Sudbury Honored for Finance Reporting

When people speak of Sudbury, one of the first things that come to mind are its fine school systems.

Now, Sudbury can boast another honor related to its finances.

Last week, the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting was awarded to the Town of Sudbury by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR).

The award was presented to Finance Director Andrea Terkelsen.

"I couldn’t be more pleased or proud of the consistently excellent results that I’ve been a part of and witnessed here in Sudbury government during the last nine years," she told Sudbury Patch in an email.

Sudbury achieved its first GFOA “Distinguished Budget Award” in 2007 for fiscal year 2008 Budget and Financing Plan document. Sudbury continued to make entry into that program and received an award for the five years preceding through FY12.

"Having reached a desired level of budget reporting we decided to focus our efforts in a different but related, important direction – CAFR statement development," Terkelsen said. 

The honor is considered the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

"My gratitude and pride for Sudbury’s municipal financial operations is truly heartfelt," Terkelson said.

The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive "spirit of full disclosure" to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.

"This is Sudbury’s first entry into the GFOA’s CAFR financial achievement program," Terkelsen said. "I believe Sudbury is one of only 20-25 communities in Massachusetts that have received this award. We use these GFOA award programs as an effective tool or platform for achieving best practices in financial reporting."

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

"We remain committed to providing Sudbury’s financial historic, budgeting and planning documentation in ways that are relevant, useful and understandable to a wide variety of potential readers (users) of these materials," Terkelsen said. "We always welcome feedback from the public in this regard and continue to look for ways to best serve the information needs of taxpayers, as well as the countless reporting requirements of state, federal and credit rating agencies."