The FMI Fredericton Chapter

The FMI – Fredericton Chapter

Annual Report 30 June 2004

The Financial Management Institute of Canada

Fredericton Chapter

Sharing Best Practices in Managing Public Sector Resources

Fredericton Chapter

P.O.Box 20189

Fredericton, NB

E3B 7A2

ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2004

14 September 2004

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

COMMITTEES

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

As the 2003-2004 year comes to a close for our Chapter, it is an excellent time to reflect on the past year, and also to anticipate what the coming year will bring. My first year as President was both challenging and exciting and I hope I can use the lessons I have learned over the past year to help me in my second year as President.

A Sincere Thank-You

I would like to take a few minutes and say thank-you to some folks that have made my year as President an enjoyable and eventful one. Our two Vice Presidents and co-chairs of our Program Committee, Christine Robichaud and Geoffrey Francis, were excellent to work with and together with their committee members put on an outstanding program. These two did an even more impressive job when you consider that this was their first year on the FMI Board. Kelly Banks in her first year as Treasurer did an excellent job in a very demanding position and Ryan Bourgeois continued to do excellent work in his second year in the equally demanding position of Secretary. Peter Wolters handled the Marketing Director position in its inaugural year, and helped to raise local awareness of our Chapter. His knowledge of our Chapter’s history made him the natural choice for this position. I don’t want to forget Mike Gagnon for his contribution as both our Past President and as Chair of both the Strategic Planning and Nominating Committees. We had an excellent Board of Directors that included Trisha Fournier-Hoyt, Mike Wilkins, Michel Pitre and Shauna Woodside. I would like to express my gratitude to all of them. Job well done!

Looking Back

The past couple of years have been somewhat of a challenge for our Chapter, but it’s a challenge we are well prepared to meet. In order to ensure we were getting exposure to all potential members and that our program was interesting to our members, we created the position of marketing director. To that end we have seen an increase in awareness of our program and feel that this will contribute to increased membership in 2004-05. Our events were well attended and feedback from members has been positive.

During the past year, we finalized the policy for the FMI-Fredericton Scholarship, an annual $500 award that will replace the FMI sponsored bursary formerly awarded by the University of New Brunswick. We feel this scholarship will more directly benefit our members and their families. In the area of professional development, we hosted 6 luncheons, a Membership Appreciation Event and one Professional Development Day. We also sponsored the registrations of 2 members who attended PSMW 2004 in Charlottetown. Eleven other members from our Chapter also attended PSMW this year.

The Upcoming Year

The new Board of Directors has commenced its work for 2004-2005. I will be returning for a second term as President. Other familiar faces returning to the Board are Geoffrey Francis, Christine Robichaud, Kelly Banks, Peter Wolters, Shauna Woodside, Ryan Bourgeois, Mike Wilkins and Trish Fournier-Hoyt. Joining us are Greg Mignault, Jerry VanDine, and Patti Morrison. It’s a great group of people and I look forward to working with them in the coming year.

On the National front, the Chapter will continue to be well represented with Bruce Jamieson remaining in the Past President’s position and Heather Cote continuing as the National Secretary. We wish them well as they resume their duties for the upcoming year.

Our Members

I would like to close by thanking our members for their participation in our organization over the last year. With your enthusiasm we have had a very successful year and we look forward to your support as we enter a new year. Our members have been and will continue to be the key to our success and so I urge you to take advantage of the local chapter by not only participating but by providing feedback to our Directors on how we can serve you better.

Yvonne Samson

Chapter President, 2003-2004

PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT

The Program Committee once again had a busy and successful year. Christine Robichaud and myself, Geoffrey Francis participated as co-chairs on the program committee. With the help of our dedicated committee members things went quite smoothly. Rounding out the committee for 2003-2004 were chapter members Chris Barrington, Trisha Fournier-Hoyt, Peter Wolters and Yvonne Samson. Christine and I would like to thank the committee, as well as members of the Executive, for their hard work, dedication and tremendous support, which above all, made it a very enjoyable experience.

Our five speaker series luncheons were fairly well attended and averaged about 38 members per session. Our professional development day was held in April. The event was well received, with a total of 38 members and non-members in attendance at the workshop despite it falling during a busy part of the year for most members. Once again, we had the opportunity to collaborate with the Office of the Comptroller in February and received a tremendous response to this event with close to 80 in attendance. We would like to extend our thanks to Janet Gallagher of the Comptroller’s office for all her assistance in organizing this event.

