Annual Governmental Accounting & Auditing Update Conference draws professionals from around the state

There were many familiar faces at the annual Governmental Accounting & Auditing Update Conference as attendees updated one another on their personal lives of the last year ahead of the business of the event.  While participants gained important updates and were able to ask questions directly of state leadership, and they earned Continuing Professional Education credits, they also enjoyed reconnecting with friends who they had not seen for a while.

The Center for Governmental Accounting Education & Research (CGAER) with the support of the Bloustein Local Government Research Center hosted the 2018 Rutgers Governmental Accounting & Auditing Update Conference at the Douglass College Center.

Dr. Yaw Mensah, executive vice dean and director, CGAER, and Professor Irfan A. Bora, conference chair, director, Master of Accountancy in Governmental Accounting welcomed the attendees.  "We are happy to host New Jersey's largest governmental accounting conference which brings together our students and faculty with practitioners in the field to discuss and explore emerging issues in public financial management," said Bora.

New Jersey State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio presented a State of the State:  Past, Present and Future.  Having been in office for six months, Maher Muoio gave a brief overview of her career to introduce herself. “From the Pennington Borough Council to the Department of the Treasury, I have served at all levels of New Jersey government,” Maher Muoio said. “This experience informs my perspective that I bring to this office.”

Maher Muoio said that the Murphy administration was responding to tax changes and many challenges as they worked to “right the fiscal ship” of New Jersey.  Part of this effort according to Maher Muoio would be to transform now the state does business and reinvesting in New Jersey.  “Responsibility and innovation are not mutually exclusive,” she said.

Among the other updates and presentations was a Future of the Audit Profession panel by Distinguished Professor Miklos A. Vasarhelyi, Assistant Professor Hussein Issa, and XinXin Wang, a current Ph.D. student that provided insights and information from a variety of perspectives.

Several current students and alumni of Rutgers Business School’s governmental accounting program took advantage of the opportunity to meet with faculty with whom they otherwise only communicated online.  Students and alumni agreed that the program was instrumental in advancing their careers.

-Sean Ireland