New GASB Standards to Bring Changes in Financial Reporting for SDRS Employers

In June 2012, the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) approved a pair of Statements (Nos. 67 and 68) that will pose considerable change to the ac counting and financial reporting of pensions by state and local governments. These Statements apply exclusively to governments and pension plans in which a government’s contributions to the trust used to administer a pension plan are (a) irrevo cable, (b) restricted to paying pension benefits, and (c) beyond the reach of creditors. These criteria are true in regard to the contributions participating employers make to the South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) on behalf of their employees. As a result, each SDRS-participating employer using the GAAP method of accounting will be required to implement these new standards in their financial reports effective with the fiscal year beginning after June 15, 2014.

Because of the complexity of the new standards, SDRS has assembled an Authorized Agent training session that focuses on these GASB Statements and provides details on the type of information that will need to be included in the employer unit’s financial statements, including how to calculate and report costs and obligations associated with SDRS. It is strongly recommended that those responsible for preparing your unit’s financial statements, as well as your unit’s SDRS Authorized Agent(s), attend a training session. The 2015 training sessions will be held at centralized locations throughout the state. To register for a training session, visit the SDRS website at https://apps.sd.gov/rt05memberdata/ seminar/AuthorizedAgentSignup.aspx.

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SDRS is continually assessing the level of support it can offer to employer units. As such, a contact list for GASBrelated communications has been established. To join the contact list, email Nicole.Gere@state.sd.us. Be sure to include the employer name, employee name to contact directly with GASB updates, job title, email address, and phone number. This contact list will assist SDRS in providing information to the proper personnel as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Visit the SDRS website at http://sdrs.sd.gov/GASB/ for more information regarding the GASB Pension Standards.

Grant Seeking Workshop

The SD State Library will host a free workshop for anyone interested in learning about grant seeking for a nonprofit organization. The workshop will be held at the MacKay Building first floor meeting room on Thursday, April 2 from 10 to 12 noon.

Introduction to Finding Funders

Learn to find funders for your nonprofit with the Foundation Center’s comprehensive funding research tool, the Foundation Directory Online database, available at the SD State Library. This searchable database provides information on more than 80,000 grant makers and a file of more than a half-million grant records that grant seekers can use to identify potential funders.

Proposal Writing Basics

Learn the key components of a proposal to a foundation.

About the Instructor

Kief Schladweiler received his M.A. in Library and Information Science in 1997 from the University of WisconsinMadison. He worked as a reference librarian for The New York Public Library before joining the Foundation Center’s New York Library in April of 1999.