General Meeting

Our General Meeting was held in June at the Ramada and was followed by a Members Appreciation Dinner and activities at Carmen Creek. Twenty-five members attended the event, which included beach volleyball, use of the driving range, mini-putt or nine holes of golf.

Members Tell Us

This year we continued to monitor the success of our events by providing feedback cards to all our attendees. In general, the responses were extremely positive with comments almost exclusively affirmative in their satisfaction with our speakers, their presentations and the food/facility service. The committee looked into any comments identifying areas requiring improvement and where possible took the appropriate action that we felt would provide the delivery of a better program. The importance of this feedback from our members is a priority for our committee.

Attendance

When it comes to activities and member support, we continue to rank as one of the best FMI Chapters in Canada. For the year ended 30 June 2004, we provided professional development, current event updates, and networking for 333 cumulative members. That compares to 340 in 2003 and 325 in 2002. Average attendance per function was 42, compared to 42 in 2003 and 45 in 2002.

Financial Results

The Program Committee produces about 55% of the Chapter’s revenues and represents about 37% of its annual

expenditures. So, it makes sense that we have a large impact on the Chapter’s operations and its financial condition. Our programs sustained a profit of $793 for the year ended June 30, 2004 as compared to a deficit of $2,698 in 2003 and a surplus of $473 in 2002. However, without the contribution to our Professional Development Day in April by the Bank of Montreal, the Program Committee broke even on its events. For the fifth consecutive year, we offered members a special appreciation meal at our General Meeting in June.

Making a Difference

Within the Program Committee and throughout the Chapter membership, there is increased confidence in our ability to bring members the best value for money in seminars and professional development. We offer members regular monthly events and are able to attract top quality speakers

from within government, and the education and business communities. Our line-up for 2004-2005 will continue with this tradition.

The Chapter’s profile is evident in FMI National publications and we have extensive information on the FMI National’s home page on the Internet at www.fmi.ca. Our member appreciation award towards the cost of attending the national Public Sector Management Workshop is designed to attract members to our events on a regular basis. Members attending the most events have the greatest chance of winning the award in our random draw.

On behalf of the Program Committee, Christine Robichaud and I would like to thank members and the Board for their support this year. Together with my new Program

Committee Co-chair, Jerry VanDine, I look forward to fulfilling the Program Committee’s mandate to bring the membership an exciting program.

Geoffrey Francis

Chapter Vice President 2003-2004

and Program Committee Co –Chair

2003-2004 PROGRAM EVENTS

STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY

The financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2004 contained in the annual report have been prepared by the Treasurer of the Chapter. The financial statements include the Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Assets, Statement of Cash Flows, and Notes to the Financial Statements. Financial statement integrity and objectivity is the responsibility of the Chapter’s Board of Directors.

To help fulfill this responsibility, an accounting system and related controls are established and maintained to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are properly authorized, executed, and reported. The financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

The Chapter’s auditor has examined these financial statements, and expressed his opinion thereon in the accompanying report.

These financial statements have been approved by the Board of Directors of the Fredericton Chapter.

Kelly Banks

Chapter Treasurer

September 14, 2004

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

2003-04 FISCAL YEAR

The following comments explain the manner in which the financial resources of the Fredericton Chapter were managed during 2003-04

Financial Analysis

The financial statements provide an overview of the revenues and expenditures for the year. The budget was prepared with 3 objectives in mind which have been achieved and are the reason behind the operating deficit. These objectives were: (1) to provide our membership with a professional development program, (2) to enhance and further the Chapter’s involvement at the national level, and (3) to provide for ongoing administrative expenses.

All of our activities are open to members and non-members who wish to participate in our seminars, lectures, and luncheon meetings.

AUDITOR’S REPORT

To the Members of

The Financial Management Institute of Canada

Fredericton Chapter

I have audited the statement of financial position of The Financial Management Institute of Canada, Fredericton Chapter, as at 30 June 2004, and the statements of operations and changes in net assets and of cash flows for the year then ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Chapter's Board of Directors. My responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on my audit.

I conducted my audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that I plan and perform an audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by the Chapter's Board of Directors, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.

In common with many non-profit organizations, the completeness of revenue is not susceptible to satisfactory audit verification. Accordingly, my verification of the revenue was limited to the amounts recorded in the records of the organization and I was not able to determine whether any adjustments might be necessary to revenues, excess of revenues over expenses, assets and net assets.

In my opinion, except for the effect of adjustments, if any, which I might have determined to be necessary had I been able to satisfy myself concerning the completeness of the revenues referred to in the preceding paragraph, these financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Chapter as at 30 June 2004 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.