, and competencies. We will explore best practices for analyzing and interpreting assessment results and developing actionable insights that can be used to drive organizational change.

At the end of the session, you will be able to:

• List the advantages of carrying out HR assessments
• Define the key components of a successful HR assessment
• Identify how to apply the HR assessment results to drive organizational change

1 credit: Information Technology

During this session, participants will be updated on current events in IT security impacting local government organizations as well as how an IT department assessment may benefit their organization.

At the end of the session, you will be able to:

• Recognize the latest current events impacting governments
• Identify how an IT department assessment can help address IT security risks and plan for future security efforts

20-minute break

1 credit: Auditing (Governmental)

This session will focus on practices organizations can implement to tackle the complexities of grant management in the current environment, and review measures for planning new grant programs.

At the end of the session, you will be able to:

• Identify ways to evaluate your organization’s need to improve the grant management business process
• Recognize key considerations used to determine what digital solutions would work for key business processes
• Identify next steps to start simplifying grant management and enabling higher compliance with laws and regulations
• Identify lessons learned and success stories that can be applied to future programs

Enjoy lunch and networking with friends in the industry.

1 credit: Auditing (Governmental)

During this session, participants will review what it takes to be prepared for external auditors, types of common audit findings, and common audit adjustments.

At the end of the session, you will be able to:

• Recognize what an audit is and define responsibility
• Recall best practices for planning and preparing for an audit
• Identify common pitfalls

1 credit: Accounting (Governmental)

During this session, participants will be briefed on new accounting standards affecting state and local governments. We’ll help you determine dates of implementation and outline some of the challenges related to implementation.

At the end of the session, you will be able to:

• Identify upcoming GASB pronouncement and their potential impact on state and local government financial statements
• Identify GASB projects on the horizon
• Describe provisions of recent GASBs and the implementation impact on financial reporting and disclosures

20-minute break

1 credit: Economics

This session will discuss the current state of the U.S. economy and capital markets.

At the end of the session, you will be able to:

• Discuss the current state of the U.S. economic and capital markets for the rest of 2023 for the United States and Florida

1 credit: Behavioral Ethics

We will discuss common fraud schemes and how to develop an environment conducive to the prevention of fraud. We will also discuss how ethics and integrity are possible in today’s world and how to confront the ethical challenges you face every day.

At the end of the session, you will be able to:

• Recognize the need for ethics in business to help mitigate risks to the organization
• Describe case examples of ethical violations that lead to fraud
• Identify and describe attributes of a highly ethical organization

Closing remarks by Christopher Kessler and Lance Schmidt.