White Papers & Reports

November 2020
Advance Refunding of Muncipal Bonds

August 2020
General Continuing Disclosure Considerations for Municipal Securities Issuers: Including Those Related to COVID-19 Financial Matters

May 2020
State and Local Fiscal Facts: The Fiscal Condition of State and Local Governments

March 2019
State and Local Fiscal Facts: Annual Report on the Condition of State and Local Governments, Municipal Bonds and State and Local Pensions

February 2019
Public Finance Network: Understanding Financing Options Used for Public Infrastructure

July 2018
State Financial Managers Assess Emerging Technologies and the Impact on Their Work: A Deloitte/NASACT Survey

February 2018

2018 Fact Sheet on State and Municipal Bankruptcy, Municipal Bonds, and State and Local Pensions

February 2017
2017 Fact Sheet on State and Municipal Bankruptcy, Municipal Bonds, and State and Local Pensions
 
June 2016
Voluntary Guidelines for the Management of Stable Net Asset Value (NAV) Local Government Investment Pools (LGIPs)
Developed jointly by NASACT and the National Association of State Treasurers.
 
April 2016
Fact Sheet on Pension Disclosure Requirements
 
February 2016
2016 Fact Sheet on State and Municipal Bankruptcy, Municipal Bonds, and State and Local Pensions
 
August 2015
Deloitte/NASACT Survey on Digital Government Transformation
Findings from the Deloitte NASACT 2015 Digital Government Transformation Survey of US state and local financial government executives help shed light on the state of digital transformation in government. A total of 33 NASACT members, with diverse functional and organizational backgrounds, participated in the survey. This is a subset of Deloitte’s Global Digital Government Transformation Survey that covered 1,205 public sector executives across 70+ countries during January and February 2015. 
 
February 2015
2015 Fact Sheet on State and Municipal Bankruptcy, Municipal Bonds, and State and Local Pensions
 
July 2014
Transforming Government from the Inside Out

This report explores how high-level officials can work together in transforming state government operations The report summarizes a March 28 Summit on Transforming State Governments from the Inside Out, which was jointly sponsored by seven associations that form the Alliance to Transform State Government Operations. 

January 2014 
2014 Fact Sheet on State and Municipal Bankruptcy, Municipal Bonds, and State and Local Pensions

 
August 2013
Voluntary Interim Financial Reporting: Best Practices for State Government
 
This paper was prepared by NASACT’s Continuing Disclosures Task Force, a subgroup of the Financial Management and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee (FMIAC). It was reviewed and approved by NASACT’s Executive Committee on August 11, 2013. The task force developed ten best practices to be implemented by states on a voluntary basis to augment existing disclosure programs. 
 
July 2013
Understanding New Public Pension Funding Guidelines and Calculations

The importance of properly funding state and local government retirement systems has never been greater. Sound pension funding policies not only help ensure costs and benefits remain sustainable, but also strengthen the financial position and credit rating of the sponsoring governments. These guidelines urge policymakers to ensure contributions are actuarially determined within sound parameters.

March 2013 
Pension Funding: A Guide for Elected Officials

The pension funding guide provides key facts about public pension plans, why it is essential to have a pension funding policy, a brief overview of the new GASB standards, and which issues state and local officials need to address. The guide also offers guidance for policy makers to use when developing their pension plan’s funding policy.

August 2013
Reaching New Heights: Providing Consistent and Sustainable High Performance at the State Level 

This study was conducted by Oracle in collaboration with NASACT. The goal of the survey was to identify how states can provide consistent and sustainable high performance. The results, which included responses from 18 states and two U.S. territories, show that while states are on the right path, they have many opportunities for improvement.
 
August 2013
2013 Survey of State and Local Financial Executives: The Journey Continues

The survey discusses how most state and local governments have already achieved clean audit opinions. Respondents report, though, that implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and funding pension costs for current and already retired employees are among their greatest ongoing challenges. Specific topics addressed in the survey include audit opinions, cost cutting, organizational capabilities and risk, and other top challenges.
 
June 2013
Making Better Decisions: Leveraging Resources in Challenging Financial Times

This report issued by NASACT, AGA, NASCIO, and other government associations outlines three practical decision tools designed to help government officials write laws, regulations or guidance in a manner that eliminates (or at least minimizes) unnecessary burdens or duplication.
 
November 2012
NASCIO Cybersecurity Study: Results from NASACT Members

NASACT participated in a study with the National Association of State Chief Information Officers to examine pressing cybersecurity issues in the states. This paper outlines the key concerns by NASACT members.
 
August 2012
Charting a Course Through Stormy Seas: State Financial Executives in 2012

NASACT participated with the Association of Government Accountants and Grant Thornton LLP on the 2012 government chief financial officer survey. This 2012 state report touches on eliminating waste and inefficiency and measuring performance, but has unique sections on timely financial reporting in the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and state systems in the cloud.
 
August 2012
Shifting Gears: Manual to Automatic - Statewide Financial Reporting and Performance Data Analysis Survey

This report was conducted by Oracle in collaboration with NASACT. The goal of the survey was to examine how state governments can reduce the time and costs needed to produce complex financial reports, simplify regulatory compliance, and deliver better information to all decision-makers.

March 2012 
Financial System Survey: The Challenge of Change 

This survey was conducted by the Microsoft Dynamics Business Group in collaboration with NASACT. The goal was to identify the expectations, strategies, and practices that states are using in the implementation of government-wide or statewide financial systems.

August 2010
Government Debt Collection: An Untapped Source for Increased Revenue and Sustained Fiscal Fitness
 
NASACT and CGI conducted a survey to identify the strategies, practices, and initiatives states are using to enhance their debt collection capabilities. The research objectives were to determine whether states are including collections initiatives as part of the revenue shortfall solution; document and understand the current state of debt management strategies and practices; identify successful innovations that can be leveraged to increase revenue; and share the findings with NASACT members, other practitioners, and policy makers. This paper is a report of the survey results and recommendations.

July 2010
Annual CFO Survey: Meeting the Challenge and Improving ROI 

NASACT participated with the Association of Government Accountants and Grant Thornton LLP on the 2010 government chief financial officer survey. This paper reports results from 135 in-person interviews and 133 online survey responses from financial management and audit 

June 2010
A Performance Management Framework for State and Local Government: From Measurement and Reporting to Management and Improving 

In conjunction with the Government Finance Officers Association, NASACT served with other state and local government groups as a member of the Performance Management Commission. The work of the commission resulted in this performance management framework aimed at helping governments move beyond measuring and simply reporting those measures to managing performance toward improved results.

January 2010
Are States Ready to Manage Federal Grant Funds?

The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) presented an unprecedented opportunity for states and their respective agencies to receive federal funding. A significant portion of stimulus funds were distributed based on grant requests and competitive awards. This posed new challenges for state administrations across the entire life cycle of grants management, from application through receipt through closeout. This paper presents six key findings from a survey conducted by Accenture and NASACT asking state comptrollers about their current federal grants management practices.
 


The NASACT Community

NASACT serves as the premier organization working to bring together state auditors, state comptrollers and state treasurers to cooperatively address government financial management issues. NASACT also manages two secretariats - the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) and the National Association of State Comptrollers (NASC). Both NSAA and NASC are included under the umbrella of NASACT’s budget and utilize staff hired by NASACT.