Finance Department receives triple crown of GFOA awards

Published on September 20, 2023

For the past four decades, the Weld County Department of Finance and Administration’s accounting team has been awarded the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting and the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. This year, for the first time, the department can tout a triple crown achievement when it comes to financial reporting. In addition to these awards, the team has received the Popular Annual Financial Reporting Award for its 2021 Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR).

“It’s amazing to see our finance department win these three awards,” said Weld County Chair Mike Freeman. “This truly is evidence of their stewardship in maintaining documents that showcase the financial responsibility of taxpayer dollars.”

The Certificate of Achievement, which was established in 1945, is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government organization. It encourages state and local governments to exceed the baseline financial reporting standards and prepare comprehensive reports that encourage full disclosure. The county’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) includes results of county financial transactions which the accounting department puts together in a clear and accurate manner.

The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award has been around since 1984. It encourages state and local governments to prepare budget documents of the very highest quality that reflect GFOA’s best practices on budgeting.

New this year, the team put together a PAFR highlighting 2021 finances in an easy-to-understand 16-page report that includes demographic information about the county as well as a breakdown of financial information from the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). The award for this document was established in 1991. Award recipients are chosen based on the PAFR being designed so that it’s readily accessible and easily understood by the general public and other interested parties without a background in public finance.

To be eligible for these awards, the accounting department must work thoroughly, ensuring Weld County’s ACFR, budget and PAFR are all completed on time and meet the standards of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). GASB sets all the standards each report must meet, including specific financial information to be included, and how the design of the reports should look. The standards can change year to year, so the accounting department must work hard to ensure the documents continually meet requirements.

For more information about Weld County’s Finance Department, visit www.weldgov.com/Government/Departments/Finance-and-Administration.