On August 11th, two members of the Finance Department attended a client training seminar hosted by the City’s new external auditor, Badawi and Associates.  The firm provides this annual training for clients at no additional cost.  This day-long event featured five different presenters covering critical financial reporting-related topics such as upcoming Government Accounting Standards Board implementations, new rules for housing successors to former redevelopment agencies, and future changes to federal grant rules.  The seminar was very timely, as the Finance Department is in the early stages of preparing the annual financial statement and regulatory reports, and these updates provided key information that will be utilized to complete the City’s annual reporting requirements.