By Michael Mearns, CAFM
General Manager
Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of BC
It was heartening to see about 100 people from First Nations throughout BC attend AFOABC’s workshop about the important changes that are coming on January 1 to INAC’s financial reporting requirements. I saw familiar faces from Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council members and would like to update Klahowya readers about some of the main points I learned from the workshop.
We were lucky enough to have the presentation made by Nola Buhr, associate dean and professor of accounting at the University of Saskatchewan. Nola was one of the members of the Financial Reporting by First Nations Study Group.
Earlier this year, the study group’s report recommended that First Nations adopt full accrual accounting and the reporting model for governments as prescribed by the Public Sector Accounting Board of Canada. The PSAB, by the way, is the body that sets standards and provides guidance for financial and other performance information reported by the public sector.
The report pointed out that First Nations communities play a significant role in the Canadian economy in a number of ways including: engagement in economic ventures that are generating increasing amounts of own-source revenue; as receivers of tax revenue; and as receivers of funding from the federal government, which are spent providing province-like services to their members.
First Nations governments have to be accountable for the acquisition, and use, of their revenue streams. They owe this accountability to their own members, whether they live on-reserve or off-reserve, to other levels of government and increasingly, to capital providers.
The study group’s report went a long way toward addressing the void that exists in accounting standards for First Nations. The new accounting standards that are being adopted will bring necessary changes.
But to make the adoption of the Common Government Reporting Model really successful, capacity building is essential among three key groups: preparers, auditors and users. That’s why the AFOA workshop was so important.
An expert at work
But back to Nola’s presentation… It’s such a pleasure to watch an expert communicator at work. During the daylong session, Nola engaged the entire audience that was made up of the people taking care of the financial affairs at band offices and other First Nations organizations.
Entitled Will you be prepared?, Nola’s talk took us through the varied and sometimes complex changes that lie ahead. Two of the most significant changes are: how financial statements are presented and; the requirement that First Nations capitalize assets.
The discussions that occurred during that day certainly weren’t about abstract accounting subjects. Nola was able to make us all see what things like Tangible Capital Assets, for example, mean in the real every-day world of First Nations administration.
To show you what I mean, here’s just a bit of Nola at work:
“Find out where the bodies are and where the bodies are buried. That’s what I think of when I think of tangible capital assets. It’s important for governments to know what it is costing for the amount of services they provide.”
Nola also gave both theoretical and practical guides on how to treat land values within the new reporting requirements.
“Land is a weird thing,” she said, explaining that, in general, reserve land is not capitalized, is not considered an asset and is not put on financial statements. But in this new era of treaty settlements and economic development, land that is purchased by a First Nation may be recorded as an asset.
The range of Nola’s presentation, and her high level of knowledge on the subject, made this workshop one of the most successful and essential ever held by AFOABC. But even though there was a full house at the Renaissance Hotel in Vancouver, I kept wishing even more had found time to attend. The ones I was thinking about were chiefs and councillors who could have used the session as background for the tough policy decisions they will be making in the coming years.
That’s why I urge leaders, managers and staff to keep in touch with AFOABC and try to attend one of the many community workshops we’ll be holding in the coming months. I think that you will find that our workshops aren’t just about dry accounting methods.
We make the link between financial administration and the ‘bigger world’ by including strategic planning, best management practices and other topics that I’m sure you’ll find stimulating.
For information about AFOA BC membership, workshops, conferences or publications, visit the web site at www.afoabc.org or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Mike Mearns is a member of Klahoose First Nation.