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Critical GASB Issues for 2009
Eric S. Berman, CPA
Deputy Comptroller
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Eric S. Berman, CPA, was appointed Deputy Comptroller for the Massachusetts Office of the Comptroller in August of 1999. He is responsible for three Bureaus, including the Financial Reporting and Analysis Bureau responsible for preparing the Commonwealth’s two independently audited financial statements, fixed asset and the Commonwealth’s debt accounting, the Accounting Bureau responsible for the management of the Commonwealth’s capital project funds, establishing and maintaining spending and revenue authorizations for over 150 state departments, maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the Commonwealth’s ledgers for its funds the receivables, e-Commerce, PCI compliance, revenue maximization and cost avoidance, and the Federal Cost Accounting Bureau which is in charge of preparing, negotiating and implementing a number of cost plans with the federal government and federal aid billing for the Commonwealth. He is also in charge of the financial relationships between the Commonwealth and its authorities, schools of higher education and their foundations. He is also in charge of the Commonwealth’s annual Single Audit. He is also in charge of the compliance portion of implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for Massachusetts and is the co-facilitator to the partnership of the United States General Accountability Office, the Office of Management and Budget and the fifty states in implementing the stimulus.
Prior to coming to the Office of the Comptroller, Mr. Berman was the Treasurer of the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust where he was in charge of reporting, investments, budgeting, personnel, and the daily operations of the $2 billion government banking instrumentality. He coordinated investment bidding process for guaranteed investment contracts, repurchase agreements and escrows and was responsible for issuing over $1 billion in tax-exempt bonds and $1.2 billion in loans. As part of the bond issues of the trust, he structured the first 30-year bond issue for a state revolving fund, involving two years of negotiations with EPA and Congress. At the trust he was also a member of the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities workgroups on EPA relations, financial reporting and auditing, leadership and membership.
Mr. Berman is a member of the AICPA, Mass. Society of CPA’s, and is the past - Chairman of the Government Accounting and Auditing Committee of the Society. He has been nominated twice for the AICPA outstanding CPA in Government Award. He has served on GASB's Derivatives project and GASB's Environmental remediation project. He also chairs the National Association of State Comptroller’s (NASC's) task force on other post employment benefits (OPEB). As chairman of this committee, he has won a President’s Award from NASC. As part of the member of Massachusetts’ GASB Statement 34 Implementation Team, he recently was awarded the Manuel Carballo Award for Excellence in Public Service. He has served on an audit committee of a major not-for-profit organization in Boston and is a vice president of another not-for-profit. He participates on the AICPA’s State and Local Government Expert Panel and has been named to the Government Performance and Accountability Committee. He also serves in the Boston Chapter of the Association for Government Accountants and is on the AGA’s National Financial Management Standards Board. He is also representing AGA on the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC) to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). He is also a President’s award winner from AGA.
Gregory Driscoll
Partner, Department of Professional Practice
KPMG LLP
Greg Driscoll is a partner with the KPMG LLP’s national Department of Professional Practice (DPP) with 15 years of experience in providing audit services to state and local governments and not-for-profit entities.
Since joining DPP in 2003, Greg has been responsible for providing technical assistance and training programs to field personnel primarily in the areas of governmental accounting, auditing and reporting. Prior to joining DPP, Greg spent 10 years serving government clients throughout the New York City metropolitan area, including the City of New York, the New York City Transit Authority, and the New York City Water and Sewer System. From March 2006 through June 2008, Greg served as the KPMG Practice Fellow with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). While serving in this role, Greg was involved with many GASB projects, including GASB Statement No. 51, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Intangible Assets, GASB Statement No. 53, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments, the 2007 and 2008 versions of GASB’s Comprehensive Implementation Guide, and GASB’s current project on public-private partnerships. As part of the public-private partnership project, Greg worked with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) as they are conducting a similar project, and was the key staff member involved in the issuance of IPSASB’s Consultation Paper, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Service Concession Arrangements.
Greg is a past member of the Special Review Committee for the GFOA’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting program and a member of the Governmental Accounting and Auditing Committee of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a frequent speaker on governmental accounting and reporting topics. Greg is a certified public accountant in the State of New York and a graduate of Fairfield University.
William Seymour
Audit Partner
SB & Company, LLC
CPA in Maryland, Delaware, DC and other states. Member of GFOA, Maryland GFOA, Virginia GFOA; member of AICPA and MACPA; over 11 years of experience serving state and local governments. GFOA certificate reviewer; Maryland Government Finance Officers Association governmental accounting instructor; Testified before GASB; Former member of Andersen's mid-atlantic state and local government practice
Kenneth W. Bond
Partner
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP
Kenneth W. Bond has more than 30 years of experience as transaction counsel involving infrastructure and project finance, including economic and industrial development, public utility, privatization of public facilities and public purpose facilities. He represents and advises public sector issuers, corporations and financial institutions in areas such as public funds and public debt management, public sector energy projects and policy, and the development of financial services products.
Mr. Bond is a member of the firm’s public finance and financial services practice areas. He serves as chair of the Municipal Finance and Economic Development Committee of the Municipal Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. He is the chair of the Public Finance Committee of the State and Local Government Section of the American Bar Association and a member of the Legal and Legislative Committee of the New York State Government Finance Officers Association. Mr. Bond is the secretary of The Municipal Forum of New York, Inc. In addition, he is a trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission and co-chair of its Committee on State Fiscal Reform.
Mr. Bond is an adjunct professor of state and local government finance law at Albany Law School and serves on the advisory board of the Government Law Center of Albany Law School. He is the principal author of pending legislation to reform the tax increment financing law (Article 18-C, General Municipal Law), and an advocate of expanding the concept of public purpose in light of the recent United States Supreme Court decisions in Kelo v. City of New London and Cuno v. DaimlerChrysler.
Languages: English, Spanish
Critical GASB Issues for 2009
Speaker Firms:
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Upcoming events